While the Avtokrator stood up and used it, Krispos got him clean drawers and a fresh robe. He helped Anthimos dress, then ceremoniously escorted him to a mirror of polished silver. Anthimos made a face at his reflection while Krispos combed his hair and beard. 'Looks like me,' the Emperor said when he was done. 'Eyes aren't even too bloodshot—but then, I got to sleep early last night.' He turned back to the bed. 'Didn't I, Dara?'
'What's that?' Buried in blankets to the crown of her head, Anthimos' Empress sounded more than half asleep herself.
'Didn't I get to bed early last night?' the Avtokrator repeated. 'I've even found an advantage to it—my eyes look much clearer than usual this morning.'
Dara rolled over and sat up. Krispos did his best not to stare-like Anthimos, she slept nude. Then she noticed him, squeaked, and yanked the blankets up to her chin.
Anthimos laughed. 'No need for such worries, my dear. This is Krispos, the new vestiarios.'
Keeping his eyes on his own toes, Krispos said in his most formal voice, 'I did not mean to startle you, your Majesty.'
'It's—all right,' Dara said after a moment. 'Seeing the beard caught me by surprise, that's all. His Majesty said you were a whole man, but it must have slipped my mind. Go ahead with what you were doing; I'll summon a maidservant.' She had a bellpull on her side of the bed, too, with a green cord. She held the blankets in place with one hand, reached out with the other.
Krispos fetched the Emperor's red boots from the closet and helped Anthimos into them. They were tight, and pulling them onto the imperial feet took some work. The maidservant came in while he was still fighting to get them on. She paid no attention to Krispos' beard. Indeed, with him bent down in front of the Emperor, she could hardly have noticed whether he had one—or whether he had horns and fangs, for that matter. She chose a gown from Dara's closet and whisked away the bedclothes so she could dress the empress.
Dara again glanced nervously toward Krispos, but relaxed when she saw him intent on his own duties. He did his best to take no special notice of her. If she had been easy in the presence of the former vestiarios, he did not want to rob her of that ease.
At the same time, even the brief, self-conscious glimpses he'd had of her showed she was a dazzling young woman. She was small and dark, with lustrous, almost blue-black hair that crackled as her maidservant brushed it. She had an aquiline profile, with high, sculptured cheekbones and a strong, rather pointed chin. Her body was as lovely as her face.
Krispos wondered why Anthimos, having such an Empress, also bedded any girl who caught his eye. Maybe Dara lacked passion, he thought. Or maybe Anthimos was like some of Petronas' stable hands, unable to pass up any opportunity he found.
And unlike them, he found plenty—few would say no to the Avtokrator of the Videssians.
Such wherefores were not his concern, though. Getting the Emperor's boots on was. Grunting with effort, he finally succeeded. 'Good job,' Anthimos said, laughing and patting him on the head. 'From all I've heard, you had a tougher time wrestling with my boots than you did with that giant Kubrati.'
'Different sort of wrestling, Majesty.' Krispos had to remind himself what came next in the routine. 'And now, with what would you and your lady care to break your fast?'
'A bloater for me,' Anthimos said. 'A bloater and wine. How about you, my dear?'
'Just porridge, I think,' Dara said. Krispos' sympathies lay with her. Smoked and salted mackerel was all very well, but not his idea of breakfast food.
He carried the imperial couple's requests back to the kitchens and had a bowl of porridge himself while the cook fixed a tray. 'The good god be thanked his Majesty's in a simple mood today,' the fellow said as he poured wine from an amphora into a silver carafe. 'Have you ever tried fixing shrimp and octopus stew while he's waiting? Or, worse, had to go running out to try to buy oranges out of season because it crossed his mind he wanted some?'
'Did you find any?' Krispos asked, intrigued.
'Aye, there's a shop or two that sells 'em preserved by magic, for those who have the urge and the money at the same time. Didn't cost me above twenty times what they usually run, and what sort of thanks did I get? Precious little, I'll tell you.'
Carrying the tray to a dining hall not far from the imperial bedchamber, Krispos wondered if Anthimos had even known the fruit was out of season. When would he have occasion to learn? All he needed to do was ask for something to have it appear before him.
The Emperor devoured his bloater with lip-smacking gusto. Now, my dear,' he said to Dara, 'why don't you go and tend to your embroidery for a while? Krispos and I have some serious business to discuss.'
Krispos would have resented such a cavalier dismissal. Whatever Dara felt, she did not let it show. She rose, nodded to Anthimos, and left without a word. She took as much notice of Krispos as of the chair on which he sat.
'What business is there, your Majesty?' Krispos asked, curious and a little worried; none of the Emperor's eunuchs had warned him anything special was in the wind.
But Anthimos answered, 'Why, we have to decide what the chances will be for tonight's festivities.'
'Oh,' Krispos said. Following the Emperor's pointing finger, he saw the ball-filled crystal bowl sitting on a shelf. He got it down, took apart the balls, and set their halves on the table between himself and Anthimos. 'Where can I find pen and parchment, your Majesty?'
'Somewhere around here,' Anthimos said vaguely. While Krispos poked through drawers in a sideboard, Anthimos continued, 'I think the number tonight will be eleven, after the paired single pips on the dice when someone throws Phos' little suns. What goes well with eleven?'
Krispos found writing materials at last. 'Eleven dice, your majesty, since the number is taken from gambling?'
'Excellent! I knew you were clever. What else?'
