Beloved

'About whether I carried the emperor's child,' was her reply.

'Do you?' He looked closely at her.

'No,' Zenobia replied, 'I do not. Oh, I know that the emperor thinks I do, but that is Aurelian's own desperation. You are not a fool, Gaius Cicero. You cannot believe that I care for Aurelian! I am an imperial captive. I have done what I had to to survive, to insure my children's survival. I have loved but two men in my life-my late husband and Marcus Alexander Britainus.'

'But I thought you hated Marcus for marrying Carissa.' Gaius Cicero shook his head. 'Give me a simple woman like my Clodia.'

'You must go to Marcus when you are released, Gaius Cicero. You must go to him, and tell him that I have been arrested. He will know what to do. And Gaius, remember your first loyalty is to your wife and family. I have warned you.'

'Do not fear, Majesty,' was his reply. 'It is simply a misunderstanding.'

'I know nothing for certain, Gaius Cicero, yet I do know that if I have been ordered arrested it is because the senate would be certain that I am not with child-Aurelian's child, his heir. When they are sure of that then I am certain to be released. Still I would have Marcus know where I am, Gaius Cicero. Will you promise to tell him for me?'

'Very well, Majesty, I promise you.' He paused, and then he said, 'I wonder if they will kill me because I am the emperor's aide.'

'I do not think so, Gaius Cicero. Simply pledge your fealty to Rome, to the new emperor. Seek out Senator Tacitus, and explain to him that you are naught but a simple soldier, not a politician. He is a fair man, and he will protect you. So will your family. Yours is an old and honorable name, Cicero.'

Gaius Cicero looked heartened by her words. 'You are probably right. Had I been with the emperor I surely would have been struck down, but the gods seemed to have arranged differently.'

Too quickly they were in Rome, and Zenobia found herself being escorted into a building of deceptively innocent white marble. Fabius Marcellus took her by the arm and presented her to the jailor.

'I have the prisoner, Zenobia of Palmyra, on the senate's orders. She is to be held for interrogation.'

Fabius Marcellus loosened his grip on her arm, and Zenobia turned to Gaius Cicero. 'Do not forget your promise, Gaius Cicero,' she said before following after the jailor.

They went through a door, and the stink that suddenly assailed her was worse than anything she had ever smelled. She gasped, and coughed, sudden tears coming to her eyes. 'You'll get used to it,' the jailor said matter- of-factly.

'Never!' she said. 'What on earth is it?'

'The stink of human misery,' he answered her.

Glancing around her as she followed after the jailor, Zenobia shuddered with distaste. They were moving down a flight of stairs and she could see that both the steps and the walls were slippery with slime. Pitch torches stuck in crude iron holders lit the way, flickering smokily and eerily. Reaching the bottom of the steps, he led her along a corridor lined with small wooden doors; there was no sound but the occasional rustle of rodents in the straw that lined the way. At the very end of the corridor he stopped, removed his key ring from his belt, and unlocked a door.

'In there, my fine lady,' he said, pointing through the open door.

Zenobia ducked her head as she moved through the entry and into the cell. Behind her the door slammed, and she heard the lock scraping as the jailor turned the key in it. A quick look around the room convinced her that she was alone, and she breathed easier. Free now to explore her surroundings, she noted that the cell was small and obviously below ground level, for there was no window. A small pitch torch lit it, and for that she was grateful. If she had been thrown into darkness it would have been utterly terrifying, like being buried alive in one's tomb. There was straw on the floor, and in an alcove in the wall a cracked pitcher of tepid water had been set. There was nothing else to see, and so she sat down on the floor to wait. After a while she dozed.

She was startled awake by the sound of the key in the lock again, and quickly scrambled to her feet with pounding heart to face two men who came into the cell.

'You may close the door,' one of the men said to the jailor, who instantly complied.

The other turned to Zenobia and bowed politely. 'Majesty, I am Celsus, the physician. I have been appointed by the senate to examine you to determine whether or not you are with child.'

'I understand,' Zenobia replied. 'What would you have me do, Celsus?'

The physician looked to the other man. 'This is an impossible place in which to examine a patient, Senator.'

'Nevertheless the senate commands it,' was the reply.

'Does the senate think I might have a clean basin with some warm water, and additional light, Senator?'

The senator flushed. 'Of course. You may see to it while I entertain Queen Zenobia. Hurry! This place is disgusting, and I wish to leave as quickly as possible.'

The physician bowed sarcastically, called to the jailor, and left with him to obtain what he needed. The other man looked long at Zenobia, finally saying, 'I am Senator Valerian Hostilius, Majesty. I have been appointed by the senate to oversee this examination.'

'I remember you, Senator. I believe you wished to feed me to the lions the last time we met,' Zenobia said scornfully.

'It would have been better if the senate had listened to me,' Hostilius said. 'We can have no heirs of Aurelian!'

'I am not with child, Senator,' Zenobia said calmly.

'So you say! So you say! I, however, was in the Temple of the Unconquerable Sun the night of the rites. The emperor was like a stallion that night! He was the god! He was! And you are the goddess! Even I can see it.' Hostilius licked his lips excitedly. 'Every one of the women he took that night has conceived a child, and you tell me you are not with child. I will not believe it unless the physician says it is so!'

'Those women coupled with every man at that obscene orgy, not just the emperor,' Zenobia snapped at him. 'Aurelian is not capable of siring a child! His own wife says it.' Then a horrifying thought crossed her mind. 'What has happened to those women that Aurelian took that night?' she asked.

'Dead!' was his answer. 'All dead. We could have no spawn of Aurelian coming back to haunt us.'

'By the gods,' she whispered, 'you are all mad!'

At that moment the physician returned with the jailor, and the required items. While the jailor set more light about the cell, the physician placed his basin of warm water upon the alcove shelf and washed his hands.

'You will have to disrobe, Majesty,' he said somewhat apologetically, and then snapped at the openmouthed jailor, 'Out! Out, you vermin! There is nothing for you to see here.' The jailor scuttled away slamming the door as he went.

'Must he be here?' Zenobia demanded, looking at Hostilius.

'I remain on the senate's orders lest you coerce this man into lying.'

'What?' Celsus looked outraged. 'My reputation is one of honesty, Valerian Hostilius!'

'Nonetheless I remain on the senate's orders,' was the pompous reply.

Celsus looked to Zenobia. 'I am sorry, Majesty. I have never before examined a patient under such circumstances, and I do apologize.'

She nodded sympathetically at him, and men said, 'What must I do?'

'When you have disrobed, you will please to lie upon the straw here.'

Ignoring Hostilius, Zenobia removed her clothing and lay down upon the straw. She could feel the chill of the cell now, and involuntarily she shuddered. His look offered commiseration.

The physician palpated her stomach and examined her breasts. Then taking infinite care not to hurt her, he gently examined her internally. Finally satisfied, Celsus arose from his position on the floor and, washing his hands again, said, 'Queen Zenobia is not with child, Senator. I will tender my report in writing to the senate, but you may tell them that she is absolutely, positively not with child.'

Zenobia sat up, somewhat lightheaded. 'Then I can be released?'

'Unless the senate has other reasons for retaining you in custody, Majesty, I can see no reason why you can't