“What is this, Teacher?” I said, glancing up at Kerynis. The man stood with his arms folded, watching Antipater’s reaction with a look of wry amusement.
“This document is a précis, or list of contents, of the Books of Secret Wisdom,” said Antipater. “Extraordinary! If even half of these formulas work …”
“Such a collection would be of incalculable value,” said Kerynis, finishing Antipater’s thought. He laughed. “And so you may wonder: why am I willing to sell it?” He patted the satchel. “Here’s the fact: a lot of these books are rubbish, plain and simple. You make up the witch’s brew exactly as it’s written, following the recipe to the tiniest degree, but instead of growing two heads, you just get indigestion. But I ask you: who wants two heads anyway?” Again he laughed. “And some of the volumes are pure nonsense. All the stuff about Chaldean stargazing—even if you could tell the future by reading the stars, who’d want to? Life is too dull as it is. I prefer to be surprised. As for the book of Hebrew proverbs, those I can take or leave.” He shrugged.
“It sounds like you’ve done quite a bit of reading in these books,” said Antipater.
“Indeed I have. Don’t let my appearance fool you. I know what you think when you look at me: pirate. What other sort of man walks around wearing all that jewelry, ready to hock it all at a moment’s notice in case he has to get out of town fast? But in fact, my father was a scholar at the Library of Alexandria, and I grew up among books. I could recite Hesiod before I was toilet-trained—‘Some days are like a stepmother, but others like a mother.’ ” He laughed. “My life’s taken a few twists and turns since then, but I know the value of the written word.”
“So you’re telling me the Books of Secret Wisdom are worthless?” Antipater looked crestfallen.
“I didn’t say that, my friend.” Kerynis patted the satchel and glanced down at the tightly packed leather cylinders. “Among these books are some works of true genius. The problem is separating the wheat from the chaff. You could do that using trial and error, but that could take a lifetime—or shorten your lifetime, if you make a mistake.”
“A mistake?”
Kerynis nodded. “You’ll find a lot of love spells in these books. That’s what most people are interested in and willing to pay money for. Now, me, I’ve never had a problem reeling in just about any pretty fish I took a fancy to, but for some people, I understand this can be a problem. So in these scrolls you’ll find a lot of spells for that, and a lot of potions. But let’s say that some rich toad hires you to make up one of these potions and administer it to the pretty girl or boy he has his eye on, and the potion works well enough—at first—but turns out to be poisonous.” He whistled and blew out his cheeks. “You’ve never seen anybody madder than a paying customer who’s found himself in bed with a corpse, no matter how pretty, and thinks it’s your fault. Believe me, I know. I’ve been there.”
“So you have used these books?” said Antipater. “You’ve tested them?”
“In bits and pieces. But I haven’t devoted my life to it, which is what a man would have to do to make sense of it all. Candidly? It’s just not worth my time. I don’t need sorcery. I prefer direct action if you know what I mean. If I see something I want, I take it. I don’t need to use mind control or to make myself invisible.”
“Invisible?” Antipater whispered. “Is there really such a formula? The man I spoke to last night indicated …”
“Yes, that was my confederate. He knows a little of what’s in these books, but not much.”
“But he did mention invisibility.”
“Oh, yes. And he conveyed to me your particular interest in that area. So I went to the trouble of looking up that particular passage …” Kerynis rummaged about in the satchel for a while, cursing when he couldn’t seem to find what he was looking for. “Oh wait, here it is!”
From an especially battered leather cylinder, he extracted an especially tattered piece of papyrus.
“May I see it?” said Antipater, with a quaver in his voice.
“Careful! It’s ready to fall to pieces. You can see where a corner fell off yesterday when I was making up the formula.”
“You actually made a potion of invisibility?”
“Oh, yes. And not for the first time. But it’s not easy! Some of the ingredients are almost impossible to find, and you have to mix them just so.” Kerynis reached deeper into his satchel and drew out a small vial made of dark green glass with a cork stopper.
“Is that it?” Antipater asked.
“The real thing,” said Kerynis with a smile. “I brewed it myself, last night.”
“But how …?”
Kerynis nodded at the scroll. “Read the instructions.”
Antipater pored over the piece of papyrus and began to read aloud. “ ‘Take the left foot of the creature called a chameleon—’ ”
“The left foot, notice,” said Kerynis. “Front or back doesn’t make a difference, but do not use a right foot. I’ve made that mistake, and the result is not pretty. Go on.”
“ ‘Add an equal measure of the herb called chameleon’—what is that?”
Kerynis shrugged. “It grows hereabouts. Down in Egypt, too.”
Antipater nodded. “ ‘Roast in a furnace until brown but not blackened, then pulverize and mix with an unguent made of …’ ” He read silently for a while and nodded. “Yes, this recipe is simple enough. ‘Decant into a glass container.’ ”
“Glass, not metal!” said Kerynis. “Any kind of metal will make it go bad right away.”
“Ah! Good to know.” Antipater turned back to the scroll. “ ‘Kept stoppered, this concoction will retain its efficacy indefinitely. Allows the user to go about in a throng unseen. Ingest only the smallest dose on first use, and larger doses thereafter as needed.’ ”
Kerynis nodded. “You have to take larger and larger doses to make it work. I’ve done it so many times, now I’d have to swallow this whole vial to make myself invisible, and even then you’d probably still be able to see me in bright light. But if you’ve never used it before, a couple of drops on the tongue should do the trick, as least for a few minutes.”
“Fantastic!” said Antipater. “Are you saying I can try it?”
“Of course.”
“Here and now?”
“Why not? But I should warn you, it may make you feel a bit strange.”
“Strange?”
“Woozy. A little odd. Light-headed. Not drunk, exactly. It can be slightly unpleasant, but that’s the price you pay.”
Antipater frowned. “But otherwise it’s safe?”
Kerynis spread his arms. “Look at me. Still alive, and with all my senses.”
Antipater picked up the vial and pulled out the stopper. He held it to his nose and then thrust it away, replacing the stopper. “That smell! It’s vile.”
Kerynis smirked. “I never said it tasted good.”
I could stay silent no longer. “Teacher, are you sure you want to do this?”
“As a matter of fact, Gordianus, I’ve wanted to do this since I was a boy. I never dreamed I would have the chance.” Antipater stared at the vial for a long moment. “I’m going to do it! Then we’ll sit here until it takes effect, and you, my boy, will tell me how well it works.”
Kerynis shook his head. “That’s probably not going to work. As a test, I mean.”
“Why not?” said Antipater.
“Am I right that the two of you are traveling together?”
“Yes.”
“And you have been for quite some time?”
“For over a year.”
“Seeing each other pretty much every day?”