Antonina had been puzzled. "Why does that make you sad? I would think you'd prefer it. You're a Christian, yourself."
Belisarius' smile, when it came, had been very crooked. "Am I?"
She remembered herself gasping. And, just as clearly, could remember the warm smile in her husband's face.
"Be at ease, love. Christianity suits me fine. I've no intention of abandoning it. It's just-"
The look of strangeness, of strangewonder, was back on his face. "I've seen so much, Antonina," he whispered. "Aide has taken me millions of years into the future, to stars beyond the galaxy. How could the simple certainties of the Thracian countryside withstand such visions?"
She had been mute. Belisarius reached out and caressed her face.
"I am certain of only one thing," he said. "I can't follow half of Anthony's theology, but I know he's right. God made the Trinity so unfathomable because He does not want men to understand Him. It's enough that we look for Him."
His hand, leaving her cheek, swept the universe. "Which we will, love. Which we will. We are fighting this war, at bottom, so that people can make that search. Wherever the road leads them."
His gentle smile returned. "That's good enough. For a simple Thracian boy, raised to be a soldier, that's more than good enough."
Finally, it was ending. Antonina almost sagged from relief. She felt like a melting blob of butter.
She watched as Eon turned to Rukaiya and removed the veil. Then, she fought down a grin. The King of Ethiopia, for the first time, saw his new wife's face. He seemed like an ox, struck between the eyes by a mallet.
A little gasp-not so little, actually-went up from the crowd. Some of that was caused by shock, at seeing a young woman unveiled in public. The Arabs had known it was coming, of course. Eon had made very clear that he was only willing to concede so much to Arab traditions. Ethiopian women did not wear veils, not even young virgins, and the King of Kings had stated in no uncertain terms that his new wife would follow Axumite custom in that regard. Still, the matrons in the square were shocked. Shocked, shocked! They could hardly wait to scurry home and start talking about the scandal of it all.
But most of the gasps came from Rukaiya's sheer beauty. The crowd had been expecting a pretty girl, true. But not-notthis.
Within seconds, the gasps gave way to murmurs. Looks of shock and surprise were replaced by I will be damned, thought Antonina.I didn't even think of that.
"You are a genius yourself, Antonina," whispered Ousanas. "That is what a queenshould look like. And will you look at the greedy bastards? Every one of those coin-counting merchants just realized there's no way the King of Kings is going to ignore his new Quraysh bride."
Garmat's opinion was otherwise. "She's too gorgeous," he complained. "We'll never be able to pry Eon out of bed." With a hiss: "What were youthinking, Antonina?"
Antonina ignored the old fart. She simply basked, a bit, in the admiring glances sent her way by the crowd. And she positively wallowed in the penumbra of another's admiration. Even at the distance, she could not misread Eon's face. That young face had been shadowed, ever since he found the mangled bodies of his concubines in the stones of the Ta'akha Maryam. Now, at last, she could see the shadow start to lift.
Like her husband before her, Antonina had come to love Eon as if he were her own son. She realized, now that it was over, that she been guided throughout by a mother's instinct-not the calculations of a diplomat. She trusted that instinct, far more than she trusted the machinations of politics.
Garmat still didn't understand, but Ousanas did. The tall hunter leaned over and whispered: "A genius, I say it again."
Antonina shrugged modestly. "It's a good match. The girl's father, I think, will make an excellent adviser in his own right. And Rukaiya herself is very intelligent. She'll-"
"Not that nonsense," snorted Ousanas.
He sneered at Garmat. Ousanas' sneer was as magnificent as his grin. "Politics is a silly business. Games for boys too old to grow up." The famous grin made its appearance. "Wise folk, like you and me, understand the truth. As long as the boy is happy, he will do well. Everything else is meaningless."
That evening, at the great feast in the palace, Eon sidled up to her. He began to fumble with words of thanks and appreciation.
Antonina smiled. "She's very beautiful, isn't she?"
Eon nodded happily. "She's smart, too. Did you know she can actuallyread?And she's funny. Even before I lifted the veil I thought I would be enamored. She told a little joke, while the priests were droning on and on. I almost died, trying not to laugh."
He was silent, for a few seconds, admiring his wife. Rukaiya was the center of attention for the crowd-and had been, since the feast started. At the moment, she was surrounded by many of the young girls who had spent the days in the harem with her. Antonina, watching the ease with which Rukaiya handled that little mob of admirers-who had, not so long ago, been her rivals-congratulated herself once again.
She'll make a great queen.
The final reward came. Eon took her hand and gave it a little squeeze.
"Thank you," he whispered. "You have been like a mother for me."
Toward the end of the feast, Rukaiya sought her out. The young queen drew Antonina aside, into a corner of the great chamber. She clutched Antonina's hands in her own.
"I'm so nervous," she whispered. "Eon and I will be leaving, very soon. For his private chamber. I am so nervous. So scared."
Antonina smiled reassuringly, almost placidly. The expression was hard to maintain. She was waging a ferocious battle-not against giggles, but uproarious laughter.
What a lot of crap! Do you think you can fool me,girl? You're not scared. You just can't wait to get laid, that's all.
But a mother's instinct came to the rescue, again.
"Relax, Rukaiya. Forget what you might have heard. Most men, believe it or not, don't mount their wives like a bull mounting a heifer. They actually talk, first."
Some of them, anyway. Eon will.
Rukaiya's eyes were boring into her own, like a disciple staring at a prophet.
Hell with it. Antonina did laugh.
"Relax, I say!" She pried loose one of her hands and stroked the girl's cheek. Humor faded away, under the intensity of Rukaiya's gaze. Half-dreading; half-hopeful; half-eager; half-curious; half-…
That's way too many halves. This girl's got too many emotions going on at once.
"Trust me, Rukaiya," she said softly. "When the time comes, Eon will be very gentle. But it may not come as soon as you think. Maybe not at all, tonight."
Rukaiya's mouth gaped wide.
Antonina's hand went from the girl's cheek to her lustrous, long black hair. Still stroking, she said: "Remember, girl, he recently lost concubines that he loved very much. It will be hard for him, too, when you are alone. He will be reminded of them, and be saddened. And he will be nervous himself. He's not a virgin, of course-"
She fought down a giggle.To put it mildly!
"-but he's still a young man. Not much older than you. In the beginning, I think, he will just want to talk."
Slowly, Rukaiya's mouth closed. The girl thought on Antonina's words for a time, as the Roman woman kept stroking her hair. The words, and the caresses, began to calm her.
"I know how to dothat," Rukaiya announced. "I'm good at talking."
The next morning, at the breakfast feast, Garmat began grumbling again.
"What were youthinking, Antonina?"
The old adviser was sitting right next to her, in a position of honor near the head of the great table. Ousanas was seated on her other side. The two positions at the very head of the table, of course, were reserved for the King of Kings and his new queen. Judging from the fanfare of the drums, they were about to make their entrance.