The Last Wife of Attila the Hun

by Joan Schweighardt

  Edeco’s boldness lifted my spirits, and I found myself humming as I carried over the tables with the other servants. The Romans entered, and as each one prostrated himself, Attila saluted him by name. I heard the name Maximus, and several others which were unfamiliar to me, but not Bigilas. I imagined that Bigilas was chained somewhere, perhaps outside the city gates, and I was pleased, in spite of my curiosity, to think that there would be no heads for me to have to step around that night. After a brief speech acknowledging the Romans and introducing Eskam, Attila gave the nod which was meant to inform the guards that Zerco should be brought in. Later, when the guests had had enough of him, Attila nodded again, and Zerco was rushed out. Then Attila nodded once more, and three of his sons stood up and began to sing the familiar song praising their father. But unlike the girls and the women, who had only sung the usual verses comparing Attila to the sun and the moon and the stars, his sons sang too of his battles and his victories.

  At first I thought it odd that these people who sang so seldom should bother to add verses to their only song, but when the boys began to sing of the Roman siege and all the Romans who had died in it, I understood well enough. Nor was the effort lost on Attila’s Roman guests, some of whom broke down and wept openly while Attila sat with his black eyes set on nothing and his lips quivering ever so slightly at the corners. Looking at him, I felt a rush of hatred, and it put an end to my good humor.

  * * *

  “This I never thought to see,” I exclaimed later when Edeco came into my hut carrying my dinner tray. I leapt up promptly to take it from him.

  “Think of me as your personal slave,” Edeco mumbled.

  I set the tray down beside my taper and glanced at him over my shoulder. I was astonished to find that he looked entirely serious. I forced a laugh. “Then I command you to sit and share my wine with me,” I said. Edeco sat, but he continued to stare at me, his expression somber and intense. I could make no sense of the man. I thought of the pearl that he had given me, and of the pledge that I had made, albeit to myself, when I accepted it. “Where was Bigilas?” I asked.

  Edeco sighed and took a chunk of bread from the tray. He turned it over in his hand and replaced it. “Last night after I left you and rode back to Attila’s camp, Attila ordered me to ride to the Roman camp and bring the Romans to him. I had to wake them up. Then I stood outside Attila’s tent while he admonished them on matters concerning Theodosius’ letter. He never mentioned the conspiracy. When the Romans came out, I did as Attila had bade me and pulled Bigilas aside and ordered him to ride back to Constantinople for the fifty pounds of gold. So, to answer your question, Bigilas is somewhere between here and the Eastern Empire.”

  Edeco had been watching my hand travel from my bowl to my mouth and back again, and thinking that perhaps he was hungry, I lifted the bowl and held it out to him, but he only shook his head. “Who were all the Romans?” I asked. “There seemed to be far more than your account last night suggested.”

  As if his enthusiasm over the Roman intrigue had dissipated, Edeco sighed once more. Then he got up slowly and went behind me. When he reappeared, he had one of the skins in his hand. He rolled it up, and stretching himself out along the ground, he propped it up under one arm so that now I thought he must be tired or ill. “Some of them were from the Western Empire. They came to negotiate with Attila on some matter of their own. Apparently they did not expect to find their fellows here, for there was much exclaiming among them when they encountered one another. We put them up at one of the houses within Onegesius’ palisade. We have men surrounding their quarters. We are sure to learn some useful information.”

  Again I scrutinized Edeco’s face, for it seemed to me that he had related much more than he ought to have. In a wavering voice, I asked, “What business have the Western Romans with Attila?”

  Edeco looked up at me. “I do not know. Attila has yet to give them a private audience.” Then he bit his lip and looked down at his hand, which he had turned palm up so that his scar was in evidence. “There is something more, Ildico. There are Thuets here as well. They arrived while Attila was out of the city.”

  I slowly replaced the piece of meat that I had been about to bite into. “Thuets?”

  “Franks, like your Sigurd.”

  “But why—?”

  “Again, I do not know. I doubt Attila will see them while the Romans are still here.”

