To Love Again

those young men you so favor and yet brutalize.'

She smiled archly at him. 'Men,' she said, 'are meant to be punished by women; but women should be cherished by lovers of either sex. A woman cherished gives far more than one abused, Justin.'

'Then Aspar must truly cherish the fair Cailin,' he replied cruelly. 'Though he looked at her with eyes of love, his looks were returned by that adorable little beauty tenfold. If he loves her as you so believe, she, I assure you, loves him in return.'

'And that knowledge,' she told him, strangely calm, 'will make our revenge so much sweeter, Justin, my lord, will it not?'

He laughed. 'You match me evil for evil, Flacilla. I wonder what your friend the empress would think of you if she knew your true character. Would the beauteous Verina be shocked? One day I shall have her in my bed, I swear! She is ripe for rebellion, you know. Leo virtually ignores her these days, and spends the time he should spend fucking her on his knees in prayer for an heir; or so the court chatter reports to me.'

The very next afternoon the subject of Justin Gabras's gossip gathered a small party consisting of her brother and two trusted maids, and set out from the imperial yacht basin to cruise the early summer seas west of the city. It was a perfect afternoon for such sport, and theirs was not the only sailing vessel plying the blue-green waters of the Propontis that afternoon. There was just enough of a breeze to gently propel the boat. The sun shone warmly from a perfectly clear sky. Basilicus had sailed this small inland sea since his boyhood, and he was familiar with its twisting shore and its currents. His skill meant that they needed no boatman, who might later be bribed for information, or carelessly gossip of their destination. The two women who accompanied the empress would have died for her. Their loyalty was such that they could be trusted not to speak even under duress.

Cailin had not known for certain when the empress would come to Villa Mare, but she knew that she would have only a few days after the games before Verina would put in an appearance. She did not like keeping secrets from Aspar, and so she spoke to him the morning following their visit to the Hippodrome. He listened quietly as she told him of Verina's secret summons and its outcome, his face grave.

'Whatever it is she desires of me,' he said, 'it must be very important to her.'

'She agrees to sponsor our marriage if you give it to her,' Cailin said to him. 'Still, I fear that she might urge you to something unsavory.'

'I can do nothing that smacks of treason in the slightest,' he responded. 'My honor has always been my strongest defense, my love. As much as I love you, and as much as I want you for my wife, I will not compromise my honor, Cailin. You do understand that?'

'I could not love you, Flavius' Aspar, if you were not a man of honor,' Cailin told him. 'Remember that I was raised in the traditions of the old Roman empire. Honor was still paramount when my ancestor came to Britain with Claudius, and it remained so down through the centuries as we became Britons, my lord. I would ask nothing dishonorable of you. Still, it cannot hurt to hear what the empress has to say.'

'I will listen,' he promised her. 'If Verina is to be moved to some foolish action, perhaps I may dissuade her from it.'

The empress's mission, however, was not foolish. It stemmed rather from her fears, as she explained to Aspar in the privacy of his garden while Cailin and the maidservants were left behind in the comfort of the atrium, with Basilicus to amuse them. Verina was pale, and she had obviously not been sleeping well. She moved restlessly amid the budding flowers, her fingers plucking nervously at her skirts. Aspar, keeping pace with her, encouraged her to speak.

'Cailin has told me of your meeting on the day of the games,' he said. 'Do not dissemble with me, lady. What is it you want of me?'

'I need to know that should a crisis arise, Flavius Aspar, that you will support my position,' the empress said softly.

'I will be frank, lady. Is this treason you speak of?'

Verina paled even more. 'No! No!' she gasped. 'I do not explain well, I fear. The situation is embarrassing to me. Oh, how shall I say it?'

'Plainly,' he told her. 'Whatever you say is between us alone, lady. I will grant you the privacy of the confessional this one time. If there is no treason involved, then you have nothing to fear from me. What is it that troubles you so that you seek my aid in secret?'

'It is certain of the priests who surround my husband,' Verina said. 'They encourage him to believe I alone am responsible for the fact we do not have a son. I want a son! But how can we have one if Leo does not visit my bed? He has never been an overly passionate man, and in recent years he has ceased visiting my bed altogether.

'The priests have become his greatest confidants. They exhort him to greater prayer, and to almsgiving that God will give us a son, but unless my husband binds his body to mine again, there will be no child. I even brought Casia, the courtesan my brother favors, to the palace in secret to teach me her seductive wiles. I wanted to use them to entice my husband, but alas, it was to no avail!' the empress said, her blue eyes filling with tears. 'Now there is a movement afoot among those same priests who influence my husband to put me away in a convent for the remainder of my days, that Leo might take a new, young wife who will, the priests assure Leo, give him the son I cannot.

'I am not a girl any longer, my lord,' Verina said with dignity, 'but I am yet capable of bearing a child given the opportunity to do so. These wicked clerics really seek to give my husband a wife who will be in their debt, and who will spy for them!'

'What is it exactly that you want me to do?' Aspar asked her.

'Leo both fears and respects you, my lord,' the empress said. 'The respect stems from his many long years in your service, and the fear stems from the fact you put him in his high place. He sometimes wonders if you might not be capable of also removing him from that place. He has quickly grown fond of his position.

'The priests fill his ears with cruel words about you, Flavius Aspar,' Verina continued. 'They tell him you wish to rule through him, and that if you find you cannot, you will overthrow him and take the throne for yourself.'

'I do not wish to be emperor,' Aspar said. 'In his rational moments Leo must know that. Had I wanted the imperial throne, it would have been mine. I had but to renounce my Arian beliefs for more Orthodox practices, and enough of the clergy would have supported me so that the imperial crown would have rested on my head.'

'I realize that, my lord, which is why I have come to you. Your motives are honest, and your loyalty is to Byzantium alone, not to any faction or single man. Help me to retain my place at my husband's side despite the wickedness of those who surround him. If you aid and protect me against my enemies, I will see to it that Leo permits your marriage to Cailin Drusus.'

Aspar pretended to consider her offer, although he had already decided to help her. The emperor owed Flavius Aspar his position. If his wife was similarly bound to him, so much the better. His own position would be that much stronger. It was very unlikely that Leo would ever father another child on any woman. He had not the stomach for it. He preferred fasting and prayer to the hot, sweaty tangle of passion. Aspar suspected the emperor would actually be secretly delighted to be relieved of such a duty. Verina had always been a loyal wife to him. He would prefer the old and the familiar to anything new, and nubile.

No, Aspar thought. I do not want to be emperor. I want my son to be emperor. With both Leo and Verina in his debt, he would have the power to foster a betrothal between his younger son, Patricius, and the youngest imperial princess, Ariadne, in a few years' time. First the marriage, and then afterward Leo would be convinced to name Patricius his heir.

'I will champion your cause, lady,' Aspar finally told the empress, who sagged, visibly relieved, against his arm. 'These priests overstep their authority. Their only duty is to the emperor's spiritual welfare. I will personally register my distress at their actions to the patriarch. Once that is done, I know we can trust that he will put an end to the matter. I am truly shocked those chosen to guide Leo spiritually would so abuse their position. It must not be allowed to continue. You were quite right to come to me for help, lady.'

Secure now that her cause was just, Verina straightened herself proudly and said, 'You will not find me ungrateful, my lord. It will take a little time, you know, but I will see that you and Cailin Drusus are allowed to