It seemed their new Emperor would not be lingering long among them. The Bassanid army was in Calysium, had overrun Asen (again) and was said to be marching and riding towards Eubulus even now.
The Emperor, who had been their Supreme Strategos four days before, was disinclined to indulge them in this.
He would lead the assembled armies of Sarantium himself. Not overseas to Rhodias, but north and east. Not over the dangerous, dark waters but up in spring weather along the wide, smoothly paved Imperial Road to deal with the cowardly, truce-breaking soldiers of King Shirvan. An Emperor in the field himself! It had been a very long time. Valerius III, the sword of Sarantium, the sword of holy Jad. There was something awesome and thrilling in just thinking about it.
The easterners had thought to take advantage of Leontes and the army sailing west, had vilely breached the Eternal Peace they’d sworn by their own pagan gods to keep. They would learn the dimensions of their mistake, the Mandator proclaimed, his words picked up and echoed through the Hippodrome.
Eubulus would be defended, the Bassanids driven back across the border. And more. Let the King of Kings defend Mihrbor now, the Mandator cried. Let him try to defend it against what Sarantium would bring against him. The time was done when they would pay monies to Kabadh to buy a peace. Let Shirvan sue for mercy. Let him pray to his gods. Leontes the Golden, who was now an Emperor, was coming after him.
The noise that greeted this was loud enough, some thought, to reach the very sky and the god behind the bright sun overhead.
As for Batiara, the Mandator continued, when the shouting subsided enough for his voice to be heard and relayed again, look who was Empress of Sarantium now. Look who might deal with Rhodias and Varena, which were her own! This Empress had a crown of her own and had brought it here to them, was daughter of a king, a queen in her own name. The citizens of Sarantium could believe that Rhodias and the west might be theirs, after all, with no brave soldiers dying on distant western battlefields, or on the trackless seas.
The acclamations that accompanied this were as loud as the ones before, and—the perceptive noted—they were led by the aforementioned soldiers this time.
It was a glittering day, and so most of the histories would describe it. The weather mild, the god’s sun shining upon them all. The Emperor magnificent, the new Empress as golden as he, tall for her sex, utterly regal in her bearing and blood.
There were always fears and doubts in a time of change. The half-world might creep closer, ghosts and daemons be seen, when the great of the world died and their souls departed, but who could be truly fearful, standing in the Hippodrome in sunshine, looking at these two?
One lamented a dead Emperor, and might wonder about the still-absent figure of his Empress, the one who had been a dancer in her day, born right here in the Hippodrome (not like the new Empress, not like her at all). One might pause to consider the colossal fall of the Daleinoi and the sudden shifting of a theatre of war … but in the stands that day there was an undeniable feeling of uplift, of exuberance, something new beginning, and there was nothing compelled or contrived about the approval that resounded.
Then the Mandator declared that the racing season would resume as soon as the period of mourning was over and paused to announce that Scortius of the Blues was healing and well, and that Astorgus, the Blues’ factionarius, and Crescens of the Greens had agreed to humbly accept judicial admonishment and had made peace with each other. And as he gestured, those two well-known men stood forward, stepping up upon raised platforms in their factions’ sections to be seen. They made the charioteers’ open-palmed gesture towards each other and then turned and bowed together towards the kathisma, and eighty thousand people went wild. The holy Patriarch took pains to keep his countenance inscrutable behind his white beard as the crowd celebrated its chariots and horses and the ceremony came to a close.
Nothing at all was said that afternoon, by the Mandator or anyone else, about changes in the doctrines of Jad regarding depictions of the god himself in holy places and elsewhere.
There would be time to present such complex matters to the people, carefully, in the sanctuaries and chapels. The Hippodrome that day was not a place for nuances and subtleties of faith. Timing, as any good general knew, was the essence of a campaign.
Valerius III, wearing the full weight of the garments of Imperial power, stood up easily, as if they were no burden in the least, and saluted his people as they saluted him. Then he turned and extended a hand to his Empress and they walked together from the kathisma through the door at the back and out of sight. The cheering did not stop.
