‘Or perhaps it was Satan in the guise of the pagan god for this pool was newly built and its deep water had saved the boy who claimed to be Theodora’s son.
‘As you can imagine I began to scour the surrounding gardens. I was not unknown at the palace, even then, and so was able to enlist the aid of several of the night guards.
‘It was nearly dawn when we spotted him. He had managed to find his way to the Chalke and was about to escape into the city. One of the fools assisting me raised the alarm. The soldiers who stand watch at the great gate are on the alert for miscreants seeking access to the palace grounds. The boy was past them before they knew what was happening.
‘I sent the guards after the boy and was told later they pursued him into the Copper Market where he vanished into thin air. They swore to me that he was running ahead of them and then suddenly he was gone. He was a demon, they said, as if that excused their failure.
‘I returned to the empress and reported that the boy had escaped. I was relieved when she had my tongue removed. I had expected to be killed, but I am valuable to her.’
John finished reading. “If you thought you would be killed why did you report to Theodora at all?”
‘Where does a person like me hide from the empress?’ Theodoulos wrote. ‘Besides, as I described the circumstances, the fault lay mostly with the guards. Naturally they were all executed. I particularly enjoyed that little task.’
John studied the face across the table from him. It displayed no remorse or any other emotion. How long must it have taken him to learn to write? And for what purpose? To tell the story he had just told? “Are you certain you did not loosen your grip on the boy’s arm on purpose, Theodoulos? Did you intend to show the boy some pity?”
Theodoulos did not nod, neither did he shake his head in the negative.
John turned to Felix. “I’m surprised you don’t remember guards being executed by order of the empress.”
Felix grunted. “If they’d been my excubitors, I would remember. The Master of the Offices is in charge of guarding the gardens. A fine job he does of it too!”
John nodded. “Now, Theodoulos, has Theodora ever mentioned this boy since then? Has she had him searched for over the years?”
Theodoulus shook his head to indicate she had not.
“What makes you think that?”
The kalamos moved again. ‘If the empress had searched she would have found him and if she had found him she would have ordered me to finish my work.’
“I don’t imagine she expected him to show his face again, considering what he knew would be in store for him,” Felix said. “And conducting a serious inquiry would only have lent credance to his dubious claim.”
John addressed Theodoulos again. “Do you know anything about a woman murdered and left in a cistern a little more than a week ago?”
“Or a former silentiary named Menander?” Felix added.
Theodoulos raised the reed pen, snapped it in half, and dropped the pieces onto the table.
Felix leapt to his feet. “I can order done what Theodora didn’t unless you tell us all you know!”
“I don’t think he knows anything else,” John said. “Let him go. He won’t mention this interview to Theodora. To do so he would have to reveal he can still communicate her secrets.”
***
When Theodoulos had been escorted out Felix paced over to the window and stared out. His expression was as bleak as the windswept courtyard outside. “He could’ve choked the life out of the girl and Menander easily, John. Did you see the size of his arms? It’s not just that his job is killing people for Theodora. He’s safe so long as she protects him, and he’s made it plain he enjoys the filthy work. We should let the torturers persuade him to tell us more.”
“We know what’s most important already. Theodora’s son-if he is her son-is almost certainly still alive.”
“From what you told me, you went all over the Copper Market searching for information about the dead girl. Now you propose to go back and search for the boy?”
“It would seem the logical course. There are more disgraced courtiers there than anywhere else in the city except the cemeteries. They are the only ones who might know more.”
“Might be harboring him, you mean? I can assign some of my excubitors to scour the area.”
“Have you been following me, Felix?”
The excubitor captain stared at John in amazement. “Following you? Why would you think that?”
“Was it merely a coincidence you happened to run into Theodoulos as he was about to jump into the sea?”
Felix growled unintelligibly and pulled at his beard. “You did ask me to help you investigate this matter of the missing son.”
“And you thought to do so by having me followed? Or were you interested in what I might be looking into? Or perhaps for other reasons?”
“Mithra! How can you say that, John? I knew you when I was just a pup in the excubitors and you were-”
“A slave. I am no longer a slave, and you are no longer a young excubitor, Felix. I know how much you admired Justinian’s uncle Justin. After all Justin was captain of the excubitors before he was emperor.”
“It’s not an uncommon path to power. Everyone knows that. Everyone also knows that I am loyal to Justinian. As you are.”
“Yes, it’s a most uncommon occurrence, for an emperor to boast both an excubitor captain and a Lord Chamberlain, neither of whom are seeking to put a blade into his back. Or haven’t been until now. Are you sure you haven’t become bored, Felix? As a military man you can’t be satisfied with guarding doors and making out requests for supplies.” John tapped the parchment on the table in front of him.
“You talk to me as if I’m a stranger.” Felix regarded John with an expression of puzzlement.
John leaned back in his seat. “Friends can become strangers. You brought me home after I was attacked in the street. That’s what you told Cornelia. I don’t remember what happened.”
Felix flushed with rage. “You think I had something to do with that attack? The blow on your head’s affected your reasoning powers, my friend.”
“I merely wondered if you had been following me at that time also. Should I now suspect you of having a hand in the attack as well?”
Felix started to speak, stopped, and remained silent for a while. It took a visible effort. “You need to go home and get some rest,” he finally said. “Your humors are upset. You are making up tales even the cleverest spinners of words would envy.”
“Consider the situation, Felix! We have the illegitimate son of an empress-a former actress-who should never have been permitted to marry Justinian in the first place. The city harbors a virtual army of malcontents-former high officials and courtiers who have lost their positions, senators who have had their lands confiscated. In many cases those who fell into disfavor were executed but the emperor is not in the habit of executing entire families. Those who remain behind, condemned to scratch out a living on the streets, are naturally bitter. It’s a golden opportunity for an ambitious man.”
“Then you’d better explain it to me.”
John was aware of an increase in the throbbing in his head. A wave of dizziness hit him. Two Felixes were standing by the window, tugging at a pair of beards.
John squeezed his eyes shut and when he opened them again only one Felix remained. “Rumors have killed more than one innocent man, as we both know. I am telling you to be extremely careful in what you say in public or indeed private,” he said. “I would not care to see a close friend condemned to death.”
Chapter Thirty-Nine
“Do you know how many girls are in my charge?” said the abbess. “And considering their earlier lives, how many do you suppose might have a tattoo of one sort or another?”