"At least those two," I said, thinking of a third but not daring to say her name.

"But why? What was their purpose?"

"Of that I'm not sure, Consul. But consider: Meto distrusted the queen; Meto despaired of the queen's… influence… upon you. The queen-those near the queen, I mean-might wish to see Meto discredited. How better to do that than to make him appear guilty of a crime against the consul?"

Caesar looked at me gravely. "What you suggest is monstrous, Gordianus. Without naming her, you implicate a certain person in a plot to deceive me. If that should be true, then the purpose of this banquet is negated. I should have to reconsider who should inherit the late king's throne, and whether that throne should be shared." He looked toward Ptolemy and sighed. "Considering whose army has occupied Alexandria, it would certainly be easier to simply…"

His voice trailed off. I thought he was lost in thought, until I followed his gaze and saw that someone else was approaching the dais. So I must have appeared, I thought, as I looked upon the face of Samuel, Caesar's barber. The little man threaded his way between the dining couches, resolute but trembling slightly, anxiously shifting his gaze from face to face, looking as if he had swallowed something very bitter.

"What now?" muttered Caesar.

Samuel hurried to the dais. The guards looked to Caesar for instruction and stepped back at his signal.

"What do you want, Samuel?"

"Master, I must speak to you at once." He glanced at Pothinus, who frowned. "In private…"

Caesar looked at me askance. "You appear to have a twin tonight, Gordianus, like the Gemini." He looked at the barber. "Come, Samuel. Gordianus has one of my ears. You may have the other."

The little fellow scrambled onto the dais and rushed to his master's side. He knelt and pressed a scrap of papyrus into Caesar's hand. While Caesar read, Samuel whispered in his ear. The barber spoke in a frantic rush, too low for me to hear, and Caesar held the papyrus so that I could not read it, though I caught a glimpse of Greek letters. The news caused the color to drain from Caesar's cheeks.

Caesar lowered the parchment. He raised his hand to Samuel, signaling that he had heard enough. "Pothinus," he said, looking straight ahead. His voice was low and even, but something in his tone chilled my blood.

"Consul?" Pothinus furrowed his brow.

"Come here, Pothinus."

The eunuch cleared his throat. There was a tremor in his voice. "The lord chamberlain of the king of Egypt is not a servant to be summoned by anyone other than the king, not even the consul of-

"Pothinus, come here!" Caesar's voice was like thunder.

The eunuch stood. Ptolemy looked from Pothinus to Caesar and back. For a brief moment I saw confusion on the king's face, before he assumed the masklike countenance at which he was so adept.

Pothinus stepped toward Caesar, slowly and carefully, as one might approach a lion. "What does the consul require?"

Caesar thrust the papyrus toward him. "Were these words written by your hand, Lord Chamberlain?"

Pothinus flashed a supercilious grin. "The lord chamberlain is accustomed to dictating documents; the actual writing is done by a scribe-"

"Unless the words in a letter are too sensitive to be heard by even the most trusted scribe-or overheard by all the spies who lurk in the walls of this palace."

Pothinus glared at Samuel, and then at Caesar. "I think the consul is no stranger at playing spymaster himself."

Caesar cast a fond glance at Samuel. "Some of my men occasionally make a jest at Samuel's expense. They call him timorous; they say he jumps at the sight of his own shadow. But that fearful quality makes Samuel very observant. Some make fun of his small stature; but that quality, too, has its virtues, for it helps a man to come and go unobserved, and sometimes even to walk through walls."

"Then you admit that this wretch has been spying on me!"

"Samuel merely looks out for his master's safety. He needs no instruction from me. But, yes, Samuel has been observing you, Pothinus. He knows your movements. He watched you write this letter, which, at Samuel's request, some of my men seized from your messenger. The messenger can be tortured to divulge the source of the letter-or you can simply admit that you wrote it, Pothinus."

"Lies! The creature has fabricated this elaborate deceit. He's betrayed you, Consul. He makes you look a fool."

"I think not, Pothinus. If a man can't trust his barber, whom can he trust?" Caesar again thrust the letter before Pothinus. "Take it! Read it aloud."

Pothinus took the papyrus. He stared at it and rocked slightly forward and back, as if he were light-headed. He looked desperately at Ptolemy. "Your Majesty!"

The king glowered at him. "Do as the consul says, Lord Chamberlain."

"Read it!" commanded Caesar.

Pothinus gave a start and obeyed. " 'To Achillas, commander of the forces of our rightful king, from Pothinus, Lord Chamberlain, as you may ascertain from the seal on this letter: Greetings.' There, you see! The seal was broken; the wax is missing. There's nothing to prove-"

"Read on, Pothinus," growled Caesar. "Read on, and do not stop until the letter is finished, or I'll have my men skewer you from all sides."

At a nod from Caesar, one of the guards gave Pothinus a poke in the back with his spear. The eunuch yelped. "Please, Consul! Very well, I'll read. 'Though previously I have counseled the king to make a compromise satisfactory to the Roman intruder, if only as a matter of show, I now see that any compromise can lead only to disaster. We must take action, and quickly. I shall do what I can within the palace, but our enemies are well guarded, especially so following an unsuccessful attempt at poison by persons unknown.' Do you see, Consul! The letter proves I had nothing to do with the recent attempt on your life; I have no idea-"

"Read on!"

Pothinus gave another yelp and contorted his back; I could see by a red stain on his robe that the spear had drawn blood. He gasped and continued reading. " 'I will do what I can… to solve the problem myself. But meanwhile you must be prepared to wage battle against the enemies who now hold the king hostage. On no account must the king's life be endangered-' There, Your Majesty, do you see the proof of my loyalty to you? Will you not command this Roman to call off his mastiffs?"

Ptolemy regarded Pothinus with an inscrutable gaze. "Read on, Lord Chamberlain."

Pothinus trembled violently. His voice quavered. " 'On no account must the king's life be endangered. But no matter how regrettable, casualties within the palace may be… unavoidable. In the event that the worst should come to pass, I have taken steps to smuggle the king's sister Arsinoe out of the palace; she should arrive in your keeping just ahead of this letter. Keep her safe, for to maintain our legitimacy with the populace, at least one member of the royal bloodline must survive the coming battle. Do what you must to eliminate the false queen and to expel the foreign intruder.' Your Majesty, I meant that Caesar himself may kill you, if pressed to desperation by Achillas! I have never been anything less than your most loyal-"

"Silence!" Caesar stood and snatched the letter from Pothinus's trembling hands. "This document clearly spells out your intention to murder me and to assassinate the queen. It also exhorts Achillas to attack the palace, with reckless disregard for the safety of King Ptolemy and in contravention of the peaceful accord reached between the king and his sister. That makes you a would-be assassin, a conspirator, and a traitor, Pothinus."

The eunuch threw himself at Ptolemy's feet. "Your Majesty, do you not see what's happened? Caesar has made you his hostage, and he's forced this accord upon you, to further his own ambitions. It's Cleopatra he's sided with, from the moment he met her. The reason is simple: She can give him a child. When that happens, Caesar will declare himself king of Egypt, with Cleopatra as his queen and the child as their heir, and it will be the end of you, Your Majesty, and the end of your dynasty! Egypt shall be ruled by Romans, and the images of your ancestors will be replaced by images of Caesar."