Killing Pythagoras (Mediterranean Prize Winner 2015) by Marcos Chicot Read Free Book Online

overflowed its banks. The Pharaoh himself had asked him to teach Pythagoras that science which the Egyptians had been developing for centuries. The charismatic Greek spent many days with Akenon and his father. Akenon’s mother, a native of Athens, had passed away the previous year, and his father was all the family Akenon had left. They had shared their table on many occasions with Pythagoras, who had even slept at their house more than once when the animated conversation carried on unexpectedly into the early hours of the morning.
    He smiled without realizing it. His recollection of Pythagoras was of a fascinating man who had been very kind to him and always told Akenon he had great abilities. Such praise from his father’s and the Pharaoh’s friend used to make him swell up with pride. In those days, Akenon studied with his father, and at thirteen already knew quite a lot about geometry. He would have made a good geometrician if life hadn’t pushed him down a different path.
    As the years went by, Pythagoras’ name had become famous all over the world. Now and again, Akenon would hear about him, about his growing influence, and his wonderful deeds. Three decades had gone by without seeing him, and he was happy that the grand master remembered him, though less pleased to learn that he wanted to hire his services. With the silver he had earned from Glaucus, he had been hoping to fulfill his dream of forgetting about investigations and crimes for a few years.
    He nodded briefly, lifting his eyes toward Ariadne.
    “I’ll go with you. I’m very much looking forward to seeing Pythagoras again. However, I don’t think I’ll be able to stay and take on any work. I plan to set sail in a few days.”
    “I appreciate you coming with us,” Ariadne replied. “As for the rest, it’s probably best if you speak to Pythagoras.”
    And I doubt you’ll refuse him. No one does .
     
     
    At that very moment, fifty miles from Ariadne and Akenon, Pythagoras was taking a solitary stroll in a forest not far from the community. He walked slowly, absorbed in his thoughts, shaking his head now and again. The great weight he carried on his shoulders caused him to stoop instead of standing tall, with dignity, as he usually did.
    Behind him, hidden among the pines, someone was spying on the grand master. He had been following him for a while. Like Pythagoras, Cleomenides’ death was on his mind. However, unlike the master, the thought brought him great delight.

 
     
    CHAPTER 9
    April 17 th , 510 B.C.
     
     
    Akenon felt instant euphoria once they left the last houses of Sybaris behind them.
    The sensation was so intense and pleasurable it was almost dizzying: a mixture of happiness and energy that came from having successfully completed a job and left behind a situation where he had feared for his life. He was also carrying in his saddlebags two sacks of silver, a genuine treasure trove. Mingled with this was the excitement of being on the road again, almost on vacation, in a region unknown to him, with a woman he was finding more and more attractive as time went by.
    They had been traveling for three hours, hugging the coast. The sun was high in the cloudless sky, and the temperature had grown deliciously mild. Akenon noticed that the terrain was becoming increasingly rugged as they moved further from Sybaris. Ariadne, at that moment, was riding just behind him. Her two companions kept their distance behind them, riding in total silence, seemingly engrossed in meditation on their mules.
    Akenon had exchanged a few words with Ariadne, but it couldn’t be called a conversation. Although she answered his questions, she referred him to Pythagoras whenever he asked her anything about his reasons for wanting him to go to Croton. Despite her reserve, Akenon thought he could detect in Ariadne’s silences and the way she looked at him that she was not indifferent to him. In Carthage, he had been quite successful with women, and there was no