“That is not the point,” Flacilla replied. “Aspar should not be seen publicly with a woman of loose morals.”
“Is that why he was never seen with you, my dear?” her husband inquired drolly, and to Flacilla’s mortification, both Leo and Verina laughed.
She began to weep.
“Dear heaven!” Justin Gabras exclaimed. “May I be delivered from the overblown emotions of breeding women.” He pulled a white silk square from his robes and handed it to his wife. “Wipe your eyes, Flacilla, and do not make a complete fool of yourself.”
“You are expecting a child?” Verina was surprised, but then that would explain Flacilla’s expanding girth of late.
Flacilla nodded, and sniffled. “In four more months,” she admitted.
Congratulations were offered all around to Justin Gabras.
“It could be worse,” her husband pointed out. “What if the girl were Aspar’s wife, my dear? She would take precedence over you at court. In her present position she is quite harmless.”
Verina could not resist the temptation laid so neatly before her. She smiled with false sweetness. “I’m afraid that that is exactly what is to happen, my lord. The emperor and the patriarch have given their permission for Aspar to marry with Cailin Drusus.”
Flacilla paled. “You cannot allow it!” she gasped. “The creature is nothing more than a whore!”
“Oh, Flacilla,” Verina said calmly, “you distress yourself over nothing. The girl’s introduction to society here was unconventional, I will admit, but she was but a short time at Villa Maxima. Her background is better than either of ours. She conducts herself with a modesty that has even earned the commendation of your cousin, the patriarch. She will make Aspar an excellent wife and, believe me, in time the rest will be forgotten, particularly if you continue to cause such scandals as the one you caused last spring. You are a far bigger whore, and so are half the women in the court, than little Cailin Drusus.” The empress smiled and took a cup of wine offered by a servant.
Before Flacilla might reply, her husband pinched her arm sharply. “Be silent, you foolish woman,” he hissed at her. “It does not matter.”
“Not to you!” Flacilla snapped angrily. “I will never give precedence to that creature. Never!”
“Oh, Flacilla,” the empress said, “do not distress yourself. Look! The Greens have taken two races in a row this morning.” She turned to her husband. “You owe me a new gold necklace, my lord, and a bracelet too!”
“Ohhh, I hate her!” Flacilla murmured low. “How I wish I might wreak vengeance on her for her presumption.”
“Well, you cannot now, my dear,” her husband replied softly. “As Aspar’s mistress, she had a certain vulnerability, but as Aspar’s wife, Flacilla, she is inviolate. Look at her! Modest. Beautiful. Soon, I wager, she will become known for her good works. She will be a model mother, I have not a doubt. She has no fault that I can see. If she did, we might find a way to spoil Aspar’s happiness, but she does not. You will have to learn to live with the situation. I will not have you upsetting yourself unnecessarily, else you lose my child. If you do that, Flacilla, I will kill you with my bare hands. Do you understand me?”
“The child means that much to you, my lord?”
“Aye! I have never had a legitimate son,” he said.
“And me, my lord? Do I mean anything to you at all, other than as the brood mare who will bear your heir?”
“You are the only woman for me, Flacilla. I have told you that often enough, but if it pleases you to hear it again, very well. I never 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!”