There — I’d said it all in surprisingly few words. Perhaps Theodore was worried about it as a native of Syria, and because of what it meant for the gigantic landholdings of the Church. But he dropped the matter. ‘I’ve had a letter from Lesbos,’ he said. ‘Martin says he misses us, but feels increasingly purified by his vigils at the shrine of Saint Deborah.’ I looked solemn. The reason I’d given in so easily to his request for leave was that Saint Deborah had been martyred three thousand feet up a mountain. So long as it didn’t kill him, the daily climb would certainly shake some of the weight off him.
Theodore’s courage now returned. ‘My Lord — I mean, Father — I believe you are to attend a poetry recital this evening.’ I nodded. I’d sat down on my garden bench determined to cry off that ordeal. The first new letter my clerks had opened, though, was an undeniably genuine note from Nicetas. Dripping concern for my safety, he’d renewed his invitation in terms it would have been insulting to refuse. Theodore got up and walked jerkily inside. When I caught up with him, he was staring at the map coordinates on my desk. ‘I was wondering if it might be possible to come with you to the recital,’ he whispered. ‘You have often said I should acquaint myself with the secular arts.’ He ended with a pleading look into my eyes.
‘I’d be delighted if you were to come,’ I said. That wasn’t quite true. But getting him home to bed would be an excuse for leaving before Nicetas and his poet became too unbearable. ‘Of course, you’ll need a bath and your finest clothes. It’s to be a late event, and will go on till midnight. My own chair will be waiting downstairs at the second hour of darkness. Speak to Samo, and he’ll arrange a place beside me.’
‘Thank you, Father!’ he cried. I told Antony you’d let us go along with you.’
Us? My smile faded like colours left out in the sun. I’d assumed Antonia would still be asleep. What was she doing up and about? ‘Young Antony will be staying with us for a while,’ I said smoothly. ‘Though he will be joining us for meals, he does have duties that will keep him largely to his own quarters, or with me. I’m not sure if he has any time for poetry recitals.’
‘Oh, but he said he’d love to hear the works of a poet attached to someone as important as the Emperor’s cousin,’ Theodore cried with desperate enthusiasm. ‘After I bumped into him in the main garden, we spoke of little else.’ I watched his face brighten and go though as many colours as my map. Anyone else of his age I’d long since have taken to a brothel and given over to slaves who would tease out exactly what it was he fancied. With Theodore, I still hadn’t got round to discussing the mechanics of the fleshly sins his favourite authors denounced so roundly.
I could have said no. I was lord and master of all I surveyed. I should have said no. Every hypothesis I formed about the previous day somehow involved Nicetas. He’d done nothing to contradict that. I’d never yet had a note in his own hand, nor in his native Latin, and there had been more than a hint of the slimy beneath its tone of gushing friendship. But I couldn’t remember the last time I’d said anything to please the boy. I remembered the promise I’d made before all my clerks. ‘Very well,’ I said — and I regretted the words at once. ‘We’ll all travel together in the big chair.’ He was beginning to tremble with excitement. Taking Antonia about in public hadn’t been on my list of things to do. She’d probably spend the evening gawping at Eunapius of bloody Pylae — I set aside the ultimate horror that she’d ply for business. But the Lord Senator had spoken and wouldn’t go back on his word. I led the boy to the door. ‘Do ask Samo to step in and see me at his convenience,’ I added, not exactly pushing the boy from the office but making it clear that I had other business that wouldn’t wait.
Alone, I picked up the sheet of map coordinates. They described various landmarks and villages in relation to their distance and direction from Laodicea. After so long living with all this, I had only to scan the neat tables of numerals and fractions, and then shut my eyes to see the map take shape. Instead, I dropped the sheet and closed my eyes to think of Antonia. Theodore had said she was up and about. If I hurried down to the garden, she might still be there. I was getting up from my desk — and finding that my own hands were beginning to tremble — when there was another knock on the door.
Either Theodore had run all the way down to the main hall or Samo had been coming up on business of his own.
Chapter 26
After that promising northern breeze of the morning, the afternoon air was still as inside a church. I emerged from the Treasury archive where Lucas had his office into the baking and mostly empty semicircle that lay at the southern end of the Circus. My next appointment lay within a district of narrow streets that was a survival from the ancient Byzantium. The quickest route was a turn to the right and a walk past a junction of many sewers that was presently unroofed. I shaded my eyes and looked across at a sundial. I’d spent less time with Lucas than expected. I turned left and made my way towards a long covered passageway that would take me under the building that connected the Circus to the Imperial Palace. From here it would be a longer walk, but through streets that nearly always picked up some breath of air from the sea.
Just before the covered passageway, I had another change of mind. The sea walls were a few hundred yards behind me. You couldn’t go very far west along them. There were two harbours where the walls gave way to other defences. But it was a nice walk to the east. You had the sea on your right and could look to your left over the public gardens of the Imperial Palace. There would certainly be a breeze up there. Half a mile along, there was even an eaterie on top of one of the towers that sold passable wine. I had a little time on my hands and I could do worse than spending it in solitary thought.
My meeting with Lucas had been a matter of drawing one blank after another. Though excellent in its own terms, the Treasury team I’d assembled under him was a poor substitute for the Intelligence Bureau. Following an anonymous tip off, he and his people had got to the beach before the blood was set on some of the bodies. Still smelling of urban filth and seawater, all the clothing had been carried into his office for me to poke through with a stick. No sign, though, of the forged note. I did recall having dropped this before Shahin had me tied up. Now, together with the alleged message from Nicetas, it had vanished. I’d given Lucas instructions for every ship to be searched that was passing through the straits without putting in at Constantinople. I could at least disrupt what looked like an excellent communications network for Shahin and whatever other Persian ships were operating in our home waters.
It was also the most I could do. A cup of wine while staring over the sparkling water of the straits might settle my thoughts for what should be a more productive meeting with my Jews. They’d had time enough to make their enquiries. It wouldn’t be too soon to drop in on them for a private talk.
As I turned, I found myself looking at a man I was pretty sure I’d seen by the entrance to the Treasury building. He stared back at me just a little too long, before giving a ceremonious bow and stepping out of my path.
Armed guard set over me by Lucas, or hired assassin? There was a quiet scraping of shoes behind me. I stepped quickly against a wall and went for my sword.
‘Please, My Lord, we are not here to do you any harm.’ My drug compounder spoke with urgent politeness. He looked nervously round and spread his arms in a gesture of peace. ‘You came to me yesterday with a request for help. I am now compelled to grant your request.’ He stepped backwards into the shadow of the covered passageway. ‘It will take up but an instant of your time,’ he added.