All was well. All would be well, one might truly believe. Fotius accepted a swift, entirely unexpected embrace from the young clothmaker, and returned it, then they both turned to hug others beside them in the stands, all of them shouting the Emperor’s name in the clear, bright light.
Over the course of an exhausting ten days in the Blues’ compound, Rustem of Kerakek had developed a hypothesis about Sarantines and their physicians. In essence, the instructions of the doctors were accepted or ignored as the patients saw fit.
It was entirely otherwise in Bassania. At home, the doctor was at risk when he took on the care of a patient. By speaking the formal words of acceptance, a physician placed his own worldly goods and even his life at hazard. If the sick person failed to follow precisely the doctor’s instructions, this commitment, this hazarding, was negated.
Here, doctors risked nothing but the possibility of a poor reputation, and based on what he’d seen here (in an admittedly short while), Rustem didn’t think that constituted much of a concern at all. None of the physicians he’d observed at work seemed to know much more than an inadequately digested muddle of Galinus and Merovius, supplemented by vastly too much letting of blood and their own cobbled-together medications, most of which were noxious in some degree or other.
Given this, it made sense that patients would form their own decisions about whether to heed their physicians or not.
Rustem wasn’t used to it, and wasn’t inclined to accept it.
As an example, as the prime example, from the outset he had firmly instructed the attendants caring for Scortius the charioteer that visitors were limited to one in the morning and one after midday, and only for short periods and with no wine at all to be brought or consumed. He had, as a precaution, relayed these directives to Strumosus (since at least some of the wine came from the casks by the kitchen) and to Astorgus, the factionarius. The latter was soberly attentive and had promised to do his best to enforce compliance. He had, Rustem knew, a profoundly vested interest in the recovery of the invalid charioteer.
They all did.
The problem was that the patient didn’t see himself as an invalid, or requiring any extremes of care, even after almost dying twice in a short while. A man who would slip from his room out a window and down a tree and over a wall and walk the length of the city to race horses in the Hippodrome with broken ribs and an unhealed wound was unlikely (Rustem had to concede) to take kindly to a limitation on wine or the number of visitors, particularly female, who attended at his bedside.
At least he had stayed in the bed, Astorgus had pointed out wryly, and mostly by himself. There had been reports of nighttime activities inconsistent with a healing regimen.
Rustem, still caught up in the bewildering intensity of the past few days and the arrival of his family, found it more difficult than usual to project the proper outrage and authority. He was acutely aware, among other things, that if he or his women or children left this guarded compound they were at grave risk of assault in the streets. Bassanids here, since the news of the border attack, and then the departure of the Sarantine army north, led by the Emperor himself, were in a precarious circumstance, and there had been killings. His own decision not to return home was reinforced by the painful understanding that the King of Kings would have ordered the northern attack while fully aware that this would be a consequence for those of his people in the w
est. Including the man who had saved his own life.
Rustem owed a great deal to the Blues’ faction, and he knew it.
Not that he’d been lax in his recompense. He’d treated the wounded of the riot here on a steady, day-long basis, attending upon them at night, awakened by messengers as needed. He was seriously short of sleep, but knew he could last this way for some time yet.
He took a particular pleasure in the recovery of the young fellow from the kitchen. There had been early and grave signs of infection there, and Rustem had spent one full night awake and very busy by the young man’s bedside when the wound changed colour and fever rose. The chef, Strumosus, had come in and out several times, watching in silence, and the other kitchen worker, Rasic, had actually made himself a bed on the floor of the hallway outside. And then, in the midst of the crisis night for the wounded man, Shaski had also appeared. He had gotten out of his bed without either of his mothers knowing and had come, barefoot, to bring his father a drink in the middle of the night, knowing, somehow, exactly where Rustem was. Somehow. Rustem had— unspeaking, at first—accepted the drink and brushed the child’s head with a gentle hand and told him to go back to his room, that everything was all right.
