Read Online Eight for Eternity by Mary Reed, Eric Mayer - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Mary Reed, Eric Mayer
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have saved my life by showing up when you did! Would you care to escort me around the sights of the city? Better yet, why don’t we meet later. After dark. The Hall of the Nineteen Couches is deserted between banquets.” She giggled at Felix’s dumbfounded expression.
“I am—that is—won’t your mistress object to your absence?”
She waved a hand. “Not at all. I have a great deal of freedom.”
“I would be pleased to show you around the city, but the chamberlain Narses is waiting to see me.”
“Do you know Narses? They say he is fabulously wealthy. Of course, he is not the sort of man I prefer.” Her gaze caressed Felix from head to toe. Her eyes, Felix saw, were as blue as a summer sky over the sea.
“Oh, we are old comrades,” Felix heard himself say. He couldn’t look away from those brilliant blue eyes and while he stared into them he couldn’t control his words. “Narses relies on me for advice and often consults me on certain delicate matters.”
He finally managed to turn away. Or had she lowered her gaze and released him?
He stammered out a farewell and set off down the path, accompanied by an uncomfortable feeling she was laughing at him behind his back. Why had he been so foolish as to claim friendship with a man he despised? He hadn’t wanted to disappoint her, he told himself. It was what she’d wanted to hear.
Felix had nearly escaped when she called out. “You’re going the wrong way! Narses is at his office now. Let’s walk there together!”
She was beside him before he could protest. Felix glanced at his companion from time to time. She was as familiar with their geography as he, and he wondered if her knowledge had come from assignations in less frequented areas of the gardens. She was not so much beautiful as striking, with pale hair and plump hands. Nor was she as young as he had first supposed and the angle of her jaw suggested stubbornness and a strong will. He wondered which mistress she served and if her employer was a guest of the imperial couple.
Whoever she was, she seemed in high humor. Now and then a chuckle escaped her ruby painted lips and at one point she hummed to herself.
Felix couldn’t hide his surprise. He recognized a popular though obscene song sung by military men to the glory of Theodora and her prowess in the arena of Venus.
By then they had reached a long, blocky administrative building. The woman led Felix down a corridor decorated with frescoes depicting country life and rapped on a polished paneled door decorated with ivory scrollwork. A pale silentiary answered the summons.
Felix felt it was time to assert his authority. “I am Felix, sent by Captain Gallio of the excubitors for an audience with Narses.” As he spoke he was acutely conscious of the perfume of the woman beside him.
“You are expected.” replied the guardian of the door. “As for your companion….”
“I am not expected,” she said. “And being a female I have no doubt I would be unwelcome. Don’t forget our little matter, Felix.” She caught him again in her gaze, released him, and went back down the corridor. He realized she had not actually touched him once yet he felt as if she had her hands all over his body.
The room into which a thoroughly flustered Felix was ushered boasted a large desk, an ebony-armed chair, and a large iron-bound box. The only nod to decoration was a row of silver bowls of hyacinths against one wall. The bell-shaped flowers exuded a sweet, overpowering scent that filled the austere room.
The dwarfish, bald chamberlain dismissed the silentiary. He noticed Felix looking at the flowers. “Homer stated in a passage describing Juno’s treachery that her bed was formed of crocus, lotus, and hyacinth. I keep these blossoms by me as a reminder that women cannot be trusted—and few men, for that matter.”
Felix blinked in surprise but remained silent.
“I recognized that strumpet’s voice,” Narses continued. “I strongly advise you
“I am—that is—won’t your mistress object to your absence?”
She waved a hand. “Not at all. I have a great deal of freedom.”
“I would be pleased to show you around the city, but the chamberlain Narses is waiting to see me.”
“Do you know Narses? They say he is fabulously wealthy. Of course, he is not the sort of man I prefer.” Her gaze caressed Felix from head to toe. Her eyes, Felix saw, were as blue as a summer sky over the sea.
“Oh, we are old comrades,” Felix heard himself say. He couldn’t look away from those brilliant blue eyes and while he stared into them he couldn’t control his words. “Narses relies on me for advice and often consults me on certain delicate matters.”
He finally managed to turn away. Or had she lowered her gaze and released him?
He stammered out a farewell and set off down the path, accompanied by an uncomfortable feeling she was laughing at him behind his back. Why had he been so foolish as to claim friendship with a man he despised? He hadn’t wanted to disappoint her, he told himself. It was what she’d wanted to hear.
Felix had nearly escaped when she called out. “You’re going the wrong way! Narses is at his office now. Let’s walk there together!”
She was beside him before he could protest. Felix glanced at his companion from time to time. She was as familiar with their geography as he, and he wondered if her knowledge had come from assignations in less frequented areas of the gardens. She was not so much beautiful as striking, with pale hair and plump hands. Nor was she as young as he had first supposed and the angle of her jaw suggested stubbornness and a strong will. He wondered which mistress she served and if her employer was a guest of the imperial couple.
Whoever she was, she seemed in high humor. Now and then a chuckle escaped her ruby painted lips and at one point she hummed to herself.
Felix couldn’t hide his surprise. He recognized a popular though obscene song sung by military men to the glory of Theodora and her prowess in the arena of Venus.
By then they had reached a long, blocky administrative building. The woman led Felix down a corridor decorated with frescoes depicting country life and rapped on a polished paneled door decorated with ivory scrollwork. A pale silentiary answered the summons.
Felix felt it was time to assert his authority. “I am Felix, sent by Captain Gallio of the excubitors for an audience with Narses.” As he spoke he was acutely conscious of the perfume of the woman beside him.
“You are expected.” replied the guardian of the door. “As for your companion….”
“I am not expected,” she said. “And being a female I have no doubt I would be unwelcome. Don’t forget our little matter, Felix.” She caught him again in her gaze, released him, and went back down the corridor. He realized she had not actually touched him once yet he felt as if she had her hands all over his body.
The room into which a thoroughly flustered Felix was ushered boasted a large desk, an ebony-armed chair, and a large iron-bound box. The only nod to decoration was a row of silver bowls of hyacinths against one wall. The bell-shaped flowers exuded a sweet, overpowering scent that filled the austere room.
The dwarfish, bald chamberlain dismissed the silentiary. He noticed Felix looking at the flowers. “Homer stated in a passage describing Juno’s treachery that her bed was formed of crocus, lotus, and hyacinth. I keep these blossoms by me as a reminder that women cannot be trusted—and few men, for that matter.”
Felix blinked in surprise but remained silent.
“I recognized that strumpet’s voice,” Narses continued. “I strongly advise you
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