The Curse of Babylon (39 page)

Antonia frowned. ‘And this is something you’ll still want tomorrow and the day after tomorrow?’ she asked. ‘You’ll still want it after I’ve helped you bring down Daddy? Love isn’t the same as fucking.’ She stopped a sharp intake of breath. ‘I learned that the hard way when I was thirteen,’ she ended with a slight tremor.

I put my arm about her. I swallowed and looked at her. ‘If it means taking the first ship out of here to Italy, and then to the realms of barbarism where the name of Heraclius is barely a name, we shall be married,’ I said.

She played with one of her nipples. ‘I don’t think I’d like to leave Constantinople,’ she said, now with a smile. ‘But I appreciate the sentiment.’ She sat up and stretched. ‘Do you think Uncle will be here by next week?’

I pulled her to me, and kissed her. ‘He’ll have my letter by Friday,’ I said. ‘Give him a day for getting over the shock, and then another two for asking advice of everyone down to the latrine slaves – we can expect him a week after that.’

‘He’ll have to kill Daddy, of course,’ she said firmly. Hers had been the Imperial Family just under five years. Some of its members hadn’t needed long at all to forget the normal bonds of affection. I looked into her eyes and did my best not to see their ruthless flash.

‘Heraclius doesn’t kill his own,’ I said with a slight emphasis. ‘So long as we can make out the charges in private, he’ll have your father shut away. He can be the Fortified Monastery’s first guest of quality since the rebuilding.’

She sat up again. If my own energies were fast recovering, she now had other things on her mind. ‘Too close,’ she said. ‘You must get him sent to Trebizond. The place is so dreary, you can beg for him to be spared blinding.’ Apparently as the mood took us, we’d been moving back and forth between Greek and Latin. But I could now see the key to her own usage. Except with Heraclius, it was a while since I’d used Latin other than as a means of concealment from nearby Greeks, or to communicate with my own Western domestics. As a language of power, it had a strange and even creepy sound on Antonia’s lips.

‘Don’t you think we’re running ahead of ourselves?’ I asked. I couldn’t say what sort of wife I’d thought I might find. It would be someone, I hadn’t doubted, more willing than this to stay out of sight and not ask too many questions. I looked at her again. Never mind, I told myself. Marriage always came down to the luck of the draw. Assuming Heraclius didn’t stuff me away beside Nicetas in the Fortified Monastery, I might easily have done worse. I lay back with my hands cupped under my head. I stared happily down the length of my body. I wiggled my toes again. Yes, things might have gone worse than they had. Though they hadn’t yet reached their conclusion, I could see my way to a conclusion. It was a matter of keeping me and mine safe till Heraclius put in an appearance.

Antonia put a hand on my chest. ‘I think I’ve worked out most things for myself,’ she said, now less tigerish. ‘However, I’d like to see the Horn of Babylon. Assuming that gross animal Eunapius was telling the truth, isn’t this what brought us together?’

I looked across the room at the late afternoon sunlight that streamed through all the windows. Soon, we’d have to get up. I’d call for baths to be brought in and filled for us. I’d call for women’s clothing for Antonia to put on and take her down to the library, where Theodore would be seeking comfort in the sermons of John Chrysostom, or possibly in the Revelation of Saint John – he preferred its vengeful tone to any of the Gospels. One of the many secrets this building contained could and should be fully disclosed. After that, there would be lawyers to summon and announcements to be drafted, though left unpublished until the day when we could get Heraclius to say the right word. And there was an Empire to save as well – not to mention the continuing business of its financial and other governance to be transacted. I stared up at the ceiling. Could I really get away with the alternative suggestion of more sex? I decided not.

‘It’s nothing much to see,’ I began. ‘But it is connected with Heraclius and your father . . .’

Behind me, on my right, someone rattled the handle of my innermost door. ‘Are you in here, Father?’ Theodore cried uncertainly. ‘Antony hasn’t been seen all day. I’m really worried about him.’ I put a hand up for silence. How had he got through the other doors? The answer to that was a rattling of keys and the soft click of a lock pushed open.

