before asked a woman to marry me. It is you I want, but I want the child, too, my dear. Have a care else your bad temper spoil a perfect relationship.”
She turned her eyes to the racecourse, knowing that he was right and hating him for it. She did not dare look again toward Aspar’s box, for she could not bear the sight of her former husband and Cailin.
The chariot races were finally over. The interval between the races and the games would be a full hour. In the three boxes, servants laid out a light luncheon for their masters. When they had almost finished eating, an imperial guardsman appeared in Aspar’s box.
“The emperor and the empress will receive your loyal respects now, my lord, and that of your lady, too,” he said, bowing politely.
“You did not warn me,” Cailin said to Aspar, signaling Zeno to bring a basin of perfumed water in which to wash her hands. She dried them quickly with the linen towel he handed her.
“I was not aware they would receive us today,” he told her. “This is a great honor, my love. They are acknowledging our relationship! There can be no going back now, Cailin!”
“You look beautiful,” Casia whispered to her friend. “I have been watching Flacilla. She is consumed with jealousy. It is a great victory for you, my friend. Savor it!”
Aspar and Cailin followed the guardsman into the imperial box, where the couple knelt before the emperor and empress. They are so perfect together, Verina thought, as her husband greeted their guests. I have never before seen a better-matched couple. I am almost jealous of their love for each other. She was brought back to reality by Leo’s voice: “And my wife welcomes you also, my lady Cailin, do you not, Verina?”
“Indeed, my lord,” the empress replied. “You can but add more luster to our court, lady. You are from the former province of Britain, I am told. It is a dark land, or so I am informed.”
“It is a green and fertile land, majesty, but perhaps not as sunny and bright a place as is Byzantium. Your springs come earlier and your autumns later than in Britain.”
“And do you miss your green and fertile land, lady?” the empress inquired politely. “Have you family there?”
“Yes,” Cailin said, “I sometimes miss Britain, majesty. I was happy there, but,” she amended with a sweet smile, “I am happy here with my dear lord Aspar. Wherever he is will be my home.”
“Well said, lady!” the emperor approved, smiling at her. “How charming she is,” Leo continued after the couple had returned to their own box. “Aspar is a very lucky man, I think.”
Justin Gabras squeezed his wife’s hand in warning, for he could see she was near to another angry outburst. “Breathe deeply, Flacilla,” he instructed her softly, “and rein in your nasty temper. If we are banned from the court because of your ungovernable behavior, you will live to regret it, I swear it!”
The angry color slowly faded from her face and neck, and swallowing hard, she nodded her acquiescence. “I will never be happy again until I can find a way to revenge myself on Aspar,” she whispered.
“Let it go, my dear,” he told her. “There is no way.”
“The fat cow is going to have apoplexy,” Casia giggled wickedly in Aspar’s box. “She’s positively purple with rage. What did the emperor and the empress say to you that has infuriated her so greatly?”
“She has no reason to be angry with us,” Cailin said, and then she repeated the conversation she had had with the royal couple.
Suddenly there was a flourish of trumpets, and Casia said excitedly, “Ohh, the games are about to begin! I was visiting with my friend Mara at Villa Maxima yesterday, and I saw the gladiators there. Justin Gabras has taken it over for the entire term of their stay. The public is not allowed. He said he wanted his gladiators to have the very best while they were in Constantinople. Jovian is in his glory with all those beautiful young men about, and Phocas, I am told, is actually smiling, so great a price did Gabras pay him. Wait until you see the champion they call the Saxon! I have never before seen such a beautiful man. Castor, Pollux, and Apollo pale in comparison. Ohhhh!” she squealed. “Here they come now!”
The gladiators marched in procession into the Hippodrome, parading around it until they reached the imperial box, where they stopped.