"You still have not told me what a death match is," Cailin said.
"The combatants fight to the death, unless, of course, Gabras grants the loser of each match mercy. Knowing Justin Gabras, I doubt he will. He will be far more popular with the people if he gives them a show of blood."
"How horrible," Cailin said, shuddering. "I do not think I would like these gladiatorial combats, knowing that one of the two men has to die."
"It adds spice to the match knowing it," Arcadius said. "The combatants are always magnificent fighters under such circumstances."
"I am surprised that any free man would agree to fight under such conditions," Cailin noted. "To know that you might be killed is such a frightening prospect." She shuddered.
"But there is always the chance you will not be killed," he answered. "Besides, the fee for a death match is far better than for just the ordinary combat. The little gossip that reaches me here tells me that the current, unbeaten champion, a man known as the Saxon, is to fight in Gabras's games."
"I feel sorry for him," Cailin said. "If he is the unbeaten champion, then all the others will strive harder to bring him down. He faces the most danger."
"True," Arcadius agreed, "but it will make for a far more exciting match. You may step down, Cailin, and clothe yourself. I am finished." He stepped back to admire his handiwork. "It is done, and it is one of my greatest masterpieces, I think," he said, feigning understatement. "Aspar should be well-pleased, and inclined to pay me on time for my efforts."
"What of the base?" she demanded. "I want it set in the garden facing the sea before Aspar returns from Adrianople."
"I have an apprentice in the city working on the pedestal, my dear," he told her. "The marble is most unique, a pink and white mixture. I have no idea where it came from. We found it lying about beneath some old clothes in the rear of my studio, but when I saw it, I knew it was the perfect piece of stone for our Venus. Come and look now."
Cailin had slipped her tunica back on. She came around to view her statue. The young Venus, as Arcadius liked to call it, stood, her body slightly curved, one arm at her side, the other raised, the hand palm outward as if shielding her eyes from the sun. Her hair was piled atop her head, but here and there errant ringlets had escaped and curled about her slender neck and delicate ears. There was just the faintest hint of a smile upon her face. She was both pristine and serene in face and form. "It is beautiful," Cailin finally said. She was frankly awed by the sculptor's skill. She could almost see the pulse at the base of the young Venus' throat. Each fingernail and toenail was perfect in its detail; and there was so much more.
"Your simple homage is more than enough praise," he said quietly. He could see the admiration in her eyes, not for how he had portrayed her, but for his talent, and his art. Her lack of sophistication was refreshing, Arcadius thought. Had this been a woman of the court, she would have complained that he had not really caught her essence, and then tried to cheat him of his fee. Well, it had been a most pleasant interlude. Tomorrow he would return to the city and begin a set of six figures for the altar of a new church being built in Constantinople. "When the pedestal is done, dear girl," he said, "I shall come myself to see the statue installed upon it. I think Flavius Aspar will be most pleased with what we have accomplished together."
After he departed the following day, Cailin found that she missed the scupltor's company. He had been a charming and most amusing companion. Nellwyn was a sweet girl, but a simple one. Cailin could not speak on complicated matters with her. She just did not understand. Still, she was pleasant company, and Cailin was glad for her presence.
The harvest was a good one on Flavius Aspar's estates, and as Cailin walked across the fields with Nellwyn, greeting the workers, she again considered the possibility of Aspar's raising horses for the chariot races. The estate's tenants already raised hay and grain for their cattle and other stock. Much of the pasturage was as suitable for horses as for cattle. If Aspar needed even more land, perhaps he could obtain it from overtaxed landowners whose properties bordered his own. She would bring it up with him again when he returned.
Casia came to visit for a few days' duration, and brought news of the city. "Basilicus swears to me that Leo will give his consent to your marriage when Aspar returns. The general's efforts in Adri-anople, it seems, are proving successful. It will cost Leo nothing from his imperial treasury to give his general what he truly desires," she said with a laugh. "Did Arcadius finish your statue?"
