ARRIVAL
The patrician, Argolicus, dropped his practice sword when he heard his mother cry out. He ran from the courtyard to villa’s front, followed by his sparring partner and tutor slave, Nikolaos.
A cart stood in front of the villa at the end of the road that came up from the town of Squillace. The Ionian sea shone blue in the early morning March sun. The carter unloaded several wooden boxes, carefully placing each one on the ground. Argolicus heard his mother laugh and saw her long blond braid covered by thick arms. A large man in a plain brown robe held her close in a tremendous hug and then pushed her away.
“Uncle,” Argolicus cried in Their Language. His face broke out in a spontaneous smile.
The big man turned. “Argolicus. The Father and the Son together!”
“Worship and glorify,”
