“Be silent!” Flavius Aspar thundered, and Cailin drew a sharp breath, for she had never seen him so angry as he was at this minute. He pierced her with a hard look. “Did you come here of your own free will yesterday, lady?”
“Do not blame her, it is my fault!” Casia burst out. She was near to tears, a state that surprised the men who knew her.
Aspar’s stern face softened a bit. “Tell me the truth of this, my love,” he said, turning to Cailin. “You have never lied to me.”
“Nor will I now, my lord Aspar,” Cailin said quietly. “Yesterday at the games I thought I recognized one of the gladiators. I confided in Casia, and she felt we should come to Villa Maxima that I might see this man at a closer range in order to determine if I did indeed know him.”
“She was reluctant to come,” Casia broke in. “She was concerned if someone saw us, it would reflect badly on you, my lord.”
“You need not defend me, Casia,” Cailin chided her friend gently. “My lord knows my character well.”
“And when you saw this gladiator close up, Cailin Drusus, was he indeed the man you thought he was?” Aspar asked her.
“Yes, my lord, he was, I fear. The man who is known as the Saxon is my husband, Wulf Ironfist,” Cailin said, and while the two men were absorbing that startling revelation, she went on to explain what had happened to herself and to Casia at the hands of Justin Gabras.
When she had concluded her tale, Casia broke in quickly. “The Hun did not have me, my prince. He has, it seems, a very weak head for wine. My plan was to get him drunk and then hit him upon the head, but three goblets of Jovian’s best Cyprian brew, and he was snoring like a wild boar with a bellyful of acorns and roots.”
It was obvious that Basilicus wanted very much to believe Casia. Relief spread over his features when Wulf Ironfist said, “She is probably speaking the truth, my lord. I have lived with the Hun these months past, and it is true that he has no head for wine.”
“And you, Cailin Drusus,” Aspar said. “Did you get the Saxon drunk, too?” She saw the pain in his eyes, which he strove to hide from the others, and vowed silently that Gabras would not have this victory over Flavius Aspar; nor would she hurt him with this particular truth.
“Wulf and I spent the night talking, my lord. There was much for us to talk about, was there not, Wulf?”
The Saxon realized what she was doing, and wondered if Flavius Aspar would believe the lie that he now gave voice to in her support.
“Cailin speaks the truth, my lord. There was much unresolved between us.”
“They are lying!” Justin Gabras shouted. “It is impossible for him to have spent the night with her and not made love to her!”
“Am I some green boy, you snake, that I must poke my sword in every pretty sheath that comes along? To call me a liar, Gabras, is to seek death!”
Justin Gabras paled and took a step backward.
“You’ve done your mischief, Gabras,” Prince Basilicus said. “Now get you gone from here, and if one word of this scandal should reach my ears, I will personally see that you meet a most unpleasant end. You have no real friends in Byzantium, and if you want to see your child born, then you will forget what you have done.”
“Is he not to be punished?” Casia demanded, relieved not to be in her lover’s bad graces. “Look at the trouble he has caused!”
Basilicus laughed. “He is married to Flacilla Strabo. That is punishment enough, I think.”
As Justin Gabras turned to leave, Phocas Maxima stepped from the shadows. “A moment, my lord Gabras. There is the matter of the bill. I think I should be wise to settle it today. You have made powerful enemies here this morning, and the span of your life is no longer certain.” He took the man’s arm and led him off.
Jovian, looking at the five people in his atrium, wondered what was to come next. He had not long to wait.
Aspar took Cailin’s hand in his. “Tell me,” he said.
“I must go home to Britain, my lord,” she said quietly, but there were tears in her eyes when she said it.
“How easily you leave me, my love,” he said bitterly.
“No,” Cailin told him. “It is not easy for me to leave you, for I love you, but I have thought long and hard about what I must do. In the eyes of your Orthodox church I am not married, and therefore free to wed you, Aspar. But I know that under the old laws of marriage in Britain, I am Wulf’s wife.
“Once the empress told me that love was a weakness for those in power. I did not believe her, my lord, but now I do. What if the Saxon had not been Wulf Ironfist? What would you have done knowing I had been forcibly violated? What if I had been driven mad by the incident? Gabras himself planned to have me, I know. How would you have felt upon learning that the woman you loved and planned to make your wife had been hurt, and shamed so?
“Your value to the empire would have come to an end, my lord, had any of these things come to pass. I am your weakness, Flavius Aspar! Your enemies can reach out and strike at you through me, through the children I would have given you. I was a childish fool to believe that we could live as quiet a life as my parents lived at their country villa. You are important to Byzantium, my love, and your usefulness is not yet at an end. Besides,” she smiled at him, “you quite enjoy being an emperor-maker. You would be bored raising horses, hay, and grain.
“I must leave you, my dear lord, if I am to save you from your enemies. There is no other way, and in your heart you know that I am right in this. And what of Wulf Ironfist? He and I have lands in Britain that we must reclaim, and a child who is lost, but whom we will find. I cannot turn my back on any of this, though I am torn between you both! Once I said that Fortuna was not kind to me, but she has been too kind, I think, for what other woman has been so well-loved by two such wonderful men? It is possible, you know, for a woman to love two men.
“Had I ever believed that I should be reunited with Wulf Ironfist again, I should not have allowed you to love me, Flavius Aspar. You do not really need me. I am but a liability to you. Wulf needs me.”
“You could not have ever kept me from loving you, Cailin Drusus,” Aspar told her sadly, “but if you feel you must leave me, then I will not stand in your way.” He wanted to plead with her to stay with him. He wanted to tell her that she was no liability to him; or if it was so, then he would take his chances with his enemies if it meant having her by his side. Instead he said, “You must take Nellwyn with you. Britain is her home, too, and I would not know what to do with her if you left her behind. She would be but a constant reminder of you.”
“Yes, I will take Nellwyn.”
“I will send word to Zeno to pack your belongings and send them here with the girl. Unless you would like to return to Villa Mare, and oversee this business yourself, my love.”
“I can take nothing from you, my lord,” Cailin said. “Under the circumstances, it would not be right.”
“Do not be a little fool,” the practical Casia snapped at her friend. “You need clothing, Cailin! I will go to Villa Mare and pack the garments that will best serve you. It is true that you will not need the more glorious clothing you possess, but you should take a warm cloak, some simple stolas, camisas, and slippers, for you will do a great deal of walking, I suspect, before you get home to your Britain.”