"I will do my very best for you, majesty," Cailin said.
The empress laughed. "I have no doubt that you will, my dear. After all, both our future happiness depends on your being successful, and I am a bad enemy to have, I promise you; but we must get back. If I stay too long away from the banquet, my absence will be noted." Verina went to the door and opened it, saying, "John, return this lady to her box, and then take up your post as before. Farewell, Cailin Drusus."
Cailin bowed politely and backed from the room. As she followed the guardsman along the tunnel and up the two flights of stairs, her mind was awhirl with the events of the last few minutes. Reentering her box, she was accosted by an eager Casia.
"What did she want?" Casia whispered, and Arcadius leaned over to hear Cailin's answer.
"She was but curious," Cailin said with a smile. "How very dull her life must be that she was that curious about Aspar's mistress."
"Ohh," Casia sighed, disappointed, but Arcadius could see that Cailin simply chose not to tell the other woman all that had transpired. It was obviously going to be a most interesting summer.
Below them half a dozen jugglers were amusing the restless crowds by parading around the raceway balancing various colored balls in the air above them. They were followed by a marvelous procession of exotic animals. Aspar returned to the box and, slipping into the seat next Cailin, put an arm about her. Casia looked to Arcadius with a smug little smile, and he grinned back.
"Ohhhh!" Cailin squealed. "I have never seen beasts like those! What are they? And striped ones, too! There are two kinds!"
"The great gray mammoths with the long noses are called elephants," Aspar told her. "History tells us that the great Carthaginian general Hannibal crossed over the Alps to win many victories on the backs of elephants. The striped cats are called tigers. They come from India, a land far to the east of Byzantium. The striped horses are zebras."
"The tall spotted creatures, my lord, and the funny beasts with humps? What are they?"
"The first are giraffes. They are from Africa originally, but all these creatures live in the imperial zoo now. Foreign countries are always gifting us with rare animals for our zoo. The other animals are camels."
"They are wonderful," she said, her eyes shining, her excitement very much like that of a child. "I have never seen beasts like this before. In Britain we have deer, rabbits, wolves, foxes, badgers, hedgehogs, and other common creatures, but nothing like elephants!"
"Ahhh," Arcadius sighed dramatically. "To see Byzantium afresh through Cailin Drusus's marvelous violet eyes."
"Violent eyes? Who has violent eyes?" demanded Apollodorus, the comedian.
"Violet, you shameless comic!" Arcadius snapped. "Cailin Drusus has violet-colored eyes. Look at them! They are beautiful."
"Women's eyes never tell the truth," Apollodorus said wickedly.
"Not so!" Casia cried.
"Do you tell the truth when you look into a man's eyes?" the comic demanded. "Courtesans are hardly noted for their veracity."
"And actors are?" Casia replied scathingly.
Anastasius, the singer, chuckled softly at her reply. It was the first sound Cailin believed he had made since entering the box.
"The emperor is returning," John Andronicus, the ivory carver, warned the combatants. He, too, had said little since joining them.
Cailin now took the opportunity to speak with him. "We have one of your charming pieces at the villa," she told him. "It is lovely: Venus, surrounded by a group of winged cupids."
"One of my earlier pieces," the carver admitted, smiling shyly. "Nowadays I do mostly religious works for the churches. It is a very lucrative market, and it is my way of returning the gift that God has generously given me, lady. I am doing a nativity for the emperor right now."
"May I join you?" Prince Basilicus said, slipping discreetly into the general's box. "Casia, my love! You look delicious enough to eat! And I shall, later." He blew a kiss at her.
"What of your wife Eudoxia, my friend? You should not embarrass her," Aspar reprimanded the prince sternly.
"Her little friend is on duty in the imperial box," Basilicus said with a grin. "She wants time to flirt with him, and can hardly do so with me hovering by her side. Besides, Flacilla and Justin Gabras are also in the emperor's box. See. There they are on the far side. I do not know why Leo allows them in his presence, but probably he did not invite them. My sister undoubtedly did. They are really a dreadful pair, Aspar. Their parties, I am told, are so depraved that the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah would blush. What is worse is that they are so happy. Flacilla has truly found a mate worthy of her. They are awful in their perfection together."
"Very well, you may stay, but be discreet," Aspar warned.
"I am happy to see you, my lord," Cailin said, smiling.
"Lady, you grow more beautiful with each passing minute," the prince gallantly responded. "I can tell you are happy, and he is happy, too." Basilicus then turned to Casia. "How lovely you look today, my pet. Scarlet and gold suits you well. We will have to see how rubies set in gold look against your soft, fair skin, eh?"
The races began anew, the four horse teams kicking the sandy floor of the Hippodrome as they careened and skidded down the course in their quest for victory. In the morning the Greens had taken two races, the Blue one, and the Reds the final race. Now the White team took the first of the afternoon's contests, and then the Blues had a second victory, tying them with the Green team. But the day was to go to the Greens. Victorious in the last two races, they accepted from Leo's own hands an aurigarion, which was a gold emblem, a silver helmet, and a silver belt. The crowds, who had already screamed themselves hoarse, howled their approval anew, and the games were formally concluded as the imperial box emptied of its inhabitants.
Suddenly those people in the seats nearest to Aspar saw the green ribbons he carried and took up the cry. "Aspar! Aspar! Aspar!" A small look of annoyance passed quickly over Aspar's face, but it was swiftly gone. Turning, he acknowledged the crowd's cheers with a friendly wave of his hand that was enough to satisfy them, but not enough to encourage further homage or admiration from the citizens of the city.
"How politic you are," Basilicus mocked him. "This little incident will, of course, be reported to Leo, magnified with proper embellishments naturally, and the poor man will be torn between his gratitude to you and his fear that you may one day displace him." The prince laughed.
"Leo knows that I prefer being a private citizen to being an emperor," Aspar said. "Should he ever doubt it, I will reassure him once again on the matter. Frankly, if he would let me, I should retire."
"Not you," Basilicus said with a broad chuckle. "You will die in service to Byzantium. Casia, my angel, have you something delicious for my supper? I am coming with you."
"You are not going to the palace for the celebratory banquet?" Aspar asked his friend. "I know you said earlier you would not, but is not your presence mandatory?"
"I will not be missed, I assure you, my friend," the prince replied. "Besides, the patriarch is invited. He will pray over the food for so long that it will be inedible when he is done, and hardly worth being thankful for at all," he finished with a chuckle.