"A few weeks ago. He is coming soon with the pedestal to install it in the garden. I want it done before Aspar returns," Cailin answered. "Would you like to see it, Casia?"
"Of course!" ^the beautiful courtesan said, laughing. "Do you think I mentioned it just merely in passing? I am dying of curiosity."
"Arcadius calls it the young Venus," Cailin explained as she unveiled the statue in the artist's summer studio. "What do you think?"
Casia stood spellbound, and then she finally said, "He has caught you perfectly, Cailin. Your youth, your beauty, that sweet innocence that shows in your face despite all you have been, through. Yes, Arcadius has caught your very soul, and were I not truly your friend, I should be very jealous of you." She took Cailin's hand in hers, and squeezing it, said, "Soon we shall no longer be able to pursue our friendship."
"Why?" Cailin demanded. "Because I am to be Aspar's wife, and you are Basilicus's mistress? No, Casia, I will not play their cruel games. We will remain friends no matter the change in my status."
Casia's lovely eyes filled with tears, and she said, "I have never had a friend until you, Cailin Drusus. I hope you are right."
"I have never had a friend, either, Casia. Antonia Porcius pretended to be my friend, though I always knew she was not. Friends do not betray friends. I know we will never betray each other. Now, tell me the gossip from the city. I miss Arcadius's ribald chatter."
They walked from the studio down to the beach, where they sat upon the sand and Casia told her all the latest news of the town.
"Basilicus's wife, Eudoxia, finally seduced her young guardsman. He was the very same fellow who brought you to the empress," Casia began. "His seed is most potent, and poor Eudoxia became pregnant practically immediately, despite her best efforts to avoid it, I am told. Basilicus was furious. She wanted to have an abortion, but he would not allow it. He has sent her to her parents' home outside of Ephesus for her confinement."
"I do not know how he dares to be so righteous, considering the relationship he has with you," Cailin said with a small smile.
"It does seem unfair," Casia agreed, "but you must remember that there are different rules for men and women. Basilicus had been most lenient with Eudoxia because she is a good wife and mother. She is not at all wanton like Flacilla. That is why he allowed her her little diversion. Becoming pregnant, however, was very careless on Eudoxia's part, and has proven a great embarrassment to Basilicus. Eudoxia should have considered the consequences when she acted so rashly. The child is due early next summer, and will be given in adoption to a good family. Poor Eudoxia will remain in Ephesus until it is born. I do not mind. Basilicus is now free to spend more time with me. His children are practically grown and do not need him."
"I wonder what they must think of their mother," Cailin said.
"Basilicus's son knows the truth, and wanted to dash right off and kill the poor guardsman. Basilicus explained most forcefully to him that one cannot kill a man for accepting what was freely offered. As for the prince's daughters, they do not know, or at least he hopes they do not. They have been told their mother has gone to Ephesus to care for their sick grandparents, and Basilicus sent them to St. Barbara's Convent to keep them safe until their mother returns. Left alone, who knows what mischief they might get into. Girls are most inventive."
"Where do you come from?" Cailin asked her friend as they gazed at the water. "Athens, I think I once heard you say. Where is that?"
"It is a city on the Aegean Sea, south of Constant
inople. I was born in a brothel that my mother owned. My father was an official of the government there. He was not, I remember, well-liked. When he died, they closed down my mother's business. I was just ten, but I was sold into slavery immediately. I do not know what happened to my mother, or little brother. I was brought to Constantinople and bought by Jovian for Villa Maxima. I was very lucky," Casia said. "You know how well they treat children at Villa Maxima. They are taught to read and write, and to do simple sums. They learn manners, and how to please the men and women who patronize the establishment. When I was thirteen my virginity was auctioned off to the highest bidder. Jovian and Phocas had never before nor have they since received such a high price for a virgin," she said proudly. "Because I had been taught well how to please a man, and because I seem to have a talent for such work, I became quite popular. Jovian warned me to be choosy about whom I pleasured, for it was my right to refuse any man. It proved to be excellent advice. The more discerning I appeared to be, the more desperate men became to have me, and the more willing to pay the highest price. I managed to garner some magnificent gifts from my appreciative lovers." She smiled. "Then Basilicus came, and after a short time I realized he wanted more than just an occasional visit to my bed. I hinted such a thing might be possible. He offered to give me my own home in a good district, and so I purchased my freedom from Villa Maxima."
