The Empress wishes to stay the night there. I am certain that with two thematic armies in her cordon she will not need the warriors of the Domestic of the Imperial Excubitores to safeguard her Blessed Person.’
Blymmedes saw that there was no hope; even one Strategus outranked him, and apparently the two he now had to contend with agreed on this foolish course. The only other recourse was dangerous insubordination. And these two Strategi, whatever their woeful shortcomings at military command, had the abilities to see that he would be punished promptly and mercilessly for any usurpation of their commands. Well, defending Daphne would at least be a challenging exercise in tactical deployment.
Blymmedes bowed crisply. ‘We will be ready to leave Antioch within the hour.’
‘These, Mistress.’ Symeon’s scarcely living, parchment-like fingers decorously placed the documents, broken seals dangling, next to Zoe. The Empress was stretched out under iridescent purple covers; her ponderous gilt and white-lacquer Imperial sleeping couch required an entire wagon for transport.
‘These are the original documents?’ asked Zoe as she read; her varnished fingernails picked at the dried emollient that masked her face.
‘Oh, yes, Mistress. After we have opened them we always feel it is better to make an exact copy with a fresh seal and send on the duplicate. A keen eye can detect a seal that has been restored.’
Zoe continued to read and pick for several minutes. She leaned back against her pillows and closed her eyes. Symeon stood patiently, a single bluish vein throbbing just beneath the membrane-like skin of his ancient temple. ‘How interesting,’ said Zoe finally. ‘Do you really think it is Attalietes?’
‘No, Mistress,’ said Symeon without hesitation. ‘These came to us too providentially for even Providence to account for reasonably.’
‘How interesting. Then it is someone else who wishes to make a fool of a fool. And only our Mother in heaven knows what they plan for us. How very interesting.’ Zoe’s eyes were still closed and she seemed to drift off for a moment.
‘Mistress?’ asked Symeon. ‘Is there something you wish done about this?’
Zoe seemed not to hear at first. ‘Oh, Symeon . . . No, if you please. Nothing. We will do nothing.’
‘Blymmedes seemed quite convinced,’ said Ulfr. ‘Of course, we have not surveyed the terrain at this Daphne, but what he told me made sense.’
‘I have no doubt we will find the situation as Blymmedes described it,’ mused Haraldr. He looked at the lifelike, almost crocus-golden statue of a woman that stood beside the broad, paved, gently rising avenue. Set well back from the road, a large villa glimmered like ivory behind a screen of cypress trees. Haraldr turned to Ulfr and Halldor. ‘I smell something rank and foul here. I smell a plot.’ He went on to describe the vitriolic exchange between Attalietes and the Empress the previous night.
‘Perhaps,’ considered Ulfr. ‘But Blymmedes said the Empress herself had commanded this, and that both the Strategus of Antioch and the Strategus of Cilicia were in agreement.’
Haraldr thought for a moment. He knew that Attalietes was the Empress’s enemy. If Joannes was also the Empress’s enemy, then Constantine could well be allied with Attalietes, despite the disdain of the Dhynatoi for the eunuch. ‘I think I will find out what the Empress commands with my own ears,’ Haraldr said, motioning to Gregory to join him. He spurred his horse and turned back towards the Imperial carriages.
The Imperial Chamberlain Symeon rode in his own carriage with his own eunuchs riding in attendance. He pulled back the crimson curtain and peered out; his slightly jaundiced, watery blue eyes looked as if they would slide off his face.
Deceptive eyes, thought Haraldr; he had seen the authority in them the night before. ‘Chamberlain, I hope you will not think it impertinent if I discuss with you my anxiety about the safety of Our Mother.’ Symeon nodded. Haraldr recited Brymmedes’s concerns while Symeon fixed him with a curious look; not indifferent, but perhaps regarding Haraldr as only one of an entire multitude of things he witnessed at once. Then Haraldr added, ‘You will see that we are dependent on the thematic armies to guarantee the security of such a diffuse perimeter. Tonight will we sleep with the assurance that these bricks have been set with the proper mortar?’
