A Flame in Byzantium

mute.'

'Spare me that,' he said with feeling. 'Horses. Anything else?'

Olivia gave a warning gesture toward the doors. 'Not now, not until I have spoken with my sponsor. In the meantime, I will want to have a word or two with Zejhil. Find her and send her to me, will you?'

For the benefit of anyone who might be watching, Niklos made a deep reverence. 'Immediately, great lady.'

She waved him away, but did not leave the vestibule at once herself; she stared at the door and wondered, as she had wondered often in the last three days, where Drosos was and what he was doing.

* * *

Text of a letter from Olivia to Sanct' Germain, written in Latin code.

To my dearest, oldest friend who ought to be in Trapezus now, Olivia sends her fond greetings.

I am sending this to your house in Trapezus in the hope that you will have returned there, or that if you have not, your servants will know where you are to be found and will send this along to you. You have been traveling more in these last several years, which is inconvenient for both of us.

But it appears that I will be doing the same thing. For some reason I have not yet discovered, I have aroused suspicions here in Constantinople and from the way things are going, I will have to leave soon or face consequences that would be unpleasant. What a simple word that is— unpleasant—when I am trying to say that I fear for my life; the life you returned to me when Vespasianus wore the purple. Was it really almost five hundred years ago? You will have to forgive me if I find that hard to believe. Five hundred years seems so long, looking at the numbers, yet how swiftly those years have gone.

I have not yet determined where I will go when I leave here, but leave here I must. I hate abandoning my house and goods; I have already left so much behind in Roma that I know I will never see again. And leaving my friends—although there are precious few of them—is more difficult than I can tell you. No, that's not true, is it? You, of all people, know how hard it is to leave friends.

Assuming I have time enough for adequate preparation, I think I will try to move toward the edges of the Empire, or to go to those parts that are Coptic. The Copts are not as eager to question the faith of everyone around them as these damned Orthodox Christians are. Of course the Orthodox regard the Copts as heretics, which might account for some of this; so long as I have the opportunity to live and move about without constant surveillance, I will be—satisfied?— content?

Niklos is making several sets of arrangements for our departure, some of them more obvious than others. He is a treasure, and when I think of him, I think also of your Rogerian, since they are the same sort. Is it their method of restoration that creates such loyalty?

When I have established myself at wherever-I-am-going, I will send you word, and I trust you will write to me from time to time. Your letters are always so welcome, so consoling. There are times they are sad, as well, for they remind me of how you brought me into your life. There are times I miss those years, and your love, so intently that my bones hurt with it. Yes, yes, do not say that it is past and that the bond continues unbroken. I know that, and I cherish it, but that does not rid me of the longing.

I am not going to apologize for the last, incidentally. I know that our love cannot be what it was before I came into your life, but that does not mean I have to deny that I miss it.

Perhaps, when the worst of this is over, there will be time to write more fully, to tell you things that I cannot yet put down in words. Until then, have care, my precious friend, my old love. This world would be far drearier than it already is if you were no longer in it.

With my enduring love, and you alone appreciate my meaning,

Olivia

in Constantinople

4

Panaigios was more nervous than the last time he had spoken with Simones. His fingers moved almost constantly, now at his pallium, now at the hem of his sleeves, now at the large, pearl-encrusted cross he wore around his neck. He indicated a small, unpadded bench and waited while Simones sat, then cleared his throat. 'You have said that you have made a discovery?'

'Yes,' Simones replied without any aggrandizement to the secretary of the Censor. 'I sent you word of it three days ago.'

'I have your note somewhere,' Panaigios said, leafing through the sheets of vellum and parchment that lay on his writing table. There were even a few sheets of Egyptian paper which Simones found surprising. 'Here it is. You say here that you'—he held up a strip of vellum—'have found material that would be of great value to me and to the Censor and the Emperor. You say nothing more about what this material is. Since you describe this as material, I have assumed that you have come upon a document of some sort that has some bearing on the investigation the Censor has been pursuing in regard to your master. Have I erred in any of these assumptions?'

'Not very much, no,' said Simones.

'I have also assumed that you have some reason for withholding the material itself—would it be missed?' He braced his elbows on the table and leaned forward. 'If that is the trouble, it is possible that a writ to search the house of Belisarius could be obtained from the Emperor. He is eager to learn of anything bearing on the conspiracy that Belisarius claims he has not participated in. Would this material be related to that question?' He was speaking fast and in breathless little spurts, and when he finished, he coughed once.

Simones leaned back. 'I am prepared to show you something that would establish my master's role in the conspiracy. It isn't necessary to get a writ and search the house. I can put my hands on the thing at any time, and if I choose when it is to be shown, it will not be missed.' He folded his hands and caught them around his knee. 'I want to be certain of my position in this before I go any further. Denouncing my master is a dangerous thing, and I do not want to place myself in the position of a sacrifice.' He nodded at the startled glance Panaigios threw him. 'Oh, yes, I have wondered if you were going to use me as the means to be rid of Belisarius and then you would be rid of me, as well.'

'It…it isn't the way the Censor… manages these things,' said Panaigios with unconvincing sincerity.

'I doubt that,' Simones said. 'I have heard of slaves who disappear with their masters when the masters have been shown to be enemies of the Emperor. I would not say the names, for they aren't to be spoken, are they?'

'You are insolent,' Panaigios snapped.

'Certainly.' Simones showed his teeth. 'I am serving two masters, which means that I must weigh my own interests.'

'Insolent slaves suffer for it.' Panaigios held up the vellum. 'I have this, and it places you as my agent, if I am willing to say that you have worked on my authority. If I do not say you have my authority, then you are a slave who has betrayed his master. I will have no more insolence from you.' He slammed the palm of his hand on the writing table for emphasis. There was a faint sheen of sweat on his brow.

Simones straightened up. 'I have other notes from you; I have kept them. They give instructions and they have your name on them.' He folded his arms. 'I have two things to discuss. I have mentioned the material about the conspiracy. I also want to inform you that my mistress continues to suffer declining health and it is not likely she will live more than a year given her problem.'

'Poison,' said Panaigios.

'Yes. It continues to be administered. The man who gives her the poison still does not know who has required her death. He thinks it is someone in the household, but he does not suspect me. In fact, he once asked me who might wish ill on Antonina.' He leaned forward. 'I have enrolled the aid of Eugenia, who was once the close friend of my mistress, to observe her and learn from her.'

'You said that you had the support of a friend; was this what you meant?' Panaigios tapped his fingers on the piled sheets on his writing table.

'Yes. When I reported my intentions, you encouraged me. I have tried to be useful to you.' His eyes hardened. 'I want you to be useful to me, as well.'