and strength.' Bending, she placed a kiss upon his icy lips. 'Farewell, my husband! May Charon guide you across the Styx to that place where all the great end!' Then, turning, she hurried from the tomb.
Al-Zena withdrew within herself, and even her faithful slave woman, Ala, could not reach her. She blamed her son's death on herself. 'If only,' she wept to Zenobia, 'I had not sought to make mischief by using Linos and Vermis, Odenathus would be alive today. I have caused the death of my own son, and two of my grandsons! The gods have indeed punished me for my wicked meddling!' Not even Zenobia could reason with her. She mourned deeply, stopped eating, and within the month was dead, too. She was buried with suitable pomp in the same tomb as Odenathus.
Returning once again from the cemetery, Zenobia burst out, The gods! I am so sick of death!' And then she fainted. Her female weakness was put down to the great pressures she had been under. Within the next few weeks, however, the queen found her appetite not at all as it had always been. She grew queasy at the mere sight of her favorite foods, and developed longings for fruits out of season. Finally old Bab said to her tartly, 'Is it not obvious to you what your trouble is?' The queen shook her head in the negative. 'You are with child,' the old woman said. 'The king has given you a final gift.'
The second the words were out Zenobia knew them to be true. She was pregnant! Strange, she pondered, I cannot remember being with Odenathus recently; but then she pushed the thought from her mind. Shock could do strange things to a person, and there was no other explanation. She was with child. She liked the idea. Another baby. Ah, how pleased he would have been with her. Three sons, for of course it would be a son. She had always been a mother of sons.
The next week made her certain. Her moon link had been broken for close to three phases now, and it was time to publicly announce her condition. She told Longinus first, and briefly wondered at the strange look that fleetingly passed over his sensitive face. Given his sexual preferences, he probably didn't like pregnant women, she thought.
Cassius Longinus had his suspicions, and so he cornered old Bab one day. 'I need information, lady,' he said quietly.
'What could I possibly tell the queen's favorite councillor and private secretary, Cassius Longinus.'
'You must not misunderstand, lady. I have only the queen's best interests at heart, but I must know when the queen's last show of blood was.'
Bab looked scandalized. 'What kind of question is that for you to ask?!' She had grown plump with age and good living. Her three chins bobbed indignantly, and her ample bosom heaved with righteous outrage beneath the rich fabric of her dark gown. 'Well, Cassius Longinus?'
'Lady, I know that you love the queen; have been with her since birth. I also know that what I tell you will remain with you alone.' He moved next to the old woman, and lowered his voice. 'The queen was with Marcus Britainus the night of Odenathus's murder. I saw THem. Yet never since that night has the queen acknowledged Marcus Britainus as more than an old friend. His heart is breaking, for he loves her truly. Now the queen says she is to have a child.'
He had expected old Bab to fly at him in a rage, but instead she shook her head back and forth. 'Aiiiiieee,' she intoned softly. 'I knew something was wrong. I knew it!' Then she looked frightened. 'Does anyone else know?'
'No,' he said. 'No one else knows, and certainly, given the queen's reputation for chastity, they do not suspect.' He looked closely at the woman. 'This is not Odenathus's child, is it, lady?'
'No,' Bab replied. 'It cannot be, and yet I hoped.' She took Longinus's arm, and slowly they began to walk through the queen's garden. 'When the king came home for the celebrations, she was unclean. Her link with the moon was in force. I am certain he did not go to her. They were quite strict about that. Then he was murdered. And yet when the signs became obvious I still hoped. Oh, Cassius Longinus, will anyone guess? Is she in danger?'
'Does anyone else know her personal habits as you do, lady?'
'No. I alone serve her. Those silly butterflies she calls her maidens do naught but sing and giggle. They have not one intelligent mind between them.'
A ghost of a smile flitted over Longinus's lips. 'No one will suspect, lady; but I am yet unsatisfied as to why the queen has not acknowledged the Roman.'
'My baby has never been devious,' Bab said. 'She has made no mention of him to me, and if there were something to tell she would share it with me. No, Cassius Longinus, she has said nothing because she remembers nothing. She honestly believes this child to be Odenathus's child.'
Longinus nodded. 'It is possible,' he said. 'Yes, it is quite possible. She was in shock THat night. While everyone about her mourned, Zenobia was forced to take charge.'
'Cassius Longinus, what would you advise in this situation? What shall we do?'
'Nothing,' he said. 'If the queen remembers what happened the night of Odenathus's murder, then I believe she will come to terms with herself.'
'What of the Roman?' Bab demanded. 'He moons about her like a lovesick puppy.'
'I will explain to him what has happened.'
'And will you tell him that the child is his?'
'No. It is unlikely the child in its infancy will bear any great resemblance to him. It is better he not know.'
Bab peered closely at Longinus. 'Why?' she said.
Longinus sighed. 'If he learns the child is his it will only bind them closer.'
'Would that not be good for Palmyra?' she demanded.
Again Longinus sighed. 'Lady, I do not know, but I cannot take the chance of his turning her from her obligations. Marcus Britainus is an old-fashioned Roman. Women are the homemakers, no more. Until he can be taught differently I cannot allow him to seriously influence the queen in any way.'
'I understand your reasoning, Cassius Longinus, but I am not sure you are right. Yet, I will abide by your decision.'
They parted then, and Longinus found himself encouraged to have an ally in the queen's old nurse. Now he had but to convince Marcus Britainus that the queen remembered nothing with regard to their brief relationship. He grimaced. The gods had given him an awesome task indeed when it fell to him to convince a virile man that the woman he adored and had made love with did not remember the occasion. He wondered if Marcus Britainus had a sense of humor.
If he had expected outrage he was surprised and relieved to find concern instead.
'Will she be all right, Cassius Longinus?'
'Other than the fact her memory of your liaison is gone, she is in perfect health,' he replied.
'Will she ever remember?'
'I am not a physician, Marcus. I do not honestly know. There is one thing, however, that you should know. The queen is to bear Odenathus a posthumous child.' He watched to see the Roman's reaction. Would he guess?
'I shall have to begin again with her, and perhaps it is better,' Marcus replied absently. 'A posthumous child, you say. Poor baby, not to know his father.'
And that was all. Cassius Longinus almost cried aloud his relief was so great.
Now, six months later, he and the Roman paced back and forth in the queen's antechamber waiting for the birth of the child. During those intervening months Marcus had taken the opportunity to court the queen, and she was beginning to respond. How many times had he seen them walking in the palace gardens? How many meals bad she shared with him? He ate the final meal of the day with Zenobia and her sons, almost every night. The young king and his brother were succumbing to the Roman's charms. Marcus was the most prominent male figure in their lives, he thought, with just a trace of jealousy. They admired him and respected his views, which Longinus was forced to admit were practical and sound. He could not help but wonder what would happen once Zenobia had delivered the child and been purified. Would the passion that had enveloped them on that one night consume them again?
From within the queen's bedchamber came the sounds of groaning, and the Roman paled. 'It will be soon,' he said.
'How do you know?' Longinus asked.
'I am the eldest of four.'
A shriek came from the queen's chamber, followed by a lusty wail. Within the room Zenobia pushed a final time, expelling the afterbirth, and demanded, 'Is my son all right? Is he perfect?'
