To Love Again - Bertrice Small [89]
“This woman belongs to General Aspar, and is going to Villa Mare,” came the curt reply.
“I’ll just have a look,” the voice answered, and the litter’s diaphanous draperies were yanked aside.
Cailin stared coldly at the soldier peering in.
The draperies fell back. “She belongs to old Aspar?” the guard at the gate said, whistling admiringly. “What a beauty! Pass on!”
The litter was picked up again, and moved forward. Cailin peeped between the draperies after a while. The road stretched across a flat, fertile plain with wheat fields, orchards, and olive groves along both sides. Beyond lay the sea. She could not see it, but she could smell it, the sharp, pungent tang of the salt air tickling her nose. She was beginning to feel better. The sea was a means of escape, and now that she was free of Villa Maxima, she would never again have to degrade herself as she had the last five weeks.
They moved along at a smooth pace, and then she felt the bearers slowing, turning. Peeking out again, she saw they had passed through an iron gate and were going down a tree-lined lane. She was in the country again, she thought, relieved to be free of the noise and stink of Constantinople. The bearers stopped and the litter was set down again. The curtains were drawn aside and a hand extended to her. Cailin stepped out to discover the hand belonged to an elderly white-haired man of small stature.
“Good day, lady. I am Zeno, the majordomo at Villa Mare. The general has bid me welcome you. This is your home, and we are all at your command.” He bowed politely, his worn face breaking into a friendly smile.
“Where is your master, Zeno?” she asked him.
“I have not seen the general in several months, lady. He sent a messenger early this morning with his orders for you,” Zeno replied.
“Is he expected soon?” Cailin asked. This was odd.
“He has not informed me so, lady,” Zeno told her. “Come in now and take some refreshment. The day is growing warm, and the sun is very hot for late June. The city, I can but imagine, was a tinderbox.”
Cailin followed after him. “I do not like the city,” she said. “The noise and the dirt are appalling.”
“Indeed,” he agreed. “I have served the general for many years, but when he offered to make me his majordomo at Villa Mare, I kissed his feet in gratitude. The older I get, the less tolerance I seem to have, lady. You are not a citizen of Byzantium?”
“I am a Briton,” Cailin told him, and accepted a goblet of chilled wine from a smiling servant.
“It is a very savage and barbaric land, I am told,” Zeno said with utmost seriousness. “It is said the people are blue in color, but you are not blue, lady. Am I mistaken, then?”
Cailin couldn’t refrain from one little giggle, but she quickly soothed the majordomo’s feelings by telling him, “In ancient times the warriors among my people painted themselves blue when they went into battle, Zeno, but we are not blue-skinned by nature.”
“I can see that, lady, but why did they paint themselves blue?”
“Our warriors believed that although the enemy might kill them and strip them of their possessions, as long as they were painted blue, their honor and their dignity could not be taken from them,” Cailin explained to him. “Britain is not a savage land. We have been part of the empire for over four hundred years, Zeno. My own family descended from a Roman tribune who came there with Emperor Claudius.”
“I can see I have a great deal to learn about the Britons, lady. I hope you will share your knowledge with me. I greatly value knowledge,” Zeno said.
During the next few days Cailin explored her new surroundings. Villa