Just a Friendly Chat

In “The Dagger,” a story in The Deadliest Deceptions, Achilles is on the trail of his old gladiator buddy, Ursus:

You could say I’d been hunting him down for years, starting at his home in Capua and then riding a hired mule from one grubby inn to the next along the Via Appia. And that was just to get to Rome. From the port of Ostia, I sailed to Athens and trekked to Ephesus, Tarsus, and a million other fleapits along the way before catching a glimpse of him in Alexandria.

But, you know, all I really wanted was to have a friendly chat with him. Just me and him. About his wife. After all, wasn’t I his old pal, Achilles? Weren’t we members of the same savage brotherhood, professionals in the arena rather than the scum the Empire was eager to exterminate?

I found my old buddy in the Rhakotis quarter, a haven for predators if there ever was one, where old whores, naked children, and idle drunks hold court in its rubble-strewn lots. There the reek of poverty, a mix of fried grease, cheap wine, piss, and desolation, leeched out of the shadows to grab me by the throat.

A friendly chat? I don’t think so. Can you guess what Achilles wants? Find out more in next week’s blog. Or, if you can’t wait, click here.