Corylus suspected "old" meant middle aged; and Bassos might well be here in Carce, though he probably didn't care a great deal about his wife's recreations. The claim of wealth was likely enough, though, given that Orpelia's jewelry included a ruby tiara along with other expensively flashy items.

Corylus didn't care how Orpelia conducted herself either, so long as her activities didn't include him. Which was much harder to arrange than he had expected it to be.

"Master Pulto," he said, looking over his shoulder. Pulto wore an amused expression which he quickly blotted from his face. "I wish to be a little higher for a better view. Trade places with me, if you will."

Pulto had served twenty-five years in the army with Corylus' father and had followed him into retirement. Pulto had been Cispius' servant, his bodyguard, and most important his friend. When it was time for Corylus to be trained in rhetoric by a professor in Carce, Cispius had sent Pulto along.

Pulto wasn't going to coddle Corylus any more than he would have coddled a new soldier in the company. On the other hand, if the boy showed signs of really going off in the woods, Pulto would bring him back to reality. A troop of Sarmatian lancers hadn't been able to move Pulto from where he stood over the unconscious form of his commander, and Hercules himself knew that no matter how drunkenly angry Corylus got, Pulto would be obeyed if he thought he needed to be.

"It's my honor to serve you, master," said Pulto in a sepulchral voice, "no matter how dangerous the duty may be. If I don't survive, I hope you'll see to it that my grieving widow is cared for in her final days."

Orpelia sat bolt upright, looking as furious as her rice-flour makeup allowed without cracking. "Well, really!" she said. "I'm astounded at the rural boors who claim to have been honored with knighthood!"

"Well, don't get too upset, honey," said Pulto as he and Corylus changed places. "His daddy and I were on the Rhine when your Greekling husband was being marched to Carce in chains, so it isn't us who made a slave of him."