nobility. Thought, not once, of honor or of valor. He simply waited for the oncoming enemy, patiently, like a blacksmith waits for iron to heat in the furnace.
A craftsman at his trade. Nothing more.
And nothing less.
Chapter 31
Alexandria
'This is madness!' shouted one of the gym-nasiarchs. The portly notable was standing in the forefront of a small crowd packed into the audi-ence chamber. All of them were men, all of them were finely dressed, and most were as fat as he was.
Alexandria's city council.
'Madness!' echoed another member of the council.
'Lunacy!' cried a third.
Antonina was not certain which particular titles those men enjoyed. Gymnasiarchs also, perhaps, or possibly
She did not care. The specific titles were meaningless-hoary traditions from the early cen-turies of the Empire, when the city council actually exercised power. In modern Alexandria, membership in the council was purely a matter of social prestige. The real authority was in the hands of the Praetorian Prefect, the commander of the Army of Egypt, and-above all-the Patriarch.
After disembarking her troops, Antonina had immediately seized a palace in the vicinity of the Great Harbor. She was not even sure whose palace it was. The owner had fled before she and her soldiers occupied the building, along with most of his servants.
Each of the many monarchs who had ruled Egypt in the eight hundred and sixty-two years since the founding of Alexandria had built their own palaces. The city was dotted with the splendiferous things. Over the centuries, most of those royal palaces had become the private residences of the city's high Greek nobility.
No sooner had she established her temporary headquarters than the entire city council appeared outside the palace, demanding the right to present their petitions and their grievances. She had invited them in-well over a hundred of the self-important folk-simply in order to gauge the attitude of Alexandria's upper crust.
Within ten minutes after they surged into the audience chamber, they had made their sentiments clear. As follows:
Antonina had had enough. 'Arrest them,' she said. Demurely. Ladylike. 'The whole lot.'
A little flip of the hand. 'Stow them in the hold of one of the grain ships, for now. We'll figure out what to do with them later.'
As Ashot and his cataphracts carried out her order, Antonina ignored the squawls of outrage issued by the city's notables as they were hog-tied and frog-marched out of the palace. She had other problems to deal with.
Some of those problems were simple and straightforward.
Representatives from the very large Jewish population of the city inquired as to their likely welfare. Antonina assured them that the Jews would be unmolested, both in their civil and religious affairs, so long as they accepted her authority. Five minutes later, the Jewish representatives were ushered out. On their way, Antonina heard one of them mutter to another, 'Let the damned Christians fight it out, then. No business of ours.'
Good enough.
Next problem:
Representatives of the city's powerful guilds demanded to know what the Empire's attitude would be toward their ancient prerogatives.
Complicated, but not difficult.
Antonina assured them that neither she, nor Emperor Photius, nor the Empress Regent, had any desire to trample on the guilds' legitimate interests. Other than, in the case of the shipbuilding and metalworking guilds, providing them with a lot of work. Oh, yes, and work for the huge linenmakers guild also. Sails would be needed for all the new ships they'd be building. And no doubt there'd be some imperial money tossed at the glassworkers guild. The Empress Regent-as everyone knew-was exceedingly fond of fine glasswork.
The papyrus-makers, of course, were sitting pretty. The influx of imperial officials would naturally increase the demand for paper. As for the jewelers, well, what with the enormous booty that'd soon be rolling in from the Malwa, writhing in defeat and humiliation, all of the soldiers-the many, many, many soldiers-who would be arriving to strengthen Egypt's garrison would naturally want to convert their bulky loot into items which were both portable and readily liquifiable, of which-O happy coincidence-fine jewelry took pride of place, especially the jewelry produced in Alexandria, which city was famed throughout the Empire-O happy coincidence-for the unexcelled craft of its gold- and silversmiths.
Now, as to the matter of grain-shipping guilds, well, soldiers are strapping lads. Need to eat a lot. So-
Two hours later, the representatives of the city's commercial and manufacturing guilds tottered out of the palace, reeling dizzily at the thought of their newfound wealth.
Other problems, of course, were hard as nails. But those, at least, Antonina did not have to spend hour after hour sitting on a chair to deal with. Those problems could only be dealt with in the streets.
Hermogenes stalked into the audience chamber just as the last guild representatives were leaving. He strode directly to Antonina's chair, leaned over, and whispered, 'It's starting. Paul just finished a sermon at the Church of St. Michael, calling on the city's faithful to reject the Whore of Babylon.'
'Which one?' asked Antonina whimsically. 'Me? Or Theodora?'
Hermogenes shrugged. 'From what our spies report, the Patriarch wasn't specific. The former Patriarch, I should say.'
Antonina shook her head. 'He's
She cast a glance at the man in question. Theo-dosius was standing twenty feet away, conferring with two of the deacons who served as his ecclesiastical aides. Zeno, the commander of the Knights Hospitaler, was standing next to him, along with two of his own subordinates.
Antonina was pleased to note that Theodosius seemed neither agitated nor apprehensive.
She looked back at Hermogenes. 'What about Ambrose?'