  I could only stare. As if he read my thoughts, Edeco reached out and took my hand. It lay limp in his, and after a moment, he dropped it and sat up. “I almost forgot,” he said stiffly. “I came for the pearl.”

  I had forgotten the pearl myself. I got up now to retrieve it from the battered wooden bowl which I had brought from home so long ago to remind me of Guthorm. When I turned with it, Edeco was already on his feet.

  * * *

  Edeco’s candidness continued to such a degree in the days that followed that I often had to remind myself that I’d had proof of his cunning. Hidden somewhere beneath his new attitude, there was, perhaps, a design not unlike the one that had stirred him to manipulate Bigilas. But I was cautious only because logic informed me that I should be. In my heart, I continued to believe that Edeco would let no harm come to me. Even if I had not believed that, I would have been grateful for his company now that I was entirely resigned to living out my life in the City of Attila and could ask for little more than to have a friend who would look after me and bring me news of the world to fill my mind during its restless hours.

  I learned from Edeco that the Romans from the Western Empire had come to Attila on behalf of their Emperor, Valentinian, to ensure the peace between them. This led me to wonder whether they had some reason to suspect that it was at risk. But when I mentioned this to Edeco, he said merely that all leaders must now see that it behooved them to pay tribute to the man who would soon rule the world. When the Romans were gone, the Franks became Attila’s dinner guests for three consecutive evenings, but, as I had hoped, there was none among them whom I recognized or who seemed to recognize me. And as for the war sword, I concluded that even if one of them had recognized it as Sigurd’s, he would have realized that it would profit him not at all to query Attila about his most precious possession. Edeco informed me that the Frank leader, who had been ousted by his brother for claiming his legal right to the throne, had come to appeal to Attila to take his side against his brother. I recalled that Sigurd had told me once that a cousin of his was inclined toward Attila. This concerned me at first. If the Franks were dividing for war, then surely my own brothers would come out on the side of the Frank’s brother—and thus against Attila. But Edeco, who gave no hint that he knew the cause of my concern, assured me that although Attila had promised to come to the aid of the ousted brother in the future, he had no intention of actually doing so. The Franks who had come to Pannonia represented too small a tribe for him to bother about. But to placate them, Attila had given them quarters beyond the city gates, and the guarantee of further discussions in the future.

  * * *

  One evening during dinner, several guards came in dragging two Romans—a man and a boy. When Attila saw them, he stood up and called Edeco to his side. I put aside the wine jug I had just taken up and turned to watch. Attila clapped Edeco on the back and said, “Friend, look who has come to visit us. Why, it is your accomplice, Bigilas. And he has brought his boy along with him.”

  “The Thuet lies,” Bigilas shouted. “I made no bargain with him. I came to bring you gold, Attila, on behalf of Theodosius.”

  Attila moved away from Edeco and began to pace before Bigilas and his son with a sneer on his face, his dark eyes twinkling roguishly. “Let us have the truth, Bigilas,” he said in a voice that was almost gentle.

  Bigilas sank to his knees, so that the guards on either side of him had to bend over to keep their hold on him. He answered just as gently. “You have the truth. I swear it.”

 
Attila moved toward the boy. When he was in front of him, he extended his arms and placed his hands on the boy’s shoulders. The smile he offered the boy was much the same as the smile that came to his face when Ernac was about. But the child saw through it and began to pant and to look about himself as if for some means of escape. Attila’s smile widened. His hands slid from the boy’s shoulders to his neck. He caressed his neck gently for a moment, and then, sliding one finger under the boy’s chin, he said to the guards who held him, “Take this child outside and dip your blade into this vein here.”

  Bigilas was on his feet immediately, and struggling against his guards, he cried, “No, not him! If you want blood, take mine.”

  Attila cocked his head. “Then let us have the truth, Bigilas,” he whispered.

  Bigilas slipped to the floor again and hung his head. When he lifted it, he fastened his hateful gaze on Edeco, who had been standing with his hands at his sides and his expression officious ever since Attila had summoned him.

