“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 Blues 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.
“I will take better care of him, my lord,” Casia said, “and his meal will be precisely to his liking, will it not, my prince?”
Basilicus’s eyes glittered wickedly in agreement.
Casia turned to Cailin. “May I come and see you one day? I am so pleased that you included me in your party today. We have both come a distance since our days at Villa Maxima.”
“Of course you may come,” Cailin said sincerely. “I have been quite alone at Villa Mare when my lord is away, though I have just obtained a young Saxon slave girl who keeps me company. I love to listen to your gossip, Casia. You seem to know everything that is going on in Constantinople. I admit to being happier in the country, however.”
“The country is pleasant to visit,” Casia responded, “but I was born in Athens, and I prefer the city myself. Basilicus likes to speak Greek with me. He is so very Hellenized for a Byzantine.”
Cailin bid all of their guests farewell, and Arcadius promised that he would be arriving at Villa Mare shortly to begin his work. Casia entered her litter along with Basilicus, and they moved off into the crowds leaving the Hippodrome. Cailin climbed into her own conveyance.
“I am required to attend the emperor at the palace,” Aspar said, leaning down to speak privately with her. “I will send my cavalry troup to escort you home, and join you as soon as I can.”
“I do not need your soldiers beyond the gates, my lord. The road is safe, and busy, and it is daylight. They will aid me in getting through the crowds, but no farther, I pray you.”
“Very well, my love. I will send a messenger if I am going to be late. Wait up for me if you can, Cailin.”
“What did the emperor want earlier, my lord?” she asked him, curious.
“My presence, and nothing more. It is his way of exercising his authority, and I obey him because it reassures him,” Aspar said wisely. “The invitation to the banquet, when he knows I dislike banquets, is but another test. The church is always spilling poison in Leo’s ear because I am not Orthodox in my beliefs. By obeying him unquestioningly, I make the patriarch’s lies seem foolish. Leo is not a stupid man. He is fearful, yes, but not unintelligent. It is the empress who worries me.”
“Why?” Cailin said.
“She is ambitious. Far more so than Leo. Verina would like a son to follow in Leo’s footsteps. They have but two daughters. I do not know if she will get that son. Leo prefers prayer to pleasure, it seems.”
“If that is a virtue, my lord, and one necessary to an emperor, you will indeed never be emperor,” Cailin said with a laugh. “You far prefer pleasure to prayer. I do not think I have ever seen you in prayer to either the Christian god or any god.”
In answer, he placed his lips upon hers and kissed her slowly, with passion. She responded warmly, running her tongue mischievously along his fleshy mouth as his hand slipped beneath her gown to fondle a breast. Her nipple immediately hardened and she moaned softly.
Removing his lips from hers, he smiled wickedly into her face. “I will come as soon as I can, my love,” he promised, removing his hand from her gown, but not before he gave her nipple a little pinch.
She caught her breath, and then letting it out slowly, promised him, “I will wait, my lord, and be prepared to do your every bidding.”
Chapter 12
Did you see the way he looked at her?” Flacilla Strabo said to her husband, Justin Gabras. “He loves her! He actually loves her.” Her face was angry.
“Why do you care?” he answered. “You never loved him. It should not matter to you that he loves her.”
“That is not the point!” she snapped. “Do not be so stupid, Justin! Can you not see how embarrassing his open passion is? He did not give his love to me, but he has given it to that little whore! I will be a laughingstock among all those who know us. How dare he bring that creature to the games and sit so boldly with her in his box for all to see. Even if no one knew who she was, practically everyone in Constantinople knows Casia, particularly now that she is Prince Basilicus’s mistress! How like Aspar to surround himself with artisans, actors, and whores!”
“You are not particularly attractive when you are angry, my dear wife,” Justin Gabras softly chided Flacilla. “Your skin becomes quite mottled. You would do well to keep your temper in check, particularly when we are in public.” He leaned across the ripe, young body of the slave girl who lay between them, and tipping Flacilla’s face up to his, kissed her hard. “I do not choose to discuss this matter any more, Flacilla, my love, and further mention of your former husband is apt to rouse my blackest ire. You know what happens when my anger is stoked.” He ran a hand down the slave girl’s body. “Let us concentrate on far pleasanter diversions, like our charming little Leah. Is she not lovely, my dear, and so eager for our tender attentions? Are you not, Leah?”