"How old are you?" Cailin asked her.
"But a year your senior," Casia replied.
Cailin was surprised. Casia seemed older, but then of course she would. While I was playing with my dolls, Cailin thought, Casia was learning her lessons in a brothel. "How long will you keep the prince as a lover?" she asked her friend. "I mean… well… you are used to a variety of lovers. Does not having just one bore you?"
Casia laughed. Had the question come from anyone else, she would have been offended, but she knew Cailin meant no offense by it, that she was only curious. "One lover at a time, my friend, is really quite enough," she replied. "As for your other question, I will remain with Basilicus as long as it pleases us both. He and I will never marry as you and Aspar will. I am no patrician like you, Cailin Drusus."
"Being a patrician has not protected me from evil," Cailin said quietly. "Still, though I once complained that fortune did not smile upon me, I was wrong. I may have lost my husband and child, but I have been given Aspar to love. Ohh, Casia! He wants children, and at his age!"
Casia shuddered delicately. "Better you, dear friend, than me," she said. "I am not the maternal sort, I fear. Fortunately my prince is content with his wife's efforts at producing offspring-when they are his own."
They came up from the beach and sat by the fish pond in the atrium, sipping sweet wine and indulging themselves with honey cakes that Zeno's wife, Anna, had made them.
"The city," Casia said, "is agog with excitement over the games that Justin Gabras is sponsoring at the Hippodrome in a few days. He's brought in gladiators for death matches. I can hardly wait!"
"Arcadius told me," Cailin responded. "I am glad I do not have to see such a thing. I think it's horrible!"
"Not really," Casia replied. "You would get used to it. Good gladiators are magnificent to watch, but they are a rare breed now. The church does not approve of them, but I will bet the patriarch and his minions will all be there in their box howling with the same blood lust as the rest of us." She laughed. "They are such hypocrites! I am sorry you are not going. I shall have to sit in the stands, then, but I would not miss these matches for the world.
"The Saxon is fighting. He has never, they say, lost a match. He seems to have no fear of death, and his other appetites are equally insatiable, I am told."
Casia stayed at Villa Mare for three days. The day before she left, Arcadius arrived with a wagon in which sat the pedestal for the young Venus and several beefy helpers who were to move the statue from the studio to its place in the garden. The two young women watched, fascinated, as the work was carried out, hard pressed not to laugh at the sculptor who fussed and fumed at the workmen as they went about their task. Finally the young Venus was settled upon her pink and white marble base, angled so that she was facing the sea. Arcadius heaved a great sigh of relief. "Well?" he demanded. "What think you?"
Casia was visibly impressed, and said so. Cailin simply kissed the sculptor on the cheek, causing him to flush with pleasure.
"It is marvelous," he agreed with them.
"Stay with us tonight," Cailin said.
"Yes," Casia echoed. "You can return to the city in the morning in my litter with me, Arcadius. 'Twill be a far nicer trip than if you ride back in the wagon with your workmen, who smell of onions and sweat."
Arcadius shuddered at her rather graphic but accurate description. "I will remain," he said, and instructed his foreman to take the men and return to Constantinople. Then turning to the women, he told them, "The gladiators arrived yesterday. They paraded through the city in full regalia, as if that were necessary to stimulate interest in the games. The populace is in a frenzy already. I cannot tell you how many women fainted at the sight of the champion. He is frankly the most magnificent piece of male flesh I have ever seen. It would be a pity if he were killed, but then, he has prevailed so far."
