Chapter 31Aeneas stood at the prow of the Chimera. His clothes were waterlogged, the chill reaching into his chest. An ash spear and ox-hide shield he had fished from the hold were in his hands, a sword strapped to his back. The baldric was snug against his chest. He wished there was some armour to go with it. Pyrrhos’s ship was a speck in the distance, just visible through the gossamer rains. The weather was getting worse.
Aeneas pointed. ‘There he is. More speed.’
‘Row! Row, you lazy sons of bitches, row!’ yelled Palinuros behind him.
‘Watch your mouth,’ Beroe snapped. ‘I’m nobody’s son.’
Somebody in the galley began to pound a steady rhythm upon a drum, and the rowers pulled in time. The technique was normally reserved for slaves rather than volunteers, but this was their only chanc
