"I remember that all my life until she died my mother always told me of how when she and my father met they fell instantly in love, and knew without reason that they were meant to be together. She did not hesitate to marry him, even though his life as a Bedawi chief was a great deal different from hers as a wealthy Alexandrian."
Gently she brushed a tousled lock of his chestnut hair back from his forehead. Catching her hand in his, he kissed it, and then pressed it to his heart. "When we met it was hardly love at first sight," she continued. "Oh yes, Marcus, I remember it well, although I have not until now spoken of it! We met on the desert road at dawn, and I was insufferably rude to you; but oh my darling, the pain of my mother's death still lived close to me." Tears sprang to her eyes as she remembered that terrible morning so long ago when her beautiful mother was savaged, raped, and murdered by Roman mercenaries.
"Don't, beloved," he urged her, sitting up and gathering her into his embrace.
"I have never really spoken of it to anyone since that day, Marcus. I told my father what had happened, and after that I tried to put it from my mind; but I have never forgotten. They used her body. Then they slit her throat. Perhaps they did her a kindness, for I do not think she could have lived with her shame Blue-eyed Romans. They were blue-eyed Romans. When I met you the hate still boiled in my heart."
"Hate, beloved, is the opposite of love. From the very first moment I saw you I was lost." He chuckled. "You were such a little spitfire that I wanted to drag you from your horse and kiss that angry little mouth until it grew pliant and loving. I knew, however, that you were shortly to be married to the prince of the city. I wanted you then, and having possessed you now, I still want you!"
Her beautiful gray eyes, filled with their tiny golden lights, looked deeply into his sapphire-blue ones. "You have loved me all these years, Marcus, and I never knew it. I have loved you but never did I dare face that love."
"Yet the night of Odenathus's death you came willingly to me, beloved. It was as if your soul understood what your mind never dared to comprehend."
"I ought to be ashamed," she said quietly, "and yet I am not. My husband lay dead and I gave myself to another man."
"You were in shock, beloved; without the least thought or care for yourself you took immediate charge of the situation and thus saved Palmyra from a civil war."
"I did not even remember! All those months while I carried Mavia I believed her to be Odenathus's child, and when I first saw her and remembered, I rejected her."
"No, Zenobia, you didn't reject our child. At your first sight of her you were frightened and confused, as your memory had begun to return. What you were rejecting was the possibility of having behaved in a manner contrary to what you had always done."
She moved so that he held her but lightly and she might gaze into his face. "I love you, Marcus Alexander Britainus, and for some reason I cannot fathom I am loved by you in return. Stay by my side, my darling. Be my rock; my fortress and refuge in this world. Be my love, and never leave me!"
"I will never leave you, Zenobia," he promised. "You are my wife, my beloved one, and as long as you want me I shall stay by your side."
"Then you must remain with me for eternity, Marcus. Eternity and beyond!"
"You do not set me a very harsh task, beloved," he said and, bending his head, he brushed her lips with his own.
Her arms wound about him, and she murmured against his marvelous mouth, "Then I shall have to think of something, my darling, and do not fear, I shall!"
"You will not be easy to live with," he teased her, "will you?"
"No," she said, and then a smile lit her features, "but then, I suspect, neither will you, my darling!"
7
The soldier emperor, Gallienus, considered the letter he had received from Antonius Porcius Blandus, hot upon the heels of the news of Odenathus's murder. He had thought about sending a military governor out to the East, but old Antonius Porcius, a loyal fellow as he remembered, assured him that the young queen, Zenobia, had all in hand; and had already appointed a former Praetorian prefect, one Marcus Alexander Britainus, to be commander of the Eastern legions.
The Alexander family were well known here in Rome, and this was the eldest son. There were those who thought it amusing that the Alexanders kept to the old ways of loyalty, honest industry, and piety toward the gods, but Gallienus thanked Jupiter himself for such rare servants. The Eastern frontier would be safe with Marcus Alexander, and in a rare burst of goodwill even the senate confirmed his appointment.
Feeling confident, Gallienus went off to subdue the Goths, who were once more overrunning Roman territory. Unfortunately his departure encouraged his general, Aureolus, who commanded the cavalry in Milan, to rebellion. Gallienus hurried to lay siege to Milan. Once there, he was murdered by a group of his dissatisfied generals, who then put forth one of their own as the new emperor. Claudius II quickly subdued Aureolus, put him to death, and then went on to conduct a successful campaign against the German tribes. The Eastern Empire was forgotten.
It was some weeks after Gallienus's murder that word of it reached Zenobia in Palmyra. It was obvious that Claudius would pay no attention to their part of the world, and looking at Longinus, Zenobia said, "Odenathus told me that the right moment would come someday. The time is now!”
"Just what is it you want, Majesty? Palmyra's freedom from Rome?"
She laughed, and he could hear a triumphant note in the sound. "Once, Longinus, freedom for Palmyra was all I wanted, but I was young and I lacked experience. It is not enough that Palmyra be free. We need much territory about us to keep our near perimeters safe. I want all of Rome's Eastern Empire for Palmyra, for my son; and I shall have it!"
She had said it, and it was as he had suspected. "You must move very carefully, Majesty," he said slowly. "In the beginning all must be done in the name of the Roman Empire. After all, you will be using the legion they left here in Palmyra."
"A legion of mercenaries, Longinus; legionnaires from Numidia, Mauretania, and Cyrene! They can be bought."
"It will take more than money, Majesty."
"I know, Longinus. It will take victories, for these mercenaries love the taste of victory as well as the sound of gold. First I must win their confidence, and then I will buy them; first with the victories so dear to their hearts, and then with the gold they desire. You are correct. It will be done first for Rome, and only when I have Rome's legion in the palm of my hand will it be done for Palmyra."
"And Marcus Britainus, Majesty? Will he desert Rome for Palmyra?"
"I don't know," she said honestly.
"And will you give up your own happiness, Majesty, for Palmyra?"
"Why should I have to, Longinus? While Rome's legion and my own army fight together for Rome, there is no conflict. Rome is not competent to rule in the East, for she is too far away to administer the governments properly. Marcus will be on our side. After all, it is not as if he were involved in the government of Rome. Like me, he springs from two peoples-from Britain, and from Rome. He has spent the last fifteen years here in Palmyra, and become more Palmyran each day."
Longinus shook his head. Where Marcus Britainus was concerned Zenobia was blind in both eyes.
"As always, Longinus, you worry too much," Zenobia teased him. "This is not the time to make a decision, and perhaps there never will come such a time for Marcus. We are friends as well as lovers. When Vaba is eighteen I will marry Marcus and let my son rule alone. I want children for Marcus."
Again Longinus shook his head. She was a brilliant ruler, but where her lover was concerned she simply did not understand. Love was indeed blind in the case of Palmyra's queen.