Treasures of Fantasy - Margaret Weis [128]
As Aelon’s Church increased in wealth and gained followers, the attitudes of the nobility changed. When the Empress became a fanatic follower, Aelon’s priests, who had formerly been admitted to noble villas only through the servants’ entrance, were now invited to dine with the royal family. Acronis did not change his views on Aelon, however, and the Priest-General and the Empress’s friendship for him was starting to cool. She could not afford to anger him, for he had his own army and paid for two triremes. She could make her displeasure known in other, more subtle ways, such as reducing the number of invitations to dinner.
Acronis never noticed. He disliked dining out, preferring to share his meals with his daughter and those who were his true friends. Acronis came from an ancient noble family, one of the founding families of Sinaria. He was an intelligent man, but he was short-sighted. He had honestly believed the worship of Aelon was a fad, a passing fancy. He was starting to realize he had been wrong. If he had seen the treasure room and knew the vast amount of wealth being secretly amassed by Aelon’s priests, he would have been appalled.
Chloe felt and believed exactly the same as her father. She thought the Empress a silly, vain woman. Chloe cared nothing for the haughty nobles and their snooty wives. She didn’t care where she sat, so long as she had a good view of the game. But being a social outcast had its disadvantages, and she’d never felt that more than now, when she longed to find out the truth of what was happening and no one would tell her. Then, at last, she saw Zahakis and she waved to him wildly and sent Rosa to fetch him.
Zahakis was known to all as the commander of her father’s army, and as such he had no difficulty being admitted to the royal box. He came straight to Chloe and said quietly, “Your father has ordered me to take you home.”
Chloe laughed at him. “Be serious, Zahakis, and sit down and tell me if this rumor I’ve heard is true.”
“I am serious, Mistress,” he said gravely. “Those are your father’s orders.”
Chloe saw the way the Tribune’s eyes roved about the crowd and how he kept his hand conspicuously near his sword and she knew he was serious. She also knew she wasn’t leaving.
“Sit down and talk to me,” Chloe said, patting the silk cushions. She smiled at him and the dimple flashed. “Those are my orders and you know that I outrank my father.”
Zahakis was well aware of that. He sat down beside her.
“I’ve heard a rumor that the Empress is bringing in some sort of monster to fight against Father’s team,” said Chloe eagerly. “Is that true?”
“Keep your voice down, child,” said Zahakis.
The Empress and her party were entering the royal box. She was accompanied by her little dog, who had its own slave, and slaves with pillows, slaves carrying baskets of food, slaves with large ostrich-feather fans. All was noise and confusion as she greeted friends and the nobles crowded around to fawn over her.
“Your father wanted to withdraw from the game,” said Zahakis, under the cover of the loud greetings and laughter, “but your barbarian insisted on fighting.”
“Skylan!” Chloe said, her eyes shining. “He did? He is so brave!”
“ ‘One man’s hero is another man’s fool,’ ” Zahakis said, repeating the old quote.
Chloe made a face at him and playfully slapped his hand.
At that moment, heads turned, conversation ceased, people all over the arena stood up to see.
A chariot entered the main gate, driving onto the dirt track that circled the arena.