Ptolemy looked down his long nose at the eunuch. "Caesar is my friend."

"If you believe that, Your Majesty, then put his friendship to the test. Leave the palace. Join Achillas and your army. Let me accompany you-"

"The eunuch wishes only to save his own neck," growled Caesar. Ptolemy abruptly stood, with such force that he knocked Pothinus aside. The eunuch groveled at his feet. "You've forgotten your place, Lord Chamberlain-though from this moment you no longer occupy that position, so I shall address you simply as Pothinus. You think I'm still a child, easily bent to your will. You fancy yourself the secret ruler of Egypt, and myself a mere puppet upon the throne."

"Your Majesty, where do these notions come from? The Roman has poisoned your mind-"

"Silence! Do you think my mind so feeble that Caesar can shape it at will? Is your estimation of me that low? Yes, I think it is. 'Regret-table'-isn't that the word you used in that letter to describe my death, should Achillas storm the palace and kill me in the process? You shall regret your own death far more, Pothinus."

"No, Your Majesty! Please listen-"

"There is no more to be said, Pothinus! I strip you of your title and your post. I expel you from the privileges of the royal household, now and for all eternity. For your crimes against me, you shall be executed and your body defiled; your flesh shall be fodder for carrion birds. You shall be cursed by the gods; not only your body but your ka shall perish forever, and it shall be as if Pothinus never existed. Thus do traitors meet their end."

Pothinus wailed and hid his face.

Caesar stood and stepped to Ptolemy's side. "Your Majesty, since you've cast off the eunuch, and since he has offended against me as well, conspiring to kill me, I ask a favor of you: Let me pass judgment on him, and see to his punishment."

"No!" Pothinus gazed up at the two of them with a woeful expression. "The Roman seeks to take even this prerogative from you, Your Majesty. It's Caesar who treats you as a child-"

"Silence, Pothinus!" The king glared down at him, then turned to Caesar. "Because Caesar requests it, and because Caesar is my dearest friend, I make a gift of this criminal to Caesar, who may do as he wishes with the wretch. The Romans boast of their great love of justice, do they not, Caesar? Perhaps you can teach me a lesson on this subject. How will you dispose of Pothinus?"

Caesar looked down at the cringing eunuch, then turned, briefly, to regard the queen, who had watched the entire episode in silence, wearing an expression as bland as her brother's at his most inscrutable. As he turned back, for a long moment Caesar's eyes met mine, and I saw that he had not forgotten what I had told him.

"Samuel! Go to my quarters. You'll find an amphora there, clearly marked: 'Falernian-Open Only in the Presence of Gnaeus Pompey Magnus.' Bring it to me at once."

The barber nodded, jumped to his feet, and rushed off.

Caesar regarded me, and seeing the expression on my face, he stepped toward me and spoke in a low voice. "You look puzzled, Gordianus."

"What game are you playing at, Consul?"

"Not a game; a test. According to you, the amphora of Falernian was never poisoned, nor was the golden cup; Merianis put poison in the taster's clay vessel, and Apollodorus planted the empty alabaster vial on your son. If that's true, the Falernian was untainted, and remains so, for I had it resealed with wax before I let it out of my sight again. Are you certain of this allegation, Gordianus?"

"It's the only explanation, Consul."

"Unless, of course, Meto poisoned the amphora-in which case the Falernian will kill anyone who drinks it."

I shook my head. "That's not possible, Consul."

"We shall see. I had thought that tonight might be a joyous occasion, a chance to celebrate reconciliation and peace. Instead, it seems I'm fated to learn who are my friends, and who are my foes." He cast a glance at Ptolemy, then at Cleopatra.

Samuel, breathing hard, arrived with the amphora.

Caesar inspected the new seal, which bore the impression of his own ring. Satisfied, he nodded to Samuel, who cut the seal away.

"Pour a cup, Samuel. Here, use mine, since I'm certain no one's tampered with it."

The barber poured a measure of wine into the cup.

"Stand up, Pothinus!"

The eunuch rose to his feet, a mingled look of dread and defiance on his face.

"Consul!" I whispered. "What are you thinking? This isn't Roman justice. This is pure capriciousness."

"The gods are capricious. So must we sometimes be, if we would emulate the gods. It is also a way to determine the truth, Gordianus; and are you not always in favor of that?"

The queen sat forward, frowning. "What do you intend to do, Caesar?"

Merianis looked at her lap and nervously pulled at her fingers. Apollodorus stood with his arms crossed and his jaw thrust forward.

"Yes, Caesar," said Ptolemy. "Why do you not have the traitor strangled, here and now?"

"Because I intend to offer Pothinus a choice, which may yet allow him to live. This is a cup of Falernian wine, Pothinus. It comes from the private stores of Pompey. Falernian wine is legendary; it's the best of all the vintages of Italy. But this amphora may-or may not-contain a deadly poison. Which is it? I should like to know. Rather than test it on a hapless slave, I offer it to you, Pothinus."

"You demean me, Roman!"

"No, Pothinus, I offer you a chance to live-which is far more than you deserve. If the wine is wholesome, and you drink it without ill effect, I shall release you and allow you to join Achillas outside the palace. Gordianus here shall enjoy the second cup, and the rest of us will share a fine Falernian tonight. But if the wine is poisoned…"

"You lie! Whether it's poisoned or not, you'll have me killed before I can leave this room."

"I'm a man of my word, eunuch! Make up your mind. Take the cup, or not."

From the shiftiness of Pothinus's eyes, I sensed the debate that raged in his mind. So long as he had his wits and a voice to beg, he might yet contrive some way to win Ptolemy's mercy; but once he drank from the cup, there could be no turning back. I myself felt a sudden tremor of doubt; the logic of my argument to Caesar was compelling, of that I was certain, and yet… I recalled the inchoate flash of intuition I had felt when I questioned Apollodorus, somehow tied to the piece of driftwood he had carved into a lion's head; that moment of insight, fleeting and inconclusive, still had seemed to be absolutely authentic-and yet it had no connection to what was happening now. Was I mistaken about the amphora? I found myself almost wishing that Pothinus would refuse to take it.

But at last the prospect of freedom held out by Caesar won Pothinus over. He took the cup, gazed for a moment at his reflection in the wine, then drank it in a single draught.

I looked at those on the dais and saw them all watching with bated breath. I glanced over my shoulder; the guests upon their dining couches looked like silent spectators at a play, intent upon the climax. At the far corner of the room, I glimpsed the two Egyptian courtiers and the Roman who had teased them; the three now sat close together on a single couch, interrupted in their merrymaking and struck dumb by the drama on the dais.

Pothinus thrust the cup back into Caesar's hands and stood erect, turning his head this way and that to glare defiantly at those around him. He licked his lips, ground his teeth, and took a deep breath. He shut his eyes tightly for a moment, then opened them again, smiled, and turned to Caesar.

"There, Roman. Are you satisfied?"

"You feel nothing?"

"Only the satisfaction that comes from drinking a truly fine wine. A pity that the Great One himself was never able to taste it! Well? Are you as good as your word, Caesar? Will you let me go now?"