  Slowly, Bigilas began his account of the conspiracy. And except for the fact that he included a good many more details, it was just the same as the one Edeco had related to me. When Bigilas finished, Attila put his hands behind his back and began to pace. “Do you mean to say that you thought Edeco could be bought?”

  “Yes,” Bigilas whispered. “I thought that.”

  “Then Edeco must have given you cause,” Attila shouted.

  I gasped. Edeco stiffened. Bigilas smiled slightly, as if he saw in Attila’s query his chance for revenge. Attila, meanwhile, went to stand before Edeco and shouted up into his face, “If he did not give you cause, then why is it that you did not choose to bribe Orestes or one of the others?”

  Bigilas glanced at his son. Gradually his smile dissolved. He lowered his head and stammered, “Orestes, being a Roman, chose his allegiance to you. Edeco, being a Thuet, was forced to succumb.”

  Attila, whose eyes never left Edeco’s face, said softly, “Edeco, is your loyalty to me forced?”

  “No, master,” Edeco said in a voice equally low.

  “Louder!” Attila shouted, and then, more softly and with his sneer quivering on his face, “so that our friend Bigilas can hear you.”

  Edeco lowered his eyes to look into Attila’s. “No, master,” he repeated. “My loyalty cannot be bought for it is naught but the emblem of my love.” The two men stared at each other, Attila with an eagerness about his face, Edeco with no expression at all. All at once, Attila’s gaze swung over to the war sword, which was lying on his couch. As if he had heard it speak some tender word to him, he smiled at it with an affection in his eye which even Ernac’s presence did not elicit. Then he turned to look again at Bigilas. “Does your boy understand our language?” he asked. Bigilas shook his head. “Then tell him for me that I wish him to inform Theodosius that the loyalty of my men cannot be bought. This knowledge will save your Emperor much gold in the future.”

  Bigilas scrambled to his feet. “I will tell Theodosius myself, Attila,” he cried while the guards tightened their grip on his arms.

  “Your boy will tell him,” Attila shouted. Then he said to the guards, “Take this snake out of my sight and put him in chains.”

  Bigilas began to cry out pleas and was so intent in his reluctance to leave that the guards had to carry him bodily. Nor did his pleading abate when he was outside the door. “You and you,” Attila said pointing. Orestes and another, Elsa, stood up. “Deliver the boy to Theodosius. Tell him that the boy and the eunuch are to return with another fifty pounds of gold. Then, if I see fit, I will release Bigilas.”

  Thinking that perhaps Attila meant for them to finish their meals and ride in the morning, Orestes and Elsa hesitated. But Attila shouted, “Now!” and they stumbled over each other to reach the boy and the door.

  Then Attila turned back to Edeco, who was still standing at attention. The hall was so quiet that Bigilas could still be heard crying off in the distance. With something sinister at play in the darkness of his eyes, Attila whispered, “Get out of here, all of you.” Then his eyes swept from Edeco to those who had gathered at the long table, and leaving the tables just as they were, the servants ran out with the others.

  * * *

  That night I said to Edeco, “What if Bigilas had lied? I could see in his face that he considered it. He might have said anything in his anger. Had his son not been there, he might have told Attila that you gave him some clear indication that you were ripe to be bribed. That it was only later that you changed your mind and decided to disclose the conspiracy.”

  Edeco’s mouth dropped open and his eyes grew large. Then his look changed to one of indignation. “He would not have been believed,” Edeco declared. But his mood had been sullen since he had come to my hut, and it was apparent that he was as shaken as I was. He turned his head aside and stared at the north wall of the hut for a long time. I watched him carefully, wishing I knew what he was thinking. I was tempted to persist, to insist that he allow that he had been afraid, for if he admitted that, he would have to concede, too, that his bond with Attila was not as strong as he had once thought. But all at once a half-smile rose to Edeco’s face, and, reaching into his pouch, he turned back to me. His hand emerged with the black pearl, set in a gold ring now and dangling from a gold chain. I took it from him and studied it. Then I slipped it over my head. Rubbing the smooth stone against my chin, once again I vowed, silently, to keep myself worthy of Edeco’s friendship, the only pleasure left to me.

