Return to Me - By Morgan O'Neill Page 0,6
finger. “Your will be done.”
He watched as she returned to his bedchamber, her hand held out before her, the ring sparkling like a golden star.
Then he spotted his minister still cowering inside the room.
His anger resurfaced. “Get out!” he yelled, pointing to the man, who bolted through the door and fled.
Honorius spun back around and saw the guards hauling the dead legionnaire out of the hall. The trail of smeared blood marred his beautiful marble floor, and he noticed that some of his priceless statues were flecked with gore.
“Clean this mess!” he shouted.
Slaves scrambled to do his bidding.
As he walked away, Honorius’s heart thudded with hate. So, the yellow diamond’s original owner, the flute-playing, slave-bitch Gigiperrin, was still alive.
God damn her and filthy, traitorous Magnus!
Four years had passed since he’d last seen them. Four years! Honorius remembered how Gigiperrin had kicked him in the balls, how Magnus had fought him with subterfuge and guile. Then, one glorious night, Magnus had been delivered to him for torture and execution. He’d spent the evening leisurely whipping Magnus, almost to the point of death, but the bitch had ruined everything. In a bid to save her husband, she’d connived her way into the palace and attacked Honorius. But, just as he got the upper hand in their struggle, at the very moment he was about to ravage her body, Magnus had roused from his stupor and assaulted him, nearly killing him with a blow to the skull.
Fists bunching, Honorius vowed he would execute them as soon as they were brought back to Ravenna, this time with alacrity, and cruelly, by his own hands.
• • •
Titus Africanus stood at attention in the royal audience hall. Honorius stared at the tall centurion, wondering if he had also been a party to General Sarus’s miserable deception. Honorius’s jaw clenched, but he willed himself to remain calm, for he knew Africanus had not been with Sarus on the night in question. Instead, the man had been ordered to comb Ravenna’s ditches, canals, and sewers for Magnus and Gigiperrin to no avail.
The next morning, Africanus and his men had been recalled to attend the unveiling of the remains. Sarus had made a great show of displaying the charred corpses. Honorius remembered how the stench of burnt flesh mingled with the odors emanating from Africanus’s shit-encrusted boots. At the time, he had not given it much mind, for he was overjoyed with Sarus’s work.
Honorius smiled grimly. The corpses were crucified the next day in Ravenna’s main square, to rot in public until the carrion crows had borne away the last, fetid scraps.
But now, he knew the truth. It wasn’t them! Would that Sarus was here to answer for this travesty!
Honorius’s fists balled and he spat, “Africanus, Quintus Magnus and Gigiperrin are still alive. Find them!”
The man’s eyes widened. “Your will be done, Serenissimus.”
“If you succeed where Sarus failed, you will rise to fill his boots,” Honorius promised. “If you lie to me, or fail as Sarus did, then you will die. You are dismissed.”
He watched Africanus bow and scrape and then slowly back out of the hall. He turned to his ministers, who waited nearby, huddled together and, as always, anxious to do his bidding.
Honorius frowned mightily at the men, enjoying their show of nerves, and loudly said, “Summon General Constantius.”
• • •
Sitting on his throne, Honorius thoughtfully gazed at the balding spot on the top of his general’s head. It had taken three days for Constantius to arrive in Ravenna and take a knee before him. The general had been in the region of Picenum, putting down skirmishes erupting among ungrateful and hungry citizens.
He felt excited at the prospect of telling his magister militum, General Constantius, that Magnus and Gigiperrin were alive. Too delicious. And then a new thought occurred to him: he was going to see his sister again.
Aelia Galla Placidia.
He would settle things with her once and for all.
“Rise,” Honorius commanded.
Constantius slowly got to his feet, silent, ready to listen. His bulging eyes were ugly, yet his gaze was filled with intelligence and steely determination. Honorius knew he could count on Constantius to succeed where others had failed.
“We have had some very interesting news since you were last at court,” Honorius began. “It seems Magnus and his bitch of a wife, Gigiperrin, are still alive.”
Constantius’s brows drew down, as did the corners of his mouth. “How can that be, Venerabilis?”
“Sarus lied to us,” Honorius said, pleased to see even more shock register on his general’s face.