Casia and Arcadius, city people to the bone, chattered on throughout the evening, filling Cailin's ears with all manner of gossip. Though it was amusing, she was frankly relieved to be able to seek her quiet bed that night and to bid her guests farewell in the morning. She wondered if she would indeed have to involve herself in the affairs of the court once she and Aspar were married. Perhaps Arcadius was wrong.
In the afternoon, Cailin swam in the still warm sea, and lay naked on the beach, drying in the autumn sun. The peace was wonderful, and she reveled in it. She fell asleep, and when she awoke, she was filled with new energy and was suddenly eager to have Aspar home.
Chapter 13
Aspar returned to Villa Mare late the next evening and immediately took Cailin to bed. In the early morning, when they had sated themselves of their desire for each other, they lay talking.
"I arrived in Constantinople yesterday afternoon," he told her, "and reported immediately to Leo. The difficulties in Adrianople have been overcome. There is peace in that city once more, although for how long, I cannot say. I have little patience with those who argue over creed and clan. What fools they are!"
"They are most of the world," Cailin said, "but I agree with you, my love. Most people like to think life a deep and difficult puzzle, but it is not, I believe. We are bound by one thread-our humanity. If we would but put our differences aside, and weave the cloth of our fate with that one thread, there would be no more differences between us."
"You are too young to be so wise," he teased her, kissing her lightly, and then he said, "Would you like to know my reward for this recent service to Byzantium?" He smiled into her face, his brown eyes twinkling mischievously at her.
Cailin's heart began to race. She didn't even dare to voice the question. She simply nodded.
"You are to be baptized on November first by the patriarch himself in the private chapel of the imperial palace," Aspar told her. "Then the patriarch will marry us. Leo and Verina will stand as our formal witnesses. You will have to choose a Byzantine name, of course."
She gasped. It was true, then. "Anna-Marie," she managed to say. "Anna for your good wife who was the mother of your children, and Marie for the mother of Jesus."
"You have chosen well," he said. "No one can help but approve, but I will never call you anything but Cailin, my love. To the world you will be Anna-Marie, the wife of Flavius Aspar, but it is Cailin with whom I fell in love, and will continue to love for all time."
"I cannot believe that the emperor and the patriarch have at last given their consent," Cailin told him, her eyes wet with tears.
"Neither of them are fools, my love," Aspar told her. "Your introduction into Byzantine society could hardly be called a conventional one," he said with a small smile, "yet bot
h Leo and the church know your behavior since I bought and freed you has been far more circumspect than most of the women at court, especially in light of the current scandal surrounding Basilicus's wife, Eudoxia. As for me, I have given my life for Byzantium, and if in my later years I cannot have what I so deeply desire, what further use will I be to the empire?"
"Did you tell them that?" Cailin asked, surprised that he would have lowered his guard so greatly before the emperor and the patriarch.
"Aye, I did," Aspar admitted, and then chuckled. "The threat was merely implied, my love. I hold a great advantage over the emperor in that there is no other soldier of my standing who can lead the armies of the empire. If I were to retire from public life…" He smiled at her again. "I left it to their imaginations. It did not take long for Leo to decide, and he argued the patriarch into acquiescence most convincingly. The emperor has recently learned the value of a loyal and virtuous wife.
"Then having gained my heart's desire, I was forced to sit through a banquet, which is why I was so late in arriving last night. Did you miss me greatly, my love?"
"I missed you terribly," she flattered him, "but I was not too lonely. Arcadius finished the statue. It now stands in the garden, my wedding gift to you, Aspar. He has also counseled me most wisely on the court. I shall remain a party to no faction, I promise you."
"Do you want to go to court?" he asked, surprised.
"Not really," Cailin told him. "Arcadius says it is my duty once I am the wife of the First Patrician of the empire, but I would far prefer to remain here in the country."
"Then you shall," he told her. "Arcadius is just an old gossip. You will, of course, be expected to appear at state functions where I am required to be but, otherwise, if you choose to live a quiet life, you most certainly may. I shall give you children to raise, and my care will naturally be foremost in your duties. Your days will be most full," he teased her gently, running his hand across her shoulder.
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