Richard Blake - The Curse of Babylon

Shahin went out, leaving the room in the longest silence yet. I was aware once more of Antonia beside me. Simon had spoken as if he didn’t know who she was. Yet it had been my impression that he did know. Was he trying to be more in this than a middle man? Worth thinking about when I had the time. For the moment, I turned my attention to the continuing silence below. It was broken by a quiet laugh from Timothy. ‘Now you’ve gone and done it,’ Eunapius cried bitterly. ‘You’ve muddled everything.’

‘On the contrary,’ Timothy said with evident pleasure, ‘I’ve saved my people the trouble of hearing more of your lies. This Horn of Babylon, I now learn, is not some incidental token of good faith. It is the only thing that Shahin actually wants. I therefore propose to leave aside the matter of who is to replace Heraclius. Our present task is to prise the Horn of Babylon from Alaric’s grasp.’

‘It has magic powers,’ Eunapius said quickly. ‘Whoever knows how to use those powers can make himself master of all things. Isn’t that so, Simon?’

‘My Lord,’ Simon came straight back, a nervous tone in his voice, ‘the Persians believe any number of things at variance with the teachings of Holy Mother Church. .’

‘Shut up unless you’re spoken to,’ Timothy snarled. ‘What’s this about magic powers , Eunapius?’ Even someone brighter than Eunapius would have had trouble evading the brief but effective interrogation that followed. It ended in more silence. Timothy broke this with one of his long and appreciative burps. ‘Well, this being the case,’ he said thoughtfully, ‘why are we giving the thing to the bloody Persians?’ he burped again. ‘Magic powers?’ he asked again, now wonderingly. ‘That might explain why Shahin took the risk of coming ashore. Magic powers, eh?’ He paused for thought, then: ‘Very well,’ he said, now brisk, ‘I say we keep Shahin dangling, just in case we need Plan B. The new Plan A, though, is that we put all effort into getting this Horn of Babylon for ourselves — and before that bastard savage works its powers out for himself.’

He stopped and grunted his way through various workings of his mind. ‘Now we’ve seen that Nicetas isn’t committed,’ he began again, ‘getting my people to act is out of the question. Without Nicetas to back me, I can’t arrest another member of the Imperial Council. I suppose we could have another go at waylaying the little shit as he goes unguarded about his business. Or, since we’ve tried that now more than once, there is the girl. I believe I saw her this evening. She’s a pretty enough creature, and I could well understand how he was almost squirting into his leggings every time he looked at her. Perhaps Eunapius could use his own connections in Trebizond to see what pressure may be imposed from that direction.’ His voice brightened. ‘Yes, we’ll get the Horn of Babylon, and then we’ll see if it can make me Emperor — and then what sort of Emperor!’ He laughed, and there was another alarming creak of his chair.

‘You can’t be Emperor!’ Eunapius said, aghast. ‘It has to be Nicetas. Without him to take over at once, Heraclius can’t be arrested in Cyzicus.’

‘If you must reopen the matter,’ Timothy snapped, ‘I can and will be Emperor. There’s nothing more to be said.’

‘There’s a great deal more to be said,’ Eunapius replied. ‘Everyone knows your brother was deprived of his governorship for heresy. The Church would never stand for you.’

‘Do I hear right, that Nicetas has offered you his daughter in marriage?’ Timothy asked with a sudden sneer. ‘I wouldn’t take his word on anything. Everyone knows how he just “forgets” promises. Otherwise, don’t count on staying alive long enough to step into his purple boots once he is Emperor.’ He went into a long and wheezing laugh. I glanced quickly into Antonia’s face. It had the dead look a fine lady is trained to put on for a chariot race in the Circus. All else aside, why was Simon keeping her identity to himself?

‘Just stick with me, Eunapius,’ Timothy said with a return to easy humour. ‘How about the Lord Treasurership — and Alaric’s palace, of course?’ Eunapius said nothing. ‘Oh, but let’s call on the Will of God,’ Timothy sighed. His chair creaked again. ‘I’ve one of Alaric’s new coins here. The reverse, for some reason, has a motto in Latin.’ He read slowly and with a misplaced accent: “ Deus Adiuta Romanis .” I’m told it means: “May God Help the Romans.” Heads, and you can have Nicetas, and Shahin too. Tails, and it means God wants me.’

There was yet another silence in the room, this time ended by the ring of silver on marble. ‘Fucking thing bounced,’ Timothy snapped. ‘The result doesn’t count.’

Another silence. This time, it was Eunapius who spoke. ‘That was a cheat,’ he shouted. ‘I saw you move your hand. If we must do this, let’s do it fairly.’

‘My Lords,’ Simon broke in, ‘I do suggest. .’

‘. . that you shut up in the presence of your betters!’ Timothy said quickly. ‘I’ll do the toss again.’ He moved directly beneath me and flicked the coin upwards. I watched it come closer, glittering as it turned over and over in the lamplight. This time, it stuck against one of the glass panes and bounced into the upper gatherings of my toga. I pulled myself back and went through my clothing. I found the coin too late to throw it back down.

‘Can we talk about Alaric?’ Simon asked despairingly.

Neither Eunapius nor Timothy was listening. ‘Get that table over here,’ Timothy ordered. ‘We’ll climb up together and see what God has decided.’ There was a loud scraping of wood and another cut-off protest from Simon.

I jumped to my feet. The plan of escape I’d worked out involved continuing along the roof to the far end of the corridor. From here, we could climb down into a little area used for holding deliveries of wood for the furnaces. There was a little door I could unbolt that led into a side street. Unless Timothy’s weight was too much for the table, we’d never get out of sight in time. I took Antonia by the arm and hurried her back the way we’d come. We were barely on to the stairs down to the main hall when, with a smashing of glass, the window flew fully open and Timothy was braying how God had indeed helped the Romans.

‘I’m not marrying that creature!’ she whispered fiercely. ‘I’d rather die.’

‘Shut up!’ I hissed. I took hold of Antonia by the shoulders and pushed her against the curving wall of the stairway. ‘So long as no one realises I was watching,’ I said, ‘it’s a stalemate. The Greeks daren’t move without Shahin. He won’t help without my silver cup. All we need to do is get away unobserved. Now, keep quiet, and let me go first.’

‘But you’ve got to stop Daddy,’ she breathed. ‘You don’t understand how he hates you.’

I stood up straight. ‘Arresting Nicetas while he’s Regent — and with an unknown part of the administration on his side — isn’t something I fancy trying,’ I said firmly. ‘I’ll write to Heraclius in the morning. He can hurry back with the small army he took with him. In the meantime, we carry on as normal.’ I listened for any sound of approaching footsteps along the roof. There were none. No one would follow us down this way. Timothy had found his coin. He and Eunapius might well argue over its answers till dawn. Shahin and his men should be halfway back to whatever dock he was using. I thought of what I had to do. It was a two-day journey by fast courier to Cyzicus. I suppressed the urge to go there myself. That would only alert everyone. I’d have Simon and half the city guard after me. And what of Antonia? What of Theodore and Maximin and all my other people? No — it had to be business as usual.