hall, thinking that Anthimos did not look like his idea of an Emperor, either.
He laughed at himself. Maybe he just didn't know what an Emperor was supposed to look like.
Another eunuch heard Barsymes and Krispos coming and stuck his head out a doorway. 'You have him, eh?' he said. 'Very well. His Majesty will be glad to see him.' If the eunuch himself was glad to see Krispos, he concealed it magnificently.
The fellow's head disappeared again. Krispos heard his voice, too low to make out words, then Anthimos', louder: 'What's that, Tyrovitzes? He's here? Well, bring him in.' Barsymes heard, also, and led Krispos forward.
Anthimos sat at a small table eating cakes. Krispos went down on his belly in a full proskynesis. 'Your Imperial Majesty,' he murmured.
'Get up, get up,' the Emperor said impatiently. 'The bowing and scraping can stop when you're in here. You're part of my household now. You didn't bow and scrape when you were in your parents' household, did you?'
'No, your Majesty,' Krispos said. He wondered what his father would have made of having his household compared to the Avtokrator's. Most likely, Phostis would have laughed himself silly. That Anthimos could make the comparison only showed how little he realized what a special life he led.
The Emperor said, 'Anything special you think you'll need, Krispos?'
'Having you remember I'm more used to tending horses than people would help a lot, your Majesty,' Krispos answered. Anthimos stared at him, then let out a startled laugh. Krispos went on, 'I'm sure your other servants will help me learn what I need to know as fast as I can.'
Anthimos glanced toward Barsymes. 'Of course, your Majesty,' the eunuch said in his neutral voice.
'Good. That's settled, then,' the Emperor said. Krispos hoped it was. Anthimos went on, 'Take Krispos to his room, Barsymes. He can have the rest of today and tomorrow to move in; I expect the rest of you will be able to care for me and Dara till morning after next.'
'We shall manage, your Majesty,' Barsymes agreed. 'Now if you will excuse us? This way, Krispos.' As he led Krispos down the hall, he explained, 'The vestiarios' bedchamber is next to that of the Avtokrator, so that he may most conveniently attend his master at any hour of the day or night.' The eunuch opened a door. 'You will stay here.'
Krispos gasped. He'd never seen such a profusion of gold and fine silks. Petronas surely had more, but did not flaunt it so. And the featherbed in the center of the room looked thick enough to smother in.
'You will understand, I hope,' Barsymes said, seeing his expression, 'that Skombros, having no hope of progeny, saw no point in stinting his personal comfort. The failing is not unique to us eunuchs, but is perhaps more common among us.'
'I suppose so,' Krispos said, still stunned by the room's opulence. Near that fabulous featherbed, a little silver bell hung from a red cord that ran up into the ceiling and disappeared. He pointed to it. 'What's that for?'
'The cord runs to the imperial bedchamber next door. When that bell rings, you must attend.'
'All right.' Krispos hesitated, then went on, 'Thanks, Barsymes. You've helped.' He held out his hand.
The eunuch took it. His palms were smooth, but his grip showed surprising strength. 'Not all of us were enamored of Skombros,' he remarked. 'If you do not despise us for what we are, we may be able to work together well enough.'
'I hope so.' Krispos was not making idle chitchat; as at Petronas' stables, he knew he would fail if the people he was supposed to oversee turned against him. And eunuchs, unlike the straightforward stable hands, moved with proverbial guile; he was not sure he was ready to counter their machinations. With luck, he wouldn't have to.
He was relieved to escape the room that had been Skombros' and was now his, though he wondered how the ex-vestiarios enjoyed a bare monastery cell, so different from this splendor. The image of Stavrakios caught his eye again as he walked down the hall. Imagining what that warrior-Emperor would have said about Skombros' luxuries—or Anthimos'—gave him something to smile about while he went back to say good-bye to his friends and collect his belongings.
At the stables, after the inevitable round of congratulations and backslapping, he managed to get Stotzas off to one side for a few minutes. 'Do you want my job now that I'm leaving?' he asked the senior groom. 'The good god knows you're the best man with horses here, and I'd be pleased to speak with Petronas for you.'
'You're a gentleman, lad, and I'm pleased you asked, but no thanks,' Stotzas said. 'You're right, it's the horses I fancy, and I'd have less time for 'em if I had to worry about bossing the men around instead.'
Krispos nodded. He'd thought Stotzas would say that, but he hadn't been sure; if the graybeard wanted the job, he deserved it. Since he didn't, Krispos had someone else in mind to recommend to the Sevastokrator.
When he got back to his apartment in the Grand Courtroom, he discovered he needed more than one duffel bag for what he had inside. He smiled to himself as he went back to the stables to borrow Petronas' brown gelding one last time. The horse snorted reproachfully as he loaded it with his worldly goods.
'Oh, hush,' he told it. 'Better your back than mine.' The horse did not seem convinced, but let him lead it over to the imperial residence.
The bell beside Krispos' bed rang. At first, he tried to fit the sound into his dream. The bell kept ringing. He woke with a start. Anthimos was calling him!
He sprang out of bed naked, threw on a robe, shoved his feet into sandals, and dashed for the imperial bedchamber. 'Your Majesty,' he said, puffing. 'How may I serve you?'
Wearing no more than Krispos had, Anthimos was sitting up in bed—a bed that looked comfortable enough, but not nearly so magnificent as the one Krispos had appropriated from Skombros. The Avtokrator grinned at his new vestiarios. 'I'll have to get used to your appearing so quickly,' he said, which eased Krispos' mind—he hadn't taken too long to wake, then. Anthimos went on, 'Time to face the day.'
'Certainly, your Majesty.' The eunuchs had spent the previous afternoon talking themselves hoarse about the Emperor's routine. Krispos hoped he remembered it. Beside the bed stood a chamber pot; first things first, for Emperor as for peasant. Bowing, Krispos lifted it and handed it to Anthimos.