It was too late to pull the blankets over us. All I could do was smile stupidly back as the boy came into the room and looked at us. He fell to his knees. His mouth opened and closed. I hoped he’d cover his eyes to blot out the vision of total sin he’d stumbled upon. ‘Antony!’ he croaked despairingly. I jumped out of bed and hurried over to the door. How the buggery had he laid hands on the master keys? I’d take my fists to Samo if he’d drunk himself blotto again and let the boy steal them from his belt. I closed the bedroom door and walked slowly back to Theodore. Antonia had got a sheet about her body. I looked round for something to put on. There was nothing within reach.

I sat on the floor beside him. I put a hand on his shoulder. He didn’t shrink back, but continued staring at Antonia. She pulled the sheet closer and moved to sit on the edge of the bed. ‘Listen, Theodore,’ I said softly. ‘I was hoping to break this to you in a less – ah – shocking manner.’ I didn’t think he was listening, but went on even so. ‘There were reasons for this deception. These reasons are now passed. But I do most humbly apologise for not having taken you into my confidence.’

He wasn’t listening and I could be glad of that. ‘It is my own fault,’ the boy said calmly. He looked into my face. ‘I have committed the ultimate sin in my heart, and this is the beginning of my punishment. Blessed be the Name of the Lord.’

I’d seen him in this mood only once before. That was when he’d eaten too many honeyed figs. I’d only stopped things from ending badly by sending Martin into his room to take back the scourge I’d neglected to throw away on taking possession of the palace. Martin had prayed with the boy for the better part of Christmas Day and slowly brought him to his senses. But Martin was on Lesbos and the visions of lust Theodore had welcomed into his mind, and their brutal disabusing, weren’t in the same class as an attack of indigestion. If I’d had anyone to send out of the room, I’d have called for Father Macarius. He was a disgusting, smelly creature, whose only worthwhile feature was his ability to keep out of my sight. If there was anyone, though, who could stop the gathering descent into lunacy I was watching, it had to be the chaplain.

But Antonia was on her feet. ‘Alaric,’ she said in a voice that wasn’t to be resisted, ‘please leave the room.’ I shook my head and nodded towards Theodore. She came closer. ‘Go and see if the baths are ready,’ she added, not turning in my direction. ‘There are things we need to discuss alone.’

For the first time, I was looking at the cup in daylight. Rather, I was pretending to look at it. Whatever the light, whatever my interest, there was nothing more to be learned from an inscription in an unknown and probably dead language and a picture as crude in its own way as anything I’d seen in Egypt.

‘What did you tell him?’ I asked without looking up.

Antonia closed the office door and came over to my desk. She sat down opposite me. ‘I told him the truth,’ she said. ‘Because I am the only one who can possibly be blamed for what has happened, it was my duty to tell him the complete truth. You’ll agree that was the least he deserved.’

I nodded. I put the cup down and turned to Antonia. The maids had done her proud in yellow silk. There could be no doubt of her sex. ‘Did he cry much?’ I asked. She nodded. That may have been a good sign, I thought. Tears had always so far meant that Theodore was getting over his cause of grief.

‘He told me he was going to pray in the chapel,’ she said. ‘He believes it was a temptation from the Devil but that God intervened to save him.’ I stared again at the cup. It was grossly ugly. If I chose not to give to Heraclius, the world of art wouldn’t suffer a jot if I sent it off for minting into more of my new coins. So Theodore was blaming the powers of darkness. A night in the dark with one of my dancing boys would have done him more good. But I was now at least sharing the blame.

Antonia changed the subject. ‘So this is it?’ she asked, nodding at the cup. ‘This is the Horn of Babylon that Daddy wants so he can give it to Shahin?’

‘Yes,’ I said briskly. Antonia had brought Theodore back to what few senses he had. I was glad of that, but didn’t wish to dwell on the force of personality this had taken. The cup was much easier to discuss. ‘I’ve been wondering if the wording is some elaborate modern code. Apart from recent cleaning, though, it’s unquestionably ancient.’ I put it down before her. ‘I’ve cleaned it again,’ I explained. ‘It had none of the usual signs of poison. It’s quite safe to touch.’

