lacks testicles is unable to turn traitor or be of a warlike disposition. With some this is true, but not with all. I pray that the Emperor will remember this.'
'Do you?' Antonina demanded.
'Yes. We are all required to pray for the Emperor, aren't we? The pope where I worship exhorts us often to ask God's especial care for the Emperor's benefit so that he might never lose the wisdom that a ruler must have, and which must come from God.' He had the knack of showing correct piety, and he now enjoyed its success again. 'I am filled with fault, as man is, but the Emperor is not one who can afford similar faults.'
Both women murmured the required response—'Grace of God shine over us'—and then Antonina indicated the wine-soaked pillow.
'Take this away, and bring wine and something to eat. And remember that you are not exempt from the rules that govern a slave's conduct.' She waited in silence as Simones picked up the pillow and started for the door. 'And Simones?' she called after him. 'I never want to hear you speak out again, on any matter. If you do, I will have to send you to market or give you to… someone I dislike. You do understand me, don't you?'
This time his reverence was perfect. 'In all things, great lady. I am grateful for your correction.'
As soon as he was gone, Eugenia leaned forward. 'Do you think that you ought to keep him? He seems… dangerous.'
'In a household like this one, all slaves are dangerous,' Antonina sighed. 'If my husband were not so much in disfavor, then I might insist that we be rid of him at once, but any slave we purchased to replace him is almost certain to be the creature of one courtier or another. Simones lacks respect, but he has been in this household for more than ten years and he is loyal. As things stand, that is worth more than conduct.' She leaned back once more. 'Oh, Eugenia, I am sorry that I have turned out to have so little use to you.'
'You must not expose yourself and your husband to greater indignities,' said Eugenia with a primness that did not match her look. 'And it fills me with dismay that I must make the choice I must. I have consoled myself with the realization that if I were married, my husband would forbid me to come to visit you at all, if he were connected to the court. We would not have this chance to speak.'
Antonina nodded. 'Yes. And it might have been wiser if you had done that. But still, I am glad that you were willing to see me.'
'I… I will not see your husband,' Eugenia stipulated, her cheeks becoming flushed.
'No, of course not,' Antonina concurred. 'There would be no good for any of us if you did.' She sneezed suddenly and wiped at her eyes. 'The storm has brought illness with it.'
'You should apply to one of the Greek physicians to give you a tincture for it,' Eugenia advised. Greek physicians were trusted more than most, and it was fashionable to have one come to treat minor ailments. Serious disease was another matter: for that you summoned the nearest pope for his prayers and then summoned an Egyptian.
'Perhaps I ought,' said Antonina. 'But there are herbs here that I can use myself. I am afraid of what a physician might be bribed to give me.'
'Why would anyone want to poison you?' Eugenia asked. 'You have taken precautions to protect your husband, so why would anyone wish to injure you?'
'I don't know, but the Censor is a man who needs no reason beyond his whim.' She coughed once and then looked up as Simones returned bearing a tray. 'And hot wine. Hot wine will cure most simple ills except hangnails.'
Both women were able to smile at this minor witticism, and they watched as their cups were filled again.
'I have taken the liberty, great lady,' Simones said in his most neutral tone, 'to request one of the cooks to make honied lamb with onions and rosemary that you like so well.'
Antonina showed faint approval. 'Your gesture is accepted, Simones,' she said, and indicated her guest. 'Be sure that there is something for Eugenia as well. My guest would not be pleased to watch me eat with nothing for herself.'
'Of course,' said Simones, and made his reverence as he withdrew.
'He knows he went too far,' Eugenia said as soon as the slave left the room. 'He's making amends, isn't he?'
'He's trying,' Antonina allowed. 'He also knows that if he were sold now, he would not find a master who would please him even as much as my husband does now in his current position.'
Eugenia helped herself to the wine. 'You must not see many visitors.'
'Not welcome ones,' Antonina confirmed darkly.
'Who calls on you?' She was wondering how conspicuous her own visit would be, and how much of a risk she had taken in coming.
'A few of the officers call, but they must come with a pope with the Censor's approval. Drosos has been here most often. I have seen the widows of those officers who fell in Italy and Africa.' She stared at the window, angry with the storm. 'The relatives who are not at court have visited me, and a few of my husband's mother's family have come. That Roman widow Olivia has been here three times. The four daughters of Aristinos Pavko have been here, but now that they are religious, they are bound by the rules of their community, and we have little we may discuss.'
'That's all?' Eugenia asked, horrified at the degree to which she had exposed herself to censure.
'All that are welcome. You see how things have changed here. A year ago I would not have been eager to listen to four young women tell me why it is heretical to believe that the nature of Christ was more divine than human.' She finished the wine in her cup and filled it again.
By the time Eugenia left her hostess, she was feeling reckless and light-headed. Her visit, which seemed the most terrible folly an hour before, now felt more pleasant, an adventure that had an air of heroism about it because of what it did for Antonina. Let others hesitate and worry and keep away for fear of what the Censor might say; she, Eugenia, would not be intimidated. She would visit her old friend and show that she had the same strength of purpose as Belisarius' officers. In this frame of mind, she was almost to the door, and thinking of a few pithy things to say to the Guards, when she noticed that Simones was waiting for her.
'Come to apologize to me?' she asked, her words not quite as crisp as usual. 'Or do you want me to intercede for you and get you back into your mistress' favor?'
'Neither,' Simones said. 'I want to arrange a few things with you.'
Eugenia was too astonished to be affronted. 'With me? You?'
'I have to find someone who will assist me, and you are the most promising. Antonina trusts you and she wants to see you. She believes that you will not desert her as most of the others have done, and you still can benefit from her favor, which none of her other friends could.' He watched her, curious to see what her reaction would be.
'What if I go back to her right now and tell her what you have said?' There was a speculative light in her eyes and she waited to hear what Simones would say.
'That would not be wise,' said Simones. 'You might be rid of me, but another would come in my place and he might decide that Antonina is to be kept in isolation for the good of the Emperor.'
'And you?' asked Eugenia, curious and becoming apprehensive.
'I know that my mistress is distressed and lonely, which is unfortunate. I know that no matter what she says, she is eager for your company and wishes that you might continue to visit her in spite of the risk that such visits entail. You do not know how devastating this has been, and you do not know how much she has longed for the Emperor to relax the restrictions against this household. But that isn't going to happen for some time yet.' He watched her. 'She depends upon you, although she does not know it.'
'Why do you tell me this?' She was aware that Simones had no reason to sacrifice so much to Antonina, and she suspected the level of dislike the slave had for his mistress.
'Because I need assistance,' he said bluntly. 'I have been ordered'—he used the word deliberately—'to watch and make note of all that happens in this household. Certainly I do what I must because of the order of the Emperor and his Censor. I am in no position to do otherwise.'
'And what if Antonina discovers your duplicity?' Eugenia asked with malice in her smile.
'Why should she know anything of it?' countered Simones with a distinct threat in his tone.
'Anything might happen. And then off to the copper mines?' She shrugged.