Eight for Eternity

Chapter Twenty-Nine

“It appears you’ve had an eventful time,” John observed as Felix peered into his office from the doorway to the atrium. “Come in. Sit down. Never mind the blood!”

Felix noticed that the long cut running across the knuckles of his right hand still bled.

“You’re going to have quite a scar there,” John said. “Don’t worry about the furniture. I can get more.”

“You could use more than two chairs and a desk in here,” Felix grunted. “I looked for you first in that private chapel of yours.”

“I’ve had enough religion for the day. I decided to sit here instead.”

“We’re not likely to be interrupted now that your servants have gone.”

“It suits me. I can find a bit of bread and cheese to eat without assistance.”

Felix passed a weary hand over his face and sank onto the uncushioned wooden seat. “Things are very bad out there. Very bad. Pass the wine. I’m parched. Not to mention it feels as if I’ve got a demon inside my head trying to chew its way out.” He took a long drink directly from the jug and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “Not surprising. Half the city seems to have turned into demons!”

“I can agree with you there, my friend.”

Felix took another gulp of wine. “It’s obvious we’re losing control of the city. After I helped Belisarius-”

“You helped Belisarius?”

Felix related what had happened. “It was poor strategy, getting caught in a spot like that,” he concluded. “But then he’s a stranger to the city. He couldn’t have known about that particular alley.”

“All the more reason not to have ventured blindly down it.”

“He’s a warrior, John. He’s been criticized for being too cautious, always on the defensive, unwilling to spill blood. A bit of recklessness is good in a fighting man.”

“Up until it gets him killed.”

“He took time afterwards to speak to me!”

“Most flattering, and doubtless well-deserved.”

Felix gave a proud smile which turned quickly to a frown. “Yes, he said he would mention me to Justinian. From what I’ve seen Justinian might not have much time left to bestow favors. The city has gone mad. I’ve seen a naked woman with her hair on fire running, screaming, falling to the ground. A baby left crying in an alley. Two women fighting over a pile of clothes as a crippled beggar stole the lot while they spat and cursed and struck each other. It’s not the sort of fighting I trained for, not real warfare, it’s…it’s…I’m not sure….”

John pushed the wine jug toward him. “It’s mob rule. Once the mob finds a leader it will be worse.”

“And Gallio refuses to order the excubitors into the streets. I don’t know whether he’s had a direct order from Justinian or not. If so he won’t obey.”

“Justinian and Theodora have a ship ready to sail. I’m surprised they haven’t already left.” A sudden rising crescendo of noise interrupted him. It vibrated through the screen between the office and the garden, loud as a distant rumble of thunder.

John got up, pulled the screen open a crack to listen, shut it. Rather than sitting down again he paced back and forth. The baying of the multitude waxed and waned as the wind shifted. “They must be close to the walls for us to hear that clearly.”

“They’re working up to storming the palace. Then the excubitors will have to fight!”

“Perhaps. Perhaps not. Are you still an excubitor?”

Felix frowned. “Probably not, if Gallio discovers I left the palace to fight with Belisarius’ men against orders. I certainly won’t be one when this is over.”

“Sign on with the general. That would be your safest course.”

“What’s your safest course, John? I’d rather have Gallio for an enemy than Narses. He thinks you’re ambitious, that you want to take his post at court.”

“It’s understandable. After all, are we not both those most untrustworthy creatures, imperial eunuchs? Why, we’d kill our own parents if we thought we could achieve further advancement by it.”

Felix looked uncomfortable. “So they say. What about your investigation? Does it make any difference at this point who’s responsible for killing those two faction members at the church?”

“It might be more important than ever, if whoever was behind their deaths is behind the riots.”

“Find the culprit and bring him to justice and you cut off the insurrection at the head. If, in fact, there is any particular person behind the riots and it isn’t simply a general uprising. Don’t you think it’s too complicated to work out in time?”

John smiled bleakly. “I have to keep trying. There’s always hope. Even men hanging by the neck from the end of a rope sometimes have reason to hope. And Haik’s death must be related.”

“What makes you think so?”

“For one thing the fact that Haik and Hippolytus both ended up murdered after visiting Porphyrius strikes me as too much to be a coincidence.”

He felt too tired to go into details. Or was it that John himself was unsure there was any connection? Did he imagine there was one, simply to justify his search for his friend’s killer?

Felix didn’t press him on the question. “I’d say you’d do better to be thinking about your own life rather than someone else’s death, John. Are there any arrangements to get the court to safety if necessary? I’d wager Narses has an escape route planned and paid for!”

John shrugged. “Just as well. There won’t be room on the ships for everyone.”

“Do you suppose your reluctant house guests will be taken with Justinian? No, probably not. More likely they’ll be disposed of should he abandon the city to devour itself. I wonder if I could find Antonina and escort her to safety?”

“I see you still have your mind on Antonina. I strongly advise you to turn your thoughts elsewhere. Antonina will be safe. You don’t think Theodora would abandon her close friend do you? What we have to worry about in this house is protecting Hypatius and his family. They are in my charge and I don’t want to give Justinian an excuse to remove my head if they get away or are killed in the riots. I have come to an agreement with a certain fishing boat owner.”

Felix stared at him.

John offered his friend a thin smile. “Have you noticed that ship that’s been lying off the northern end of the palace grounds this past day or so? Its owner is a brother in Mithra and we have come to an arrangement. If it sees smoke at a certain point on the shore it will sail in to pick up our reluctant guests.”

“But how will it know it’s your signal, with half the city in flames?”

“They’re waiting to see white smoke billowing at a specific place on the shore.”

“And how do you propose to produce white smoke? Magick?”

John shook his head. “No. By burning wet leaves and branches. There are plenty in the palace gardens. The city fires produce darker smoke, and are nowhere near the pick-up point. Or at least not yet. Provided it doesn’t rain, this particular column of smoke will stand out.”

“And then they’ll be taken where?”

“Across the Golden Horn to the monastery of Saint Conon. They can be hidden for now. I don’t think they will try to escape, given they’ll be almost within sight of the scaffold where the Blues and Greens were executed. It’ll serve as a reminder that it is not safe to venture abroad just now.”

“It’s well thought out, John. But I can see one problem. What if, when their escape becomes necessary, you’ve been summoned elsewhere and cannot escort them to the meeting place?”

“I suspect a certain excubitor might act as guide. They won’t be in gaudy clothing, Felix. Just ordinary servants as far as anyone else is concerned. And Julianna has the right build to pass for a boy in appropriate clothes and her face dirtied. Or that was my opinion and it has recently been seconded.”

Felix nodded. “Couldn’t say that for Antonina. Not that I’ve seen her recently. Although I did go-” He broke off and hid his face in his wine cup.

“You went where?”

“Oh, nothing. My mind’s wandering.” He looked thoughtful. “Have you met the Persian emissary, John? I was told he traveled to Constantinople with Belisarius. Didn’t your friend Haik come here with Belisarius? Do you think he knew the emissary?”

“If so he never mentioned it. But then there seems to have been a lot left unsaid.”