A Struggle For Rome Volume I Part 40

It was necessary to keep something in reserve. Listen; to-morrow you go as amba.s.sador to Ravenna."

"As imperial amba.s.sador!" cried Petros, rejoiced.

"Through my influence. But that is not all. You will receive circ.u.mstantial directions from Justinian to undermine the kingdom of the Goths, and smooth the path of Belisarius in Italy."

"Shall I obey these directions, or not?"

"Obey them. But you will receive another order, which Justinian will particularly recommend to your notice; that is, to save the daughter of Theodoric from the hands of her enemies at any price, and bring her to Byzantium. Here is a letter from me to her, which presses her to take refuge in my arms."

"'Tis well," said Petros, taking the letter. "I will bring her here immediately."

Theodora, like an angry snake, started up on her couch with such impetuosity, that Petros and Galatea retreated in affright.

"No, no, Petros! no!" she exclaimed. "For this reason I send you. She must _not_ come to Byzantium! She must not live!"

Confounded, Petros let the letter fall.

"Oh, Empress!" he whispered; "murder?"

"Peace!" cried Theodora, in a hoa.r.s.e voice; and her eyes sparkled cruelly. "She must die!"

"Die? Oh, Empress! wherefore?"

"There is no need for you to know that. But stay; I will tell you, for it will give the spur to your courage. Listen." She seized his arm wildly, and whispered in his ear, "Justinian, the traitor, has conceived a pa.s.sion for her!"

"Theodora!" cried Petros, startled.

The Empress fell back upon her couch.

"But he has never seen her," stammered Petros.

"He has seen her portrait. He already dreams of her. He has fallen in love with her picture."

"You have never yet had a rival."

"No; nor ever will."

"You are so beautiful."

"Amalaswintha is younger."

"You are so wise; you are Justinian's counsellor the confidant of his most secret thoughts."

"It is just this which annoys him. And"--she again caught his arm--"remember, she is a King's daughter, a born ruler; and I--am the plebeian daughter of a lion-keeper! Ridiculous and insane though it be, Justinian, in his purple, forgets that he is the son of a shepherd from the Dardanelles. He has imbibed the madness of Kings; he, himself an adventurer, chatters about innate majesty, about the mystery of royal blood! I have no protection against such whims. I fear nothing from all the women in the world. But this King's daughter----" She angrily started up, and clenched her small fist. "Beware, Justinian!" she cried, pacing the room. "With this eye and hand I have subdued lions and tigers; let us see if I cannot keep this fox in royal purple at my feet." She re-seated herself. "In short, Amalaswintha dies," she said, suddenly becoming quite cool again.

"Yes," said Petros, "but not through me. You have bloodthirsty servants enough; send them. I am a man who will talk----"

"You are a man who will die if you do not obey! You, my supposed enemy, must do it. None of my friends can venture it without arousing suspicion."

"Theodora," said Petros, forgetting himself, "take care! To murder the daughter of Theodoric, a born Queen----"

"Ha, ha!" said Theodora, in a rage, "you, too, miserable man, are dazzled by the 'born Queen!' All men are fools, still more than rascals! Listen, Petros--the day when the news of her death arrives from Ravenna, you shall be a senator and a patrician."

The man's eyes sparkled, but cowardice or conscience were still stronger than ambition.

"No," he said decidedly, "I would rather lose the court and all my plans."

"You will lose your life, wretch!" cried Theodora. "Oh, you think you are safe, because I burnt the forged doc.u.ments before your eyes! You fool! they were false! Look here; here I hold your life in my hands!"

She dragged a yellow parchment from a roll of doc.u.ments, and showed it to Petros, who, completely subdued, fell upon his knees at her feet.

"Command me!" he stammered, "I obey." Just then a knocking was heard at the princ.i.p.al door.

"Away!" cried the Empress, "take my letter to the Queen from the ground, and think over what I have said: patrician if she dies, torture and death if she lives. Go!"

Galatea pushed the bewildered man through the secret entrance, turned the statue into its place again, and went to open the great door.

CHAPTER XVIII.

There entered a stately woman, taller and of coa.r.s.er frame than the small and delicate Empress; not so seductively beautiful, but younger and more blooming, with a fresh complexion and natural manners.

"Welcome, Antonina, sister of my heart! Come to my arms!" cried the Empress to the new-comer, who humbly bent before her.

Antonina obeyed in silence.

"How hollow her eyes have become," she thought, as she rose from the embrace.

"How bony is the soldier's wife!" said the delicate Empress to herself, and looked at her friend.

"You are as blooming as Hebe!" she said aloud, "and how well the white silk becomes your fresh complexion. Have you anything to tell me of--of him?" she asked indifferently, and took from the wash-stand a much-dreaded instrument, a sharp lancet with an ivory handle, with which clumsy, or even only unfortunate, slaves were often p.r.i.c.ked by their angry mistress.

"Not to-day," whispered Antonina, blus.h.i.+ng. "I did not see him yesterday."

"I believe it!" said Theodora to herself, with a hidden smile.

"Oh, how painfully I shall miss you soon!" she added aloud, stroking Antonina's full round arm. "Perhaps Belisarius will sail next week, and you, most faithful of all wives, will go with him. Which of your friends will accompany you?"

"Procopius," answered Antonina, "and--" she added, casting down her eyes--"the two sons of Boethius."

"Ah, indeed," remarked the Empress, smiling, "I understand. In the freedom of the camp you hope to please yourself with the handsome youth, undisturbed; and while our hero, Belisarius, fights battles and conquers cities----"

"You guess rightly. But I have a request to make. You are fortunate.

Alexandros, your handsome friend, has returned; he remains near you, and is his own master; but Anicius, you know, is still under the strict guardians.h.i.+p of his elder brother, Severinus. Never would he--who thinks of nothing but fighting for freedom and revenge--suffer this tender friends.h.i.+p. He would repeatedly disturb our intimacy. Therefore do me a favour: do not let Severinus follow us! When we are on board with Anicius, keep the elder brother in Byzantium, either by cunning or by force. You can do it easily--you are the Empress!"

"That is not bad," laughed Theodora. "What stratagems! One can see that you have learned from Belisarius."

Antonina blushed violently.