To Love Again - Bertrice Small [131]
“How politic you are,” Basilicus mocked him. “This little incident will, of course, be reported to Leo, magnified with proper embellishments naturally, and the poor man will be torn between his gratitude to you and his fear that you may one day displace him.” The prince laughed.
“Leo knows that I prefer being a private citizen to being an emperor,” Aspar said. “Should he ever doubt it, I will reassure him once again on the matter. Frankly, if he would let me, I should retire.”
“Not you,” Basilicus said with a broad chuckle. “You will die in service to Byzantium. Casia, my angel, have you something delicious for my supper? I am coming with you.”
“You are not going to the palace for the celebratory banquet?” Aspar asked his friend. “I know you said earlier you would not, but is not your presence mandatory?”
“I will not be missed, I assure you, my friend,” the prince replied. “Besides, the patriarch is invited. He will pray over the food for so long that it will be inedible when he is done, and hardly worth being thankful for at all,” he finished with a chuckle.
“I will take better care of him, my lord,” Casia said, “and his meal will be precisely to his liking, will it not, my prince?”
Basilicus’s eyes glittered wickedly in agreement.
Casia turned to Cailin. “May I come and see you one day? I am so pleased that you included me in your party today. We have both come a distance since our days at Villa Maxima.”
“Of course you may come,” Cailin said sincerely. “I have been quite alone at Villa Mare when my lord is away, though I have just obtained a young Saxon slave girl who keeps me company. I love to listen to your gossip, Casia. You seem to know everything that is going on in Constantinople. I admit to being happier in the country, however.”
“The country is pleasant to visit,” Casia responded, “but I was born in Athens, and I prefer the city myself. Basilicus likes to speak Greek with me. He is so very Hellenized for a Byzantine.”
Cailin bid all of their guests farewell, and Arcadius promised that he would be arriving at Villa Mare shortly to begin his work. Casia entered her litter along with Basilicus, and they moved off into the crowds leaving the Hippodrome. Cailin climbed into her own conveyance.
“I am required to attend the emperor at the palace,” Aspar said, leaning down to speak privately with her. “I will send my cavalry troup to escort you home, and join you as soon as I can.”
“I do not need your soldiers beyond the gates, my lord. The road is safe, and busy, and it is daylight. They will aid me in getting through the crowds, but no farther, I pray you.”
“Very well, my love. I will send a messenger if I am going to be late. Wait up for me if you can, Cailin.”
“What did the emperor want earlier, my lord?” she asked him, curious.
“My presence, and nothing more. It is his way of exercising his authority, and I obey him because it reassures him,” Aspar said wisely. “The invitation to the banquet, when he knows I dislike banquets, is but another test. The church is always spilling poison in Leo’s ear because I am not Orthodox in my beliefs. By obeying him unquestioningly, I make the patriarch’s lies seem foolish. Leo is not a stupid man. He is fearful, yes, but not unintelligent. It is the empress who worries me.”
“Why?” Cailin said.
“She is ambitious. Far more so than Leo. Verina would like a son to follow in Leo’s footsteps. They have but two daughters. I do not know if she will get that son. Leo prefers prayer to pleasure, it seems.”
“If that is a virtue, my lord, and one necessary to an emperor, you will indeed never be emperor,” Cailin said with a laugh. “You far prefer pleasure to prayer. I do not think I have ever seen you in prayer to either the Christian god or any god.”
In answer, he placed his lips upon