A Flame in Byzantium

would find a way; she always had. By the time she left the library, she was in command of herself.

Captain Demitrios greeted her return with more respect than he had shown her at first. 'We are truly sorry for this'—he paused, trying to find a delicate word for intrusion—'necessity, but a soldier is the tool of the state.'

'Yes; I am aware of that,' said Olivia. 'Perhaps you might tell me what you are ordered to look for?'

'There are a number of things,' he answered evasively. 'It is spelled out in the writ. The General will explain it all to you when he gets here.'

Olivia bit back a sharp retort and forced herself to say, 'I trust that he will. I trust that someone will. For to be candid, Captain, I do not understand why I am being treated in this way. Everything I brought with me to Konstantinoupolis was on the shipping manifests, and they were approved when I arrived here. There were other items of mine that we found here being sold, which were identified as contraband. What else do you think I have?'

'Great lady, it is not for me to discuss these matters. I have no knowledge of the reason the Censor wishes to have your house searched.' He sounded so wooden and formal that Olivia wanted to kick him, to find out if he would feel it at all.

'Then how will you know if you find what the Censor—' She interrupted herself. 'I suppose all that is in the document.'

Captain Demitrios set his jaw. 'Precisely.'

'Then, if it is acceptable to you, I will leave you to withdraw to my quarters. Post your guards as you must. I hope it is permissible for me to have one of my slaves attend me while my majordomo is on his errand?' She hated the sound of her voice and wanted to scream at herself for hypocrisy, at the same time knowing it was the most sensible thing to do.

'We will strive not to disturb you, great lady,' said Captain Demitrios, relieved enough to show her a slight reverence.

'You have already done that, Captain, through no fault of your own. I am now going to strive to minimize the impact of your presence on my household.' She gave him a brief, hard look, then turned and went down the hall. 'Zejhil!' she shouted. 'I want you to come to my rooms!'

Most of the household slaves heard Olivia's order, and three of them took it upon themselves to find Zejhil for her, so that by the time the Tartar slave reached Olivia's apartments, she was worried that something more dreadful than the soldiers had happened to her mistress.

Niklos returned a short while later accompanied not by Belisarius but by Captain Chrysanthos, who was visiting the General. 'He has authorization from Belisarius,' said Niklos, who had already given Chrysanthos the benefit of his view of the situation.

Captain Demitrios watched Chrysanthos open the document and listened while he read aloud the items that Olivia was suspected of having including a sizable list of banned books, several of which Niklos recognized as the volumes Olivia had found added to the ones in her shelves.

'This is quite an indictment, if it is accurate,' Chrysanthos said when he had finished reading.

'There are those who have sworn that it is,' said Captain Demitrios grimly.

'And if they are in error?' Chrysanthos asked, adding, 'I am charged by General Belisarius to discover what will be done to anyone bringing false accusations against Olivia Clemens.'

'I was not informed,' said Captain Demitrios. 'It is not for me to know of that.'

'Then perhaps you will be good enough to deliver this note from General Belisarius to the office of the Censor. As the great lady's sponsor, he is obligated to ask these things.' It was one of Chrysanthos' gifts that he had a frank and open face, one that expressed good fellowship so easily that few noticed the acute, canny eyes that missed little.

Captain Demitrios took the note and looked at the seal. 'I will report this to Panaigios when we return to the palace,' he said, and was about to summon his men for the search when Chrysanthos detained him.

'I fear that the General has charged me with requiring you to deliver this to Kimon Athanatadies himself. You will do that, will you not?' He waited until the Captain agreed.

The search lasted until after sunset; in the end the soldiers carried away three ivory-inlaid chairs, two jeweled ikons, an antique table, a tall Egyptian lyre, four leather-bound books, two bolts of linen, and a marble portrait bust made more than three hundred years before of a man Olivia called her oldest friend.

'Things of value are always suspect,' Olivia said to Captain Demitrios as he offered her a copy of the list of what had been removed. She made no attempt to hide her bitterness.

'I will provide Captain Chrysanthos with a copy of this list; he can take it to General Belisarius.' Captain Demitrios paused awkwardly. 'It is true that the General is not in favor now, but there are those who first served under him, and we do not like to see the way in which he is treated. I am sorry that this new disgrace had to come to him, after all the other slights and indignities he has had to endure. You will tell him that, will you not?'

'I?' Olivia asked. 'Or would you prefer that Chrysanthos tell him?'

'It… He is your sponsor and we have taken things from your house, which he is responsible for, and it is—' He looked toward Chrysanthos. 'Can you explain this to her?'

'I cannot explain it to myself,' Chrysanthos said without losing his cordial manner. 'I am hoping that the Censor will be able to.'

The Captain of the Guard took the note as if he expected it to burst into flame. 'I will deliver this. What the Censor will have to say, I cannot guess.'

'He will tell you that it was necessary to do this,' said Olivia. 'And if it is done, then leave my house. My slaves are upset, I am upset, and you have taken some of my most treasured possessions on the pretext that they are dangerous.' She indicated the door.

'The Emperor demands—' Captain Demitrios began, but Chrysanthos indicated the door.

'It is late, Captain, and there is not going to be a satisfactory justification of these seizures now. You have done what you had to do. It would be best if you departed with your men.' He saw a quick gesture of approval from Niklos.

Captain Demitrios did not cavil. 'I will see to your requests as if they came from Belisarius himself.' He saluted Chrysanthos and left, signaling his troops to come with him as he strode away from the house.

'They're nothing more than brigands with permission!' Olivia accused the closed door.

'If you had said that to Captain Demitrios, he would have had to report it to the Censor, and that would have given him the excuse to summon you for formal questioning. I don't think that you want that to happen.' Chrysanthos looked at her, waiting for her to master her temper. 'I know that Drosos would not want that to happen.'

She turned to him. 'Drosos.'

'You know what he has been like…' Chrysanthos said, his aplomb deserting him for the first time that day. 'There has been nothing either I or Belisarius could say that consoles him. You are the only one. If I felt no obligation to you, I feel one to him, and I do not want you to fall into the hands of the Censor while Drosos is in such trouble.'

Niklos indicated the hall toward the rear of the house. 'I will see about getting the slaves fed. That is if Urania and Xanthos are not wholly overwhelmed by what's happened.' He put his hand on Olivia's shoulder briefly. 'Listen to the man, Olivia. He has good sense and he knows this place. You are a stranger here.'

She closed her eyes in acknowledgment. 'I will try,' she said to her bondsman, and once he was gone, she indicated the smaller of the reception rooms. 'Will you sit? I think there are enough chairs left for that.'

Chrysanthos' easy smile had deserted him. 'That was unforgivable. I will tell Belisarius to petition for the return of your goods at once.'

Olivia looked weary as she sat down on the padded bench. 'I have asked for permission to leave Konstantinoupolis; did you know? So far I've been refused, but I have continued to request permission.'

'But where would you go? You cannot return to Roma, or Italy, for that matter.'

'There are other places. I have a few friends left in the world and there are places I could go.' She paused. 'If you want something from the kitchen it might take a while to get it, but you are more than welcome.'

He waved her offer aside. 'There's no need. You have enough to do without worrying about me. But you sidestepped an answer, great lady. Where would you go?'

Olivia took a long breath. 'I have thought I might go to Ptolemais. I have not visited Africa for a long