To Love Again

sweetness enfolding them, cradling them warmly in its embrace. They were one together.

'Aspar!' she cried his name softly in his ear as she came slowly to herself once again, and then her vision cleared. She saw his dear face, his cheeks wet with tears. Cailin smiled happily at him, pulling his head down to kiss away those tears, realizing at the same time that she was weeping, too.

Finally they lay together upon his cloak, calm once more, their fingers entwined, and he said with a small attempt at humor, 'If I had but known, my love, that making love to you upon the beach in the moonlight would result in such delight, I should have done it months ago. How much time we have wasted in our bed, and in the bath.'

'We will waste time no more,' she promised him, and when he leaned over to kiss her, her features were radiant. 'Whatever prevented me from sharing passion with you before this night is now gone, my dear lord. I am like our mother, the earth, reborn with the springtime!'

If Aspar's love for Cailin had been restrained previously in consideration of her feelings, that love was now plainly visible to all who saw them together. Aspar became more determined than ever that Cailin should be his wife. 'We will go to some country priest and have him marry us,' he said firmly. 'Once the rite is performed, what can they do? You must be my wife!'

'There is no one in the empire who does not know Flavius Aspar,' Cailin said quietly. 'And there is no one who does not know of the patriarch's wishes in this matter. Even were I to become one of your Christians, my dear lord, I should not be allowed to become your wife. Those few brief months that I spent at Villa Maxima have destroyed my reputation.'

***

There must be some way in which I can convince the patriarch,' Aspar said to Basilicus one afternoon as they came from the palace, where they had been conferring with the emperor. 'Flacilla has married Justin Gabras, and the pair of them are the scandal of the city with their orgies and their parties, which rival anything the brothels can create. How can the patriarch justify such a union while denying me the opportunity to marry my Cailin, who is so good?'

'Her goodness does not enter into it, my friend,' Basilicus replied. 'And it is not just the patriarch. We have a law here in Byzantium that specifically forbids the union of a senator, or other person of high rank, with an actress or a whore, or any woman of lower rank. You would not be allowed to circumvent the law, Aspar. Not even you.'

'Cailin is a patrician,' Aspar protested angrily.

'She says she is,' Basilicus answered, 'but who is to prove her truthful, or a liar? Here in Byzantium she was an actress in a brothel, performing sexual acts before an audience. That makes her ineligible to marry with the First Patrician of the empire, Flavius Aspar.'

'Then I will leave the empire,' Aspar said grimly. 'I can no longer be content or useful if I am denied my wish in this matter.'

Basilicus did not argue. Aspar would not leave Byzantium. His whole world was here, and he was not a young man. Besides, even based upon his brief acquaintance with Cailin, Basilicus felt she would not allow Aspar to do anything that could endanger his position, or his comfort.

'Casia tells me you have asked her to sit in your box at the games next week,' the prince said, changing the subject. 'It is kind of you, and I have said she may go, although it will cause a small scandal. Who else will you invite, my friend? Entertainers and artisans, I doubt not.'

Aspar laughed. 'Ahhh, yes,' he said. 'How could I, the empire's First Patrician and great general, dare to prefer those who create to those in power? Eh, Basilicus? But I do! And you are correct. Both Bellisarius and Apollodorus, the great classical actor and the masses' favorite comedian, will be in my box on May eleventh. And Anastasius, the singer and poet, as well as John Andronicus, the artist who does those marvelous ivory carvings, and Philippicus Arcadius, the sculptor. I have commissioned him to do a nude of Cailin for our garden. He will spend the summer at the villa. I have built him a studio in which to work, so he will not have to travel back and forth between the country and the city, nor worry about his daily needs, which my servants will see to. Your sister will enjoy that piece of gossip, Basilicus.'

'Indeed she will,' he admitted, and then he said, 'Are not Bellisarius and Apollodorus dreadful rivals? I heard that they despised each other. Is it safe having them in the same box?'

'Their hatred has recently turned to love, or so I hear.' Aspar chuckled. 'There is another tidbit for our beloved empress Verina to chew upon.'

'The gods! They haven't become lovers! But of course they have, or you would not say it,' Basilicus exclaimed. They had reached his litter, and he climbed in, settling himself comfortably amid the pillows.

Aspar mounted his stallion, which had been tethered next to the prince's conveyance. 'Is your wife coming to the games?'

Basilicus nodded mournfully. 'Eudoxia would not miss a chance to seat herself in the imperial box, where she can be seen, admired, and bitterly envied by all of her friends and relations seated in the stands. I will be by her side as convention demands, but afterward when she goes to the palace to enjoy the banquet, I shall join my adorable Casia.'

'Will not Eudoxia miss you at the banquet, Basilicus?'

'Nay' the prince replied. 'She will be too busy sampling all the delicacies offered the imperial guests; and of course there is that young guardsman who has recently taken her eye. I believe she means to seduce him eventually, and I do want to give her the opportunity. If she is busy with her young man, then she will not wonder if I am busy somewhere else. Eudoxia rarely strays from her marital vows, and so when she does, I like to give her as clear a field as possible. She is an excellent wife, and mother to our children. I might add that her discretion in her little peccadillos is commendable, to say the least. There has never been the tiniest bit of scandal about her, which is certainly more than one can say about most patrician wives these days.'

'How fortunate for you both,' Aspar said dryly. He did not understand the kind of marriage that most of the nobility had. True, there were exceptions; couples who, like his late wife Anna and himself, kept to their vows of fidelity and loyalty. That was the kind of marriage he would share with Cailin one day.

'I am not needed in town until the games,' he said to the prince. 'I will see you then.' He rode off down the Mese toward the Golden Gate as Basilicus ordered his bearers to take him to the house of his mistress, the fair Casia.

***

May eleventh dawned clear and sunny. It was a perfect day to celebrate the founding of Constantinople. Cailin dressed carefully, fully aware that she would be the subject of gossip. She wanted to make Aspar proud, and so she chose a stola of pale violet silk which complemented her eye color. The round neckline was low, but not immodestly so. The long sleeves were embroidered with wide gold bands showing flowers and leaves. The stola was belted just below her waist with a girdle of small gold plaques studded with pearls that sat neatly atop her hipbones. A delicate gold and violet shawl of brocatelle, known as a palla, would protect her from the burning rays of the sun. Nellwyn slipped little jeweled kid slippers onto her mistress's feet, and then stood up to view Cailin. Her eyes mirrored her approval.

'You'll look as good as that empress woman, lady,' she said.

'Only if she has jewelry to rival Verina's,' Aspar said as he came forward with a large ebony box. 'These are for you, my love.'

Cailin took the box he handed her, set it upon the table and opened it. Within was a beautifully bejeweled collar of gold, small diamonds, amethysts, and pearls. She stood stunned as he lifted it from its case and fastened it about her neck. It lay flat upon her chest, almost covering the skin her neckline revealed, and it made the stola look far richer than it truly was. 'I have never seen anything so magnificent,' Cailin said. 'It is beautiful, my dear lord. Thank you!'