Shaski had gone sleepily to bed without saying or doing anything more, as those nearby observed the boy’s arrival and departure with expressions that Rustem suspected he and his family would have to grow accustomed to. It was one of the reasons he was taking them all away.
The young man, Kyros, had his fever break towards morning and the wound progressed normally after that. The greatest risk he endured was that the idiot doctor, Ampliarus, might slip into the room unnoticed and pursue his mad fixation with bleeding those already wounded.
Rustem had been present, and undeniably amused (though he’d tried to conceal it, of course), when Kyros regained consciousness just before dawn. Rasic, the friend, had been sitting by the bed then, and when the sick man opened his eyes, the other one let out a cry that brought others hurrying into the room, forcing Rustem to order all of them out in his sternest manner.
Rasic, evidently seeing this order as applying to those other than himself, remained, and went on to tell the patient what Strumosus had said about him outside the gates while Kyros was unconscious, and thought to be dead. Strumosus entered in the midst of this recitation. Paused, briefly, in the doorway.
‘He’s lying, as usual,’ the little chef said peremptorily, coming into the room as Rasic stopped, briefly fearful, then grinning. ‘The way he lies about girls. I wish you would all keep a firmer grip on the world as Jad made it, not the one in your dreams. Kyros might have some excuse, with whatever potions our Bassanid has been pushing down his throat, but Rasic has no justification whatever. A genius? This lad? My own legacy? I am insulted by the thought! Does any of that make the least sense to you, Kyros?’
The crippled boy, pale, but clearly lucid, shook his head slightly on the pillow, but he was smiling, and then Strumosus was, as well.
‘Really!’ the little chef said. ‘The idea’s absurd. If I have a legacy it is almost certainly going to be my fish sauce.’
‘Of course it is,’ Kyros whispered. He was still smiling. So was Rasic, flashing crooked teeth. So was Strumosus.
‘Get some rest, lad,’ the chef said. ‘We’ll all be here when you awake. Come Rasic, you too. Go to bed. You’ll work a triple shift tomorrow, or something.’
There were times, Rustem thought, when his profession offered great rewards.
Then there were moments when it felt as if it would be less of a struggle to walk straight into the teeth of a sandstorm.
Scortius could make him feel like that. As now, for example. Rustem walked into the man’s sick-room to change his dressing (every third day now) and found four chariot-racers sitting and standing about, and not one, not two, but three dancers in further attendance, with one of them—clad in an entirely inadequate fashion—offering a performance not at all calculated to
assist a recovering patient in keeping a calm, unexcited demeanour.
And there was wine. And, Rustem noticed, belatedly, in the crowded room, his son Shaski was there, sitting on the lap of a fourth dancer in the corner, watching it all and laughing.
‘Hello, Papa!’ his son said, not in the least disconcerted, as Rustem stood in the doorway and glared in an allinclusive fashion around the room.
‘Oh, dear. He’s upset. Everyone, out!’ Scortius said from the bed. He handed his wine cup to one of the women. ‘Take this. Someone take the boy to his mother. Don’t forget your clothes, Taleira. The doctor’s working very hard for all of us and we don’t want him taxed unduly. We want him to stay well, don’t we?’
There was laughter and a flurry of movement. The man in the bed grinned. A wretched patient, in every possible way. But Rustem had seen what he’d done on the Hippodrome sands at the beginning of the week before, and had known better than anyone else the will that had been required, and it was impossible to deny the admiration he felt. He didn’t want to deny it, actually.
Besides which, the people were going out.
‘Shirin, stay, if you will. I have a question or two. Doctor, is it all right if one friend remains? This is a visit that honours me, and I haven’t had a chance to speak to her privately yet. I believe you’ve met her. This is Shirin of the Greens. Didn’t the mosaicists bring you to a wedding feast in her home?’
‘My first day, yes,’ Rustem said. He bowed to the dark-haired woman, who was remarkably attractive in a small-boned fashion. Her scent was quite distracting. The room emptied, with one of the men carrying Shaski on his back. The dancer rose from her seat to greet him.
She smiled. ‘I remember you very well, doctor. You had a servant killed by some of our younger Greens.’
