Sheen on the Silk - Anne Perry [173]
“It’s over five thousand feet above the sea,” she began. “And yet the mountains around almost make it look insignificant, until you get to it, and realize the walls are thirty or forty feet high, and massive. Even if you could get a siege engine up there, nothing could break them. There are buttresses and towers, but no doors near the ground. The only way in is through a small opening near the top. You have to be winched up, standing in a rope stirrup.”
“That’s true?” he said, his voice hushed with wonder. “I heard it, but I thought it was imagination.”
“It’s true. Inside it’s beautiful, austere, and you can never forget the mountains that seem to be almost hanging over you, blocking out the sky behind, Mount Sinai and Mount Horeb. There is a pathway upward in the cleft between them, steep stairs now. That’s where Moses climbed up to meet God. I didn’t go. I didn’t have time, and I’m not sure if I wanted to. Maybe I would have met God, and I’m not ready.” She smiled and looked down. “Or maybe I wouldn’t, and I’m not ready to face that, either. But I saw the ‘burning bush.’ It’s still there. It looks like any other bush, but you know it isn’t.”
“How?” he asked.
“Probably because the monk told me I was standing on holy ground—to take my shoes off.”
He laughed, and the tension eased out of his shoulders. Only then did she realize how awkward he had been, without his usual grace. She thought of their parting in Golgotha, of his face when he had seen the painting of Mary—she chose to believe that was who it was. Other moments crowded her mind, and she knew that something had changed. She did not want to understand what it was because it included a hurt she could not reach.
Sixty-five
“WELL?” SIMONIS DEMANDED WHEN ANNA WAS HOME AT last, washed and rested and sitting in clean clothes at the table, hot soup and fresh bread in front of her. “What did you learn of Justinian? I can see by your face that he is alive. What else? When will he be home?” Anna had told Simonis and Leo nothing of Zoe’s picture. They had both assumed her entire journey was to gain news of Justinian. Leo had cautioned her against going, saying she would endanger herself for little purpose. Simonis had been furious with him and praised Anna for at last taking the step that she had hoped of her from the beginning. “I saw him,” Anna began. “He is thinner, but he seemed well.”
“Drink your soup,” Simonis directed. “What did he say?” Anna felt the knot of disappointment tighten inside her. “He told me what happened,” she replied, beginning the soup because its fragrance tempted her and eating would not make what she had to say better or worse. “It was almost what I had believed, from what I learned myself….”
“You didn’t tell us!” Simonis accused, her face darkening again. Leo touched her arm gently, with a small, restraining gesture. She shook him off, still staring at Anna. “So how are you going to prove his innocence?” she repeated.
“I’m not,” Anna said bluntly. “He killed Bessarion….”
“He couldn’t!” Simonis said furiously. “Not Justinian. You, perhaps! You could have—”
“Stop it,” Leo said sharply. “You exceed yourself.”
Simonis blushed hotly.
Anna too was caught by surprise. “Thank you, Leo,” she said to him gravely. “The story is simple, and now that I know from Justinian that it is true, I shall tell you, but if you value your lives, or mine, you will not repeat it.” She waited for their word. “This is as Justinian wishes.”
Simonis nodded reluctantly, her face still hot and angry.
“Of course,” Leo promised.
Briefly she told them, not elaborating any of the details.
Simonis looked crushed. She stared in miserable silence.
“Anna, you must obey Justinian’s wishes,” Leo said with concern. “You can’t let anyone know that you are aware of all this, or they will destroy you.”
Simonis was looking at her, too, but she expected action. “You’ll go to the emperor and tell him who the other conspirators were,” she said as if it were a conclusion they had all agreed. “You’ll say you saw Justinian, and he told you who