Priam’s Belt

But it was what came afterward that had caused Andreas to do what he had done. When they had dried off from the bath, Magnus led the young Greek to the bed and made long, languid love to him. It was unlike anything Magnus had done earlier, not at all like the Russian had told him the Norwegian would always do. The fucking was gentle and loving and fully satisfying.

And when it was over, Andreas told Magnus, in whispering tones as if someone beyond the side curtains of the bed were listening to them, everything. He told Magnus that he was being manipulated to authenticate the centerpiece of the Priam’s Treasure, a solid gold ram’s head belt buckle, with tatters of a woven gold belt attached that had been taken from Schliemann’s first excavation of Troy and that was fit for the Trojan king Priam himself. And Andreas told Magnus that once the belt had been authenticated, Andreas was supposed to lure the Norwegian to the Cagaloglu Hamami baths and kill him. But all Andreas wanted to do was escape—with Magnus now. He assumed that all he had to do was warn Magnus and they could disappear together beyond Tarasov’s reach and leave the belt unauthenticated.

But Magnus had listened to his tale and had shown no surprise at all. And more astonishingly, the Norwegian had said they would go ahead with the Russian’s plan—that it was reassuring that they would be permitted to leave the hidden house in the heart of the golden souk after the authentication.