The tide of victory

sarcastic and impertinent again.'

'Blessed jewel!' exclaimed a voice. Sitting on another divan in his favored lotus position, Ousanas cast baleful eyes on Belisarius. 'I shudder to think what would become of us,' he growled, 'without the Talisman of God to keep you sane.'

Antonina sniffed. 'My husband does not suffer from delusions of grandeur.'

'Certainly not!' agreed Ousanas. 'How could he, with a mysterious creature from the future always present in his mind? Ready-blessed jewel! — to puncture inflated notions at a moment's notice.'

Ousanas took a sip from his own goblet. Good red wine, this-no silly child's drink for him. 'Not that he has any reason for such grandiosity, of course, when you think about it. What has Belisarius actually accomplished, these past few years?'

The aqabe tsentsen of the kingdom of Axum-empire, now, since the Ethiopians had incorporated southern Arabia into their realm-waved his own hand. But there was nothing weak about that gesture. It combined the certainty of the sage with the authority of the despot.

'Not much,' he answered his own question. 'The odd Malwa army defeated here and there, entirely through the use of low-minded stratagems. The occasional rebellion incited within the Malwa empire itself.' His sniff was more flamboyant than Antonina's, nostrils fleering in contempt. 'A treasure stolen from Malwa and then given away to Maratha rebels-a foolish gesture, that! — and a princess smuggled out of captivity. Bah! There's hardly a village headman in my native land between the great lakes who could not claim as much.'

Antonina grinned. As a rule, disrespect toward her husband was guaranteed to bring a hot response. But from Ousanas-

Axum's aqabe tsentsen was not Ethiopian himself. Ousanas had been born and bred in the heartland of Africa far to the south of the highlands. But he had spent years as the dawazz to Prince Eon, a post whose principal duty was to nip royal self-aggrandizement in the bud. Eon was now the negusa nagast of Axum, the 'King of Kings,' and Ousanas had become the most powerful official in his realm. But the former hunter and former slave still had his old habits.

And, besides, they were close friends. So close, in fact, that Ousanas was the most frequently cited 'lover' of the huge male harem which Antonina was reputed to maintain. By now, of course-after Antonina had played a central role in crushing the Malwa-instigated Nika rebellion in Constantinople, reestablished imperial authority in Egypt and the Levant, and led the naval expedition which had rescued Belisarius and his army after their destruction of the Malwa logistics base at Charax-not even the scandal-mongering Greek aristocracy gave more than token respect to the slanders. The Malwa espionage service had long since realized that the rumors had been fostered by Antonina herself, in order to divert their attention from her key role in her husband's strategy.

So, knowing Ousanas, Antonina responded in kind. 'Yes, surely. But what Bantu headman can claim to have put his stepson on the throne of the Roman Empire?'

Ousanas snorted. 'Rome? Bah!' He leaned forward, gesticulating eagerly. 'A realm of peddlers and peasants! No, no, Antonina-for true grandeur you must visit the great and mysterious empires in central Africa! The cities are paved with silver and jade, the palaces cut from pure crystals. The emperors-every one of them a former headman from my native region, you understand-are borne to the gold-inlaid toilets on elephants draped with-'

'And the elephants shit diamonds themselves,' interrupted Ezana. The Axumite naval commander-he was a native-born Ethiopian-gave Ousanas a sour glance. 'It's odd how these marvelous African empires of his keep moving further south as we Axumites extend our rule.' Another sniff was added. 'So far, though, all we seem to encounter are illiterate heathen savages scrabbling in the dirt.'

Ousanas began some retort, but Ezana drove over it. 'The Persian girl does not concern me, Belisarius. Not by herself. As young as she is, Sudaba is not a stranger to campaigns. She was with Agathius at the Nehar Malka, after all. Any Persian noblewoman who could manage on board one of those miserable river barges'-the inevitable Axumite pride in their naval expertise surfaced-'can surely manage aboard one of our craft.'

That contented thought gave way to a scowl: 'But if this starts a mudslide of women demanding to accompany their men-' Ezana swiveled his head and brought another occupant of the salon under his cold scrutiny. 'My own half-sister, soon enough!'

Under that hard gaze, the pale face of young Menander turned pink with embarrassment. The Roman officer knew that Ezana was aware of his intimate relationship with Deborah, but he still found the casual manner in which Ethiopians handled such things unsettling. Menander was too close enough to the Thracian village of his upbringing not to be a bit edgy. In his village, the half-brother of a seduced sister would have blood in his eye. And no Thracian villager was half as skilled and experienced in mayhem and slaughter as Ezana!

'I've already spoken to her about it,' he muttered. 'She agreed to stay behind.' Guiltily: 'Well. in Charax, anyway.'

'Marvelous,' grunted Ezana. 'Our precious naval base is about to become as populous as Bharakuccha. The women will be bad enough.' His next words caused Menander to turn beet red. 'The inevitable squalling brats which follow will practically carpet the city. Our stevedores will be tripping all over them trying to load our warships. Our soldiers will have to fight their way to the docks.'

Belisarius sighed and spread his hands. 'Yes, Ezana-I know. But I can't accomplish miracles. As it is, we'll still manage to keep the camp followers to a bare minimum.' He tried to rally his pride. 'In proportion, we'll have the smallest baggage train since Xenophon's march to the sea.'

'Marvelous,' grunted Ousanas. 'Perhaps we should follow his lead then. Strand ourselves in the middle of the Malwa empire and try to fight our way out.'

Menander recovered his aplomb. Young and sometimes bashful he might be, but no one had ever accused him of cowardice. 'We already did that,' he pointed out cheerfully. 'Only a handful of us, of course, not Xenophon's fabled ten thousand. I much prefer the current prospect. Marching into Malwa, with over a hundred thousand!'

'You won't be in that number,' retorted Ezana. 'No, boy. You're for the cut and thrust of boarding parties.'

'Me?' Menander's eyes widened in mock astonishment. 'Nonsense. I'm the gunnery specialist. I am required to stay back while Axumite marines storm across the decks. My duties-'

The last occupant of the salon now spoke. 'Bullshit, boy!' John of Rhodes rose from his divan and planted his arms akimbo. 'The real gunnery specialist is Eusebius-who's too nearsighted to storm a latrine, anyway. And since I'm the commander of the gunship fleet, that leaves you as the top Roman officer in the armada to show these haughty black fellows'-he and the two Africans exchanged grins-'how to wield hand weapons properly in the close quarters of a desperate boarding operation.'

'That's nonsense, also,' said Antonina. She drained the rest of her goblet. 'If all goes as planned, there won't be any boarding operations. Just the dazzling maneuvers of warships firing cannons at long range, destroying the Malwa with precision and style.'

And that, of course, brought a storm of criticism and outrage.

Idiot! Have you learned nothing?

The First Law of Battle!

Every battle plan in history-

'— gets fucked up as soon as the enemy arrives,' she finished. 'Men. Such slobs. Everything always has to be messy and untidy.' Serenely: 'Fortunately, this expedition will have a woman's hand on the rudder.'

Five pairs of male eyes, ranging in color from bright blue to deepest brown, joined in condemnation of such folly.

Antonina poured herself another goblet. 'Trust me,' she said, still with absolute serenity. 'You'll see.'

* * *

Belisarius' final meeting of the day took place late that night, in the back room of a small tavern to which he had come cloaked in secrecy.

'There's nothing more I can tell you,' he concluded. 'If we hear anything further, of course, I'll let you know. But since you'll be off as soon as Ezana can finish assembling his small fleet, I don't imagine there'll be anything else.'