Rustem nodded. ‘It is true. With so many deaths since, I’m surprised you remember it.’
She shrugged. ‘Bonosus’s son was involved. Not a trivial thing.’
Rustem nodded a second time and crossed to his patient. The woman sat down quietly. Scortius had already drawn the bedsheet back, exposing his muscular, bandaged torso. Shirin of the Greens smiled.
‘How exciting,’ she said, eyes wide.
Rustem snorted, amused in spite of himself. Then he paid attention to what he was doing, unwrapping the layers of dressing to expose the wound beneath. Scortius lay on his right side, facing the woman. She’d have to stand to see the black and purple skin around the twice-over fracture and the deep knife wound.
Rustem set about cleansing the wound again and then applying his salves. No need for any further drainage. The challenge was what it had always been, but more so: to treat broken bones and a stab wound in the same location. He was quietly pleased with what he saw, though he wouldn’t have dreamed of letting Scortius see that. A hint that the doctor was content and the man would undoubtedly be out the door and on the race-track, or prowling the night streets to one bedroom or another.
They had told him about this one’s nocturnal pursuits.
‘You said you had questions,’ Shirin murmured. ‘Or is the doctor … ?’
‘My doctor is private as a hermit on a crag. I have no secrets from him.’
‘Except when you have plans to depart from your sick-room without leave,’ Rustem murmured, bathing the man’s skin.
‘Well, yes, there was that. But otherwise, you know all. You were … even under the stands, I recall, just before the race.’
His tone had changed. Rustem caught it. He remembered that sequence of moments. Thenaïs with her blade, the Green driver coming just in time.
‘Oh? What happened under the stands?’ Shirin was asking, fluttering her eyelashes at the two of them. ‘You must tell!’
‘Crescens declared his undying love for me and then hammered me half to my grave when I told him I preferred you. Hadn’t you heard?’
She laughed. ‘No. Come, what happened?’
‘Various things.’ The chariot-driver hesitated. Rustem could feel the m
an’s heartbeat. He said nothing. ‘Tell me,’ Scortius murmured, ‘Cleander Bonosus, is he still in trouble with his father? Do you know?’ Shirin blinked. Clearly not the question she’d expected. ‘He did me a great service when I was hurt,’ Scortius added. ‘Brought me to the doctor.’
The man was being subtle. This wasn’t, Rustem surmised, the real question he wanted answered. And because he had been under the Hippodrome stands he had an idea what that real question was. Something occurred to him, rather too late.
Scortius was undeniably clever. He was also clearly unaware of something. Rustem had certainly never brought it up, and it seemed evident no one else had. It might be part of the city’s talk, or forgotten in a time of uttermost turbulence, but it hadn’t penetrated this room.
The Greens’ dancer said, ‘The boy? I really don’t know. I suspect all’s changed there, after what happened in their house.’
A heartbeat. Rustem felt it, and winced. He’d been right, after all.
‘What happened in their house?’ Scortius asked.
She told him.
Thinking back, later, Rustem was impressed, yet again, with the strength of will the wounded man displayed, continuing to speak, expressing conventional, polite sorrow at tidings of a young woman’s untimely, self-inflicted death. But Rustem had had his hands on the man’s body, and he could feel the impact of the woman’s words. Caught breath, then measured, careful breath, a tremor, involuntary, and the pounding heart.
Taking pity, Rustem finished his dressing change more swiftly than usual (he could do it again, later) and reached for the tray of medications by the bed. ‘I have to give you something for sleep now, as usual,’ he lied. ‘You’ll be unable to entertain the lady in any proper fashion.’
Shirin of the Greens, by all evidence unaware of anything untoward having just transpired, took her cue like an actress and rose to go. She stopped by the bedside and bent down to kiss the patient on the forehead. ‘He never entertains any of us in a proper fashion, doctor.’ She straightened and smiled. ‘I’ll be back, my dear. Rest, to be ready for me.’ She turned and went out.
The Sarantine Mosaic Page 100