To Love Again

formalize your relationship within the church. You have my word on it, and you know that word is good.'

'I thank you, lady,' Aspar said quietly.

'No,' she responded, 'it is I who must thank you, Flavius Aspar. I could only wish Byzantium had more men like you in its service.'

When the empress and her party had departed to return to Constantinople, Aspar walked with Cailin in the gardens, where there was no chance of them being overheard. Quietly he explained to her exactly what it was Verina had sought from him, and how he had agreed to help the empress in exchange for her aid in the matter of their marriage. 'You must force yourself to please Father Michael so he will baptize you,' Aspar told her. 'When the moment comes that the decision is made in our favor, I want no impediment to our marriage. A baptized Orthodox wife can only reflect favorably upon me. There is more at stake than you can know right now, my love.'

She did not ask him what it was. Cailin knew that Aspar would share that with her when the time was right. 'Very well,' she agreed, 'I will stop asking difficult questions of Father Michael, and meekly accept all he says with the humility a good Christian woman should possess. If I think the rules and regulations imposed by the church are silly, I must admit to liking the words of this Jesus of Nazareth. They alone make sense to me, even if the rest of it doesn't.' She slipped her arms about his neck and pressed her body close to his. 'I want to be your wife, Flavius Aspar. I want your children, and I want to walk the streets of Constantinople proudly, the envy of all because I am yours.'

They walked together through the gardens and down to the beach, where they removed their garments. They strolled hand in hand into the warm sea. He had just recently taught her to swim, and Cailin loved the freedom of the water. Laughing, she teased him and frolicked in the waves until finally he caught her. Pulling her back up onto the beach, he made passionate love to her upon the very shore where he had first revived her passion. Her cries of pleasure at his possession of her mingled with the mewling cries of the gulls soaring above them. His own cries were drowned by the gentle pounding of the surf on the sand. Afterward they lay sated and contented, the bright sun drying their bodies.

***

Cailin's twentieth birthday had passed. The summer spun itself out in a succession of long, sunny days, and hot passionate nights. She had never imagined a man could be so virile, particularly a man of his age, and yet his desire for her never ceased.

Basilicus came quite regularly with Casia to visit, and when Aspar teased his friend about his sudden liking for the country, Basilicus claimed fussily, 'The city is a cesspit in this heat, and I hear rumors of plague. Besides, you have more than enough room for us, and should not keep to yourselves so much.' Basilicus also secretly brought them word from Verina.

Aspar had indeed gone directly to the patriarch and expressed his great displeasure at any plan to set the empress aside simply over the matter of a male heir. Another wife would do no good, Aspar bluntly pointed out to Byzantium's chief cleric. The fault lay with Leo, who preferred an uncomplicated, ascetic existence now, which allowed him to rule more wisely than if he were overburdened with carnal matters. There were plenty of men fit to follow Leo, but a wise and godly emperor was a rare blessing upon Byzantium. The empress, Aspar told the patriarch, understood this. She sought to protect her husband from disturbing influences. She was both virtuous and devotedly loyal. To disturb her peace of mind was, Aspar forcefully noted, wicked, unjust, and ungodly.

Basilicus reported that the priests surrounding the emperor had been removed and reassigned to distant places. New priests took their place, and seemed to devote themselves only to the emperor's spiritual life. The empress was both relieved and grateful to have this sword of Damocles removed from over her beautiful blond head. She sent word, through her brother, that she would keep her promise. She had already begun her campaign to influence Leo more favorably in the matter of a marriage between the empire's First Patrician and Cailin Drusus, a young patrician widow from Britain who was soon to be baptized into the Orthodox Christian faith.

In early autumn Aspar was sent to Adrianople, where the governor of the city was having difficulties with two rival factions that threatened anarchy within the city. One of the factions was made up of Orthodox Christians and the other of Arian Christians. Since Aspar, an Arian who served an Orthodox ruler, had the ability to move easily between these two religious worlds, he was the logical choice to make peace. Men of all faiths respected Flavius Aspar.

'I wish I could take you with me,' he told Cailin the night before his departure, 'but I must be able to move swiftly and without impediment at all times in a matter like this. These fanatics will quarrel with one another over the most foolish things, but unless their anger is stayed, they cause terrible destruction and lives are lost.'

'I would be a weakness to you,' she said. 'Without me you are able to act decisively, and you may have to, my lord. To kill and wreak havoc over a point of religion is pure madness, but it happens far too often.'

'You will be such a perfect wife for me,' he said admiringly.

'Why?' she teased him. 'Because I share your passion, or because I do not complain when you must be away from me?'

'Both,' he said with a smile. 'You have an inborn skill for understanding people. You know the fine line I must walk between those fanatical factions in Adrianople, and you do not distract me from my duty. Those who have opposed our marriage will soon see that they were wrong, and that Cailin Drusus is the only wife for Aspar.'

'I do not distract you?' She pretended to be offended, and mounting him suddenly, glared down into his handsome face. Her pointed little tongue snaked over her lips suggestively, slowly. Her eyes darkened with her passion, and cupping her breasts in her hands, she teased her own nipples erect. 'Can I not distract you just the tiniest bit, my lord?'

He watched her through slitted eyes as she played, a faint smile upon her lips. He knew her certainty of his love was what made her bold, and it was surely to his benefit. She was so young and so very beautiful, he thought, lazily running both his flattened palms up her torso. Sometimes when he looked at her, he wondered if when he became old she would love him still, and fear gnawed at his vitals. Then she would smile at him and kiss him sweetly and, reassured, he knew she would always love him, for it was her nature to be honest and loyal. His fingers clamped about her waist and he lifted her up slightly, allowing his engorged organ to raise itself up.

'You distract me mightily, my love,' he said softly, lowering her slowly, encasing himself fully within the warm sweetness of her hot, wet sheath. Then pulling her forward almost roughly, he kissed her deeply, sensuously, his mouth soft yet firm against hers, turning her quickly over onto her back so that he now held the ascendant position. 'And you are hereby sentenced to spend the remainder of your days distracting me, Cailin,' he growled lovingly in her ear as he plunged with slow deliberation in and out of her eager body. 'I adore you, my love, and soon you will be mine for all eternity! My wife! My very life! The sweet, bright half of my dark, dark soul!'

'I love you, Flavius Aspar,' she told him, half sobbing, and then Cailin was lost again in the very special world he seemed to be able to weave about her now. She was warm and cold at the same time. Her heart both raced and soared with his loving. But if her place was in his heart, and in his arms, then why was she afraid? Then, her crisis overwhelming her, Cailin cried out with pleasure, and her fears were quickly forgotten in the security and the safety of his loving arms. Happily she snuggled against him and fell asleep.

When she awoke in the morning, he was already gone. Nellwyn brought her a tray with newly made yogurt, ripe apricots, and fresh bread with a little pot of honey. 'Master Arcadius asks if you will pose for him today. He says he is almost finished, and can be gone by week's end if you will but cooperate. I think he is anxious to return to Constantinople. The summer is over. He talks about the autumn games.'

'Tell him I will be there in an hour,' Cailin told her servant. 'I want the statue completed, and mounted upon its pedestal in the garden before my lord returns. It will be my wedding surprise for him.'

'I never saw anything like it before,' Nellwyn admitted. 'It's so beautiful, lady. I thought only the gods were portrayed so.'

'The statue represents Venus, the old Goddess of Love,' Cailin explained. 'I have simply posed in place of the goddess for Arcadius.'

Cailin ate, and then having bathed, joined the sculptor in his studio. Nellwyn in attendance, she removed her tunica and took her position. He worked for a time, his eye moving between the smaller clay statue he had originally