‘This is not a palace. It is my villa,’ Aristocles said.
‘I must agree with you,’ Kargan said. ‘This is no palace.’
Chloe heard gulping and then a clunk as someone set a goblet back down onto the table. ‘More wine!’ Kargan called. ‘Oh,’ he said, ‘I forget you have no servants.’
‘Put these on the hot surface near the coals,’ Chloe quickly instructed her sister, indicating the meal cakes. ‘Then bring in the cold platter.’
Chloe left the kitchen and entered the expansive reception. The room was artfully arranged, with no evidence of the recent disturbance to Aristocles’ home. Marble statues of Aristonias and Nestor, two of Phalesia’s democratic fathers, occupied each corner, while along the stone wall were fine ceramics and low stools and tables.
The three men sat on angular recliners, spaced close together, and between them was a table the height of a man’s knee. The room was big enough to accommodate twenty men, yet Kargan’s dark eyes were scanning it dismissively.
As Chloe walked in she saw that he wore a flowing yellow robe of thick silk, fastened at the waist with an elaborate belt of woven orange thread covering leather. Hanging from his belt was a curved dagger with a jeweled hilt, the scabbard plain but fine quality. His oiled hair was tidier than before and his beard was now curled in a series of locks.
‘Ah.’ Aristocles cleared his throat. ‘Lord Kargan, may I introduce my eldest daughter, Chloe.’
Chloe placed her hands together and gave a small bow, while Kargan glanced at her once and then looked away. ‘More wine, Lord?’ Chloe asked as she reached for the jug and refilled Kargan’s cup, then pouring for her father and Consul Nilus.
As Chloe backed away, Sophia entered the room with the platter.
‘And my youngest daughter, Sophia,’ Aristocles said.
‘It is my pleasure to serve you, Lord,’ little Sophia said formally.
Nilus and Aristocles both smiled, but Kargan appeared bored.
‘Come,’ Chloe said to her sister under her breath. She led Sophia back into the kitchen, where the aroma of the spiced bread already filled the room.
After the girls’ departure, Chloe heard the jangle of coin and then heard something thunk onto the wooden table.
‘How much silver do you want for the use of your harbor?’ Kargan said. ‘We can buy our own materials and supplies at the agora.’
‘Please,’ Aristocles said. ‘Enjoy the food before we discuss business. Surely it is a change from the fare you have on your ship?’
Chloe heard the sound of men eating. She went out once more to refill their cups and saw Kargan devouring figs and olives one after the other before she returned to the kitchen.
‘These are fair enough,’ Kargan said. ‘I only eat and drink the best.’
‘You mentioned your status earlier,’ Nilus said delicately. ‘What exactly is your status?’
‘I am captain of the Nexotardis and admiral of the sun king’s navy. I am Great King Solon’s adviser. I have a military command also. Few in the sun king’s court may call themselves my equal.’
‘Please, tell us your story,’ said Aristocles. ‘How did your ship come to be damaged?’
Chloe added the sausages to a pot, along with some wine, thyme, barley, and fermented fish sauce. She rested the pot in the coals before returning to her place near the kitchen doorway, poking out her head to see if anyone’s wine needed topping up.
‘—appears that it struck your city also,’ Kargan was saying. ‘We were beached at the time and the waves threw the Nexotardis up onto the rocks. I sent the rest of our ships home while I searched for a harbor.’
Chloe entered the reception and refilled Kargan’s cup. He ate while he talked, speaking in between mouthfuls of white cheese and gulps of red wine.
‘The gods are angry,’ Nilus said.
‘Not my area of expertise,’ Kargan said with a shrug. ‘I command the sun king’s ships.’
‘What were you doing on this side of the Maltherean Sea?’
‘Trading with the Sarsicans. Then we were heading to the Oracle at Athos to make an offering.’
‘We trade with Sarsica,’ Nilus said. ‘Wine, barley, ceramics, leather, tools . . . I wasn’t aware of any trade between Sarsica and the Salesian continent.’
Chloe and Sophia cleared the dishes, as invisible as servants to the big man with the oiled beard and mop of dark hair. Then Chloe had to attend to the pot on the cooking hearth, stirring the stew and then turning over the meal cakes. The delicious aroma made her mouth water, but the men would have their fill before the women. When Aristocles was alone he was never so formal, and they all dined together. But Chloe knew this night was important. She didn’t like to imagine what a mass of warships like the Nexotardis – biremes, she remembered the word Kargan had used to describe his ship – could do to Phalesia’s proud fleet.