Destiny's shield

Belisarius discarded all complacency. Antonina stopped talking then, though she was by no means silent.

Some time later, she murmured, 'Yes, all anxieties seem to be gone.'

'That's because my brains are gone,' came her husband's sleepy reply. 'Fucked right out of my head.'

In the morning, Photius made an entrance into his parents' sleeping chamber and perched himself upon their bed. Despite the many other changes in his life, the boy insisted on maintaining this precious daily ritual. A pox on imperial protocol and decorum.

The gaggle of servants and bodyguards who now followed the young Emperor everywhere remained outside in the corridor. The servants thought the entire situation was grotesque-and quite demeaning to their august status as imperial valets and maids. But they maintained a discreet silence. The bodyguards were members of the general's Thracian bucellarii, led by a young cataphract named Julian. Julian had been assigned the task of serving as Photius' chief bodyguard for two reasons. First, he was married to Hypatia, the young woman who had been Photius' nanny for years. (And still was, though she now bore the resplendent title of 'imperial governess.') Second, for all his youth and cheerful temperament, Julian was a very tough soldier. Julian and the men under his command had made quite clear upon assuming their new duties that they were not even remotely interested in listening to the complaints of menials. So, while Photius enjoyed his private moment with his parents, his bodyguards chatted amiably in the corridor outside and his servants nursed their injured pride.

Photius' stay in his parents' bedroom was longer than usual. His stepfather was leaving that day, to begin his new campaign in Mesopotamia. Photius no longer felt the same dread of that prospective absence that he once had. The boy's confidence in Belisarius' ability to overcome all obstacles and perils was now positively sublime. But he would miss him, deeply. More deeply now, perhaps, than ever before.

Eventually, however, he emerged. A new sense of duty had fallen on the boy's little shoulders, and he knew that his stepfather had many responsibilities of his own that day.

'All right,' he sighed, after closing the door behind him. 'Let's go. What's first?'

Julian grinned down at him. 'Your tutor in rhetoric insists-insists-that you must see him at once. Something to do with tropes, I believe. He says your slackness in mastering synecdoche has become a public scandal.'

Glumly, Photius began trudging down the corridor. 'That's great,' he muttered. 'Just great.' The boy craned his neck, looking up at Julian's homely, ruddy-hued face. 'Do you have any idea how boring that man is?'

'Look at it this way, Emperor. Some day you'll be able to have him executed for high tedium.'

Photius scowled. 'No I won't. I think he's already dead.'

Trudge, trudge.

'Life was a lot more fun, before they made me Emperor.'

Trudge, trudge.

Before mounting his horse, Belisarius gave Antonina a last, lingering embrace.

'How long, do you think?' she whispered.

Her husband shrugged. 'Impossible to tell, love. If things go as we've planned-and that's a big if-we won't see each other for a year and a half, thereabouts. You'll have to wait until July of next year for the monsoon to be blowing the way we need it.'

She grimaced. 'What a way to meet.'

Belisarius smiled. 'That's if things go as planned. If they don't-who knows? We may meet sooner.'

Staring up at him, Antonina found it impossible to match his smile. She knew the unspoken-and far more likely-corollary.

If our plans fail, one or both of us will probably be dead.

She buried her face into his shoulder. 'Such a long time,' she murmured. 'You've only been back for a few months since your trip to India. And that lasted a year and a half.'

Belisarius stroked her long black hair. 'I know. But it can't be helped.'

'Damn Theodora,' hissed Antonina. 'If it weren't for her obsession with keeping the gunpowder weapons under female control, I wouldn't have to-'

'That's nonsense!' snapped Belisarius. He took his wife by the shoulders and held her away from him. Then, with none of his usual whimsy, said:

'Even if Theodora didn't have her foibles, I'd insist that you command the Theodoran Cohort. You're the best person for the job. It's that simple.'

Antonina stared back at him for a moment, before lowering her eyes. 'So long,' she whispered. 'A year and a half.' Suddenly, unexpectedly, she smiled. 'But at least we'll be able to stay in touch. I almost forgot-a present came from John of Rhodes yesterday.'

She turned and summoned a servant standing nearby in the courtyard. The man advanced, bearing a package wrapped in heavy layers of wool.

Antonina took the package from him and unfolded the cloth. Within, carefully nestled, were two identical objects.

She held one of them out to her husband.

'Here they are. John's first telescopes. One for you and one for me.'

Grinning delightedly, Belisarius immediately began looking through the telescope. He became so entranced with the marvelous contrivance that he momentarily forgot everything else, until Antonina's little cough brought him back.

'Wonderful,' he said, wrapping the telescope back into the woolen cloths. 'With these, and the new semaphore stations, we'll be able to communicate within days.'

Antonina chuckled. 'Once the stations are built, that is. And assuming John can produce enough of the telescopes.'

'They will and he will,' said her husband confidently. He stroked her cheek. 'Count on it, love. Within a few months, you'll get your first message from me.'

There was nothing more to be said. For a moment, husband and wife gazed at each other. Then, a last embrace; a last kiss. Belisarius mounted his horse and rode out of the courtyard, Maurice at his side. His two personal bodyguards, Anastasius and Valentinian, followed just behind.

At the gate, Belisarius turned in his saddle and waved. Antonina did not wave back. She simply held up the telescope.

'I'll be waiting for your message!' she shouted.

An hour later, Irene arrived, bearing her own cloth-wrapped gifts.

'Don't drop them!' she warned Antonina, as she passed the bundle over. 'I stole them from Theodora's own wine cellar. Best vintage in the Roman Empire.'

Antonina staggered a bit, from the weight.

'Mother of God, how many bottles did you bring?'

Irene propelled her little friend down the corridor. 'As many as we need to get you through the day. Tradition, girl, tradition. The last time Belisarius went off on one of these quests, you and I got blind drunk. Well, you did. I was simply there to lend a comforting shoulder.'

'Lying wench!' squawked Antonina. 'You passed out before I did.'

'A fable,' stated Irene firmly. 'I fell asleep, that's all.'

Antonina snorted. 'Sure. On the floor, flat on your belly.'

'I've only got your word for that,' came the dignified response. 'Hearsay, pure hearsay.'

Once in the salon, Antonina lined up the bottles on a side table. 'Like so many soldiers,' she murmured admiringly.

Irene seized the first bottle. 'It'll be a massacre. Get the goblets.'

Two hours later, well into the carnage, Antonina hiccuped.

''Nough o' this maudlinnininess!' Another hiccup. 'Le'ss look t'the future! Be leaving soon, we will. For Egypt. 'S'my homeland, y'know?' Hiccup. 'Land o' my birt. Birth.'

Studiously, she poured more wine into her goblet. 'I'm still s'prised Theodora agreed t'let you go,' she said.