will give his consent to your marriage when Aspar returns. The general’s efforts in Adrianople, it seems, are proving successful. It will cost Leo nothing from his imperial treasury to give his general what he truly desires,” she said with a laugh. “Did Arcadius finish your statue?”
“A few weeks ago. He is coming soon with the pedestal to install it in the garden. I want it done before Aspar returns,” Cailin answered. “Would you like to see it, Casia?”
“Of course!” the beautiful courtesan said, laughing. “Do you think I mentioned it just merely in passing? I am dying of curiosity.”
“Arcadius calls it the young Venus,” Cailin explained as she unveiled the statue in the artist’s summer studio. “What do you think?”
Casia stood spellbound, and then she finally said, “He has caught you perfectly, Cailin. Your youth, your beauty, that sweet innocence that shows in your face despite all you have been through. Yes, Arcadius has caught your very soul, and were I not truly your friend, I should be very jealous of you.” She took Cailin’s hand in hers, and squeezing it, said, “Soon we shall no longer be able to pursue our friendship.”
“Why?” Cailin demanded. “Because I am to be Aspar’s wife, and you are Basilicus’s mistress? No, Casia, I will not play their cruel games. We will remain friends no matter the change in my status.”
Casia’s lovely eyes filled with tears, and she said, “I have never had a friend until you, Cailin Drusus. I hope you are right.”
“I have never had a friend, either, Casia. Antonia Porcius pretended to be my friend, though I always knew she was not. Friends do not betray friends. I know we will never betray each other. Now, tell me the gossip from the city. I miss Arcadius’s ribald chatter.”
They walked from the studio down to the beach, where they sat upon the sand and Casia told her all the latest news of the town.
“Basilicus’s wife, Eudoxia, finally seduced her young guardsman. He was the very same fellow who brought you to the empress,” Casia began. “His seed is most potent, and poor Eudoxia became pregnant practically immediately, despite her best efforts to avoid it, I am told. Basilicus was furious. She wanted to have an abortion, but he would not allow it. He has sent her to her parents’ home outside of Ephesus for her confinement.”
“I do not know how he dares to be so righteous, considering the relationship he has with you,” Cailin said with a small smile.
“It does seem unfair,” Casia agreed, “but you must remember that there are different rules for men and women. Basilicus had been most lenient with Eudoxia because she is a good wife and mother. She is not at all wanton like Flacilla. That is why he allowed her her little diversion. Becoming pregnant, however, was very careless on Eudoxia’s part, and has proven a great embarrassment to Basilicus. Eudoxia should have considered the consequences when she acted so rashly. The child is due early next summer, and will be given in adoption to a good family. Poor Eudoxia will remain in Ephesus until it is born. I do not mind. Basilicus is now free to spend more time with me. His children are practically grown and do not need him.”
“I wonder what they must think of their mother,” Cailin said.
“Basilicus’s son knows the truth, and wanted to dash right off and kill the poor guardsman. Basilicus explained most forcefully to him that one cannot kill a man for accepting what was freely offered. As for the prince’s daughters, they do not know, or at least he hopes they do not. They have been told their mother has gone to Ephesus to care for their sick grandparents, and Basilicus sent them to St. Barbara’s Convent to keep them safe until their mother returns. Left alone, who knows what mischief they might get into. Girls are most inventive.”
“Where do you come from?” Cailin asked her friend as they gazed at the water. “Athens, I think I once heard you say. Where is that?”
“It is a city on the Aegean Sea, south of Constantinople. I was born in a brothel that my mother owned. My father was an official of the government there. He was not, I remember, well-liked. When he died, they closed down my mother’s business. I was just ten, but I was sold into slavery immediately. I do not know what happened to my mother, or little brother. I was brought to Constantinople