‘Komes,’ Symeon intoned with ancient resonance, ‘the Empress herself is the architect of her fate. She has set these bricks you speak of in the pattern she finds most pleasing.’ Symeon closed the curtain and his carriage rumbled on.
‘Daphne.’ Zoe pulled aside the curtain and inhaled deeply. ‘You can smell the roses.’ She watched as her carriage passed a long marble pergola smothered with ivy. She inhaled again. ‘The air is as fragrant and pure as the water. You know how they say, “Antioch, near Daphne”, don’t you, dear? You have to be here to realize how true that is.’ Zoe again imbibed the fresh, floral-scented air. ‘Cypress, pine, roses . . . paradise! Fair Daphne, your virtue is our reward!’ She turned to Maria. ‘You are not troubled, are you, little daughter? Symeon simply thought we should know. I can hardly see that it changes anything.’
Maria’s nostrils flared. ‘It means that this Haraldr is almost certainly a principal in this conspiracy. If it is to happen near St Symeon, and this Haraldr says it is to happen here, is he not saying watch out for the dog at our feet when he knows that the lion approaches from behind?’
‘But Komes Haraldr implies that Constantine and Attalietes are allied in this enterprise. There is no sense to that accusation, unless--’
‘Yes! Yes! The best actor is both a liar and a madman! Euthymius would pay a thousand solidi for this Haraldr’s talents!’ Maria’s cheeks glowed, stoked with outrage.
Zoe settled Maria’s hands. ‘I believe he is innocent simply because there is no method, no plan to his contrivances. Why would he have so visibly challenged Attalietes last night if he was in league with whomever wishes Attalietes to play the ass?
In doing that, he has already made Attalietes the fool, thus relieving the scene that will follow of its necessary drama. And why would he warn us of a conspiracy we have already been far more subtly, and misleadingly, alerted to?’
‘So you believe it will happen here?’
‘Oh, dear, I have no concern where it happens.’ Zoe settled back and admired the sad elegance of a crumbling arcade. ‘You must enjoy your day here, my darling. Simply remember that I now regard my Tauro-Scythian, Komes Haraldr, as wedded to me by a loyalty that would embrace death with greedy arms. You must only think to weld him to our cause with a yet more implacable bond.’
Maria looked out on the dead splendour of Daphne and said nothing.
‘Who are these men?’ White wisps of hair clung to the parchment scalp behind Symeon’s ears, and several errant strands floated in the breeze like gossamer. The Varangians stood at rigid attention, breastplates gleaming.
‘I have detailed these men to follow the Empress at a discreet distance wherever it is her pleasure to go.’ Haraldr stood with his single-bladed axe pressed against Emma’s polished links.
‘These men are not necessary.’ Symeon studied the Varangians with his watery stare. ‘They are relieved from their martial duties so that they may imbue themselves with the culture of the ancients. It will heighten their appreciation for the glories of the Roman Empire. Certainly that will make them better servants of Her Majesty.’ Symeon returned to Haraldr. ‘The Empress believes you alone are sufficient escort for her Sacred Person and her ladies.’ Symeon’s bony fingers moved through the air like the passage of an apparition. ‘And, Komes, do not go to her in your war costume. She does not want to be reminded of military matters in any fashion.’
The Empress was accompanied by the eunuchs Leo and Theodore, two serving ladies, and Maria and Anna. She waited for Haraldr and Gregory beneath a single large laurel tree; her own fragrance and that of her ladies blended with the scent of the leaves. ‘Komes!’ she offered enthusiastically. Haraldr mastered his urge to look at Maria’s face. He knelt before Zoe and she gave him her hand to kiss. When Haraldr and Gregory stood again, Zoe regally scrutinized Gregory. Then she spoke sharply to him.