She frowned and sat back. ‘Do you
really
think that,’ she asked. She ignored the impatient face I pulled. ‘I heard what Eunapius explained last night. Don’t forget too that I was there when your eunuchs set hands on it. Neither was killed by poison. Perhaps they temporarily drained its power. Perhaps it likes you. But can’t you at least see how evil it looks?’

Time to show who was the master, I decided. ‘Antonia,’ I said, ‘this is a piece of metal shaped by men whose bodies had crumbled to dust before the Jews built Jerusalem. Whatever harm it can do is purely in the mind of anyone who believes in it.’

‘Oh, believe what you will,’ she said quickly. ‘But lock it away. You mustn’t let Daddy or the Persians take it from you.’ We could agree on that. I lifted the cup and saw how it glittered in the sunlight. When enough people share them, imaginary terrors become real. We couldn’t have this carried into battle against us. Our armies were demoralised as it was. I went back to my earlier thoughts of mint value. Assuming five pounds of reasonably pure metal, the cup would make about four hundred of the new coins. That would put an end to all this nonsense. The cash would certainly come in handy. I wiped off my fingerprints with a napkin and put the thing back into its box. I put the lid on roughly where it had been levered away by the Master of the Timings. But that gave the whole thing a tatty appearance. I took the lid off again and dropped it into one of the trays on my desk.

I changed the subject. ‘You did know that your father had promised you to Eunapius?’ I asked. She thought, then nodded. That explained the risk she’d run in getting me to take her along to the recital. She wanted a look at her intended one. If he’d been younger or less nauseous to look at, would she have sided so decisively with me? I put the thought aside. Unlike her father, Antonia knew when to keep her options open and when to stand by her choices.

She was looking at the cup again. On its bed of silk padding, it was beginning to remind me of a body in an unsealed coffin. I picked up the box and locked it away in the secret cupboard. I glanced out of the window. It would be a late dinner. ‘Get Theodore from the chapel,’ I said. ‘He’ll take you to the dining room. I’ll join you there with a full explanation of the past few days. Before then, there are one or two matters that need my attention.’ The excuse I gave for this was a look at the five baskets of documents the clerks had dumped beside my desk.

Chapter 40

Hands behind my back, I stared down at Priscus. ‘You swore blind you wouldn’t shit on me again,’ I shouted. I dropped my voice. We were a long way from the inhabited areas of the palace and the walls were thick, but I brought my voice under control. ‘I was a fool to believe you.’

Priscus twisted again on his filthy mattress and laughed into his pillow. ‘But Alaric, my dearest young stunner,’ he croaked, half triumphant, half desperate not to give way to open, mocking laughter, ‘it was a harmless deception – and do try to see how well it’s turning out. I watched you earlier in loving mood with your intended. Just think what joys I’ve brought into your life, even if they were unintended.’

Not moving, I hardened my face. ‘I could have been killed a dozen times over,’ I said. I realised too late how pompous I must be looking. I shut my eyes and let out a long breath. ‘You could have let me in on your plot,’ I said. Too late again, I realised how feeble that sounded.

He rolled over on his back. ‘Don’t be silly, Alaric!’ he laughed. ‘I knew you could deal with poor Shahin. You hardly stayed on his ship long enough to digest your dinner. As for last night, I did intend warning you but I decided at the last moment to trust in your unfailing luck. The girl overheard enough. No need for Uncle Priscus to join in the fun. And you did have the cup on your side.’

Breathing heavily, I glowered at the grinning skeleton before me. ‘I see you now admit to knowing all about the cup,’ I said darkly. ‘So let’s try for a little frankness. You heard about the Eunapius conspiracy on one of your night walks through the City. Instead of bringing word of it to me, you went and stole the cup. You stuffed it inside the main gate, then let word get back to Simon that I had it. I suppose I should thank you for getting word to Shahin to come and save me from Simon.’

Priscus sat up and reached for a mirror. He rubbed at the lines on his face. ‘You must believe me for once,’ he said with an earnest turn, ‘that I do have your welfare in mind. Can we speak frankly about the cup? It really is what everyone says it is. It’s not supposed to do anything nasty for seven days. But you have been touching it with your bare hands. No one outside the initiated has ever done that before. God knows what you’ve set in motion.’