  * * *

  In the spring, Orestes and Elsa returned with Bigilas’ son. I did not see the boy because Attila marched out with an army of men—Edeco among them—to meet him on the plain. Still, Edeco informed me of all that had transpired. To appease Attila for his serious offense, Theodosius had sent the boy back with two high-ranking officers whom Attila had met with in the past. They presented Attila with the additional fifty pounds of gold, and in return, Attila gave them Bigilas. The eunuch had not come, but to make up for this, Theodosius’ officers gave Attila other gifts.

  I found Attila’s leniency here amazing. I would have thought that he would have been furious to learn that the eunuch was not within the delegation. And I had been certain all along that Attila would kill Bigilas—perhaps before his son’s eyes—before he let the Romans return to Constantinople. But when I said all this to Edeco, he shrugged and told me more about the Roman officers. They had pleaded with Attila, once the other matter had been resolved, to give up his claim on the lands south of the Danube. And here too, Attila had consented.

  “There will be peace then,” I stated, bewildered.

  “Aye, peace,” Edeco mumbled. “We have given Theodosius everything he wants, and in return he has promised to keep up with his tributes and stay out of our affairs.”

  “Yet it seems to me,” I ventured, “that Attila has given up more, since he has given up the lands I have heard him speak of as his own.”

  “Seems, Ildico,” Edeco said, his eyes brightening. “And so it will seem to Theodosius, too. While the Emperor is speculating on the true meaning of Attila’s complacency, Attila is free to turn his mind to other matters.”

  I straightened. “What matters are those, Edeco?” I asked, though I was afraid to hear the answer. While I watched Edeco chew his lips, as if he could not decide whether or not he should respond, I reached for the pearl and rubbed its smooth surface against my lips. It was my habit now to play with the thing.

  Finally, Edeco smiled—cunningly, I thought. “Time is a stream ever flowing, Ildico,” he said. “If one waits long enough, one finds the headwaters at one’s feet.”

  * * *

  I did not have to wait very long at all to find myself submerged in Edeco’s headwaters, for only a few days later, two guards ushered two Romans into Attila’s hall during the evening meal. The one who spoke in the Hunnish tongue declared that they had come from the Western Empire
and that he was a translator for his companion, who was a noble. The translator’s Hunnish was not very good, and I was too far away to hear much anyway, but I heard the name ‘Honoria’ repeated several times in the course of his speech. After the last time it was spoken, the Roman noble bowed low and put some small object into Attila’s open hand. Attila’s fingers closed around it quickly while the fingers of his other hand went prowling through his scanty beard—a gesture indicating that he was considering something. He kept his eyes fastened on the noble. After a moment, he began to nod very slowly and deliberately. Then he turned to Onegesius and said, “Take these men to one of your houses. Make sure they are fed and made comfortable.”

  As it was unlike Attila not to invite gift-bearing guests who arrived during the meal to sit and share it, I surmised that this Honoria was a matter of such import that Attila was reluctant to discuss it even in front of his best men—who were the only ones in attendance that night. I kept my eye on Attila as I went about pouring wine for the assemblage. For a long time he sat with his fingers tight around his gift and stared off toward his bower. Then all at once he cocked his head and looked at his men with surprise, as if he had only just realized that he was sitting among them with his tray on his lap. “You may go now,” he whispered. And his men, who had also been watching him expectantly, pushed their bowls aside noiselessly and filed out. Not long after, Attila dismissed his servants as well.

  I paced and waited for Edeco to come. Although he came to my hut perhaps only one evening out of every ten, I could count on him to be there when something of interest had occurred. When I heard a horse approaching, I sat down so as not to appear anxious. Still, when Edeco entered, I found myself blurting out, “Who is this Honoria and what gift did she give Attila?”