Read Online Two for Joy by Mary Reed, Eric Mayer - Free Book Online Page A

conflagration than this,” he murmured.
    “The merchant who sold me this honey said there was much disquiet expressed at the inn he patronizes,” replied Hypatia. “When inns are awash with such talk you can be certain the streets will soon be equally flooded with trouble. And like you, he mentioned the supernatural. Do you know anything more about that?”
    Peter sat down again. “Well, Hypatia, the evening before last,” he began, “and I assure you that this is the perfect truth, I saw a fiery angel descending from the heavens. The master insists it was merely one of those unfortunate stylites who were struck by lightning, but that is not what I saw. And like you, I speak to people in the market place so I know that others trembled before the same vision.”
    Hypatia looked thoughtful rather than surprised. “And this angel, do you think he has arrived to battle on the side of Michael or to defend the city against him?”
    “As to that,” said Peter, “time will tell.” He stared into the flames leaping above the brazier. A few moments before the kitchen had seemed cold, now it felt suffocatingly hot.
    “That’s true enough. But meantime perhaps you should try some of the honey, Peter? It’s said Hippocrates recommended it for a variety of ailments as well as for making sweet confections, for bees distill whatever may be in the plants they visit. I’ve heard of soldiers poisoned by bees who feasted on rhododendron. But don’t worry, those who labored to make this honey for you dined only upon the best wheat!”
    Peter could not resist dipping his finger into the honey. “This makes for a better potion than wine,” he said, lifting his finger to his lips. “But now tell me, how do their keepers persuade the bees to feed only on wheat or clover?”
    “Oh, it’s quite simple, really. The hives are placed in the middle of a wheat field or a patch of heather or other flowers, depending which flavor is desired. Bees do not stray far from their homes and so will only visit flowers within a certain area around them.”
    Peter smiled. “Perhaps we should all take note of the ways of the industrious bee, then, and if at all possible seek not to stray too far afield. If we settle our hearts in the midst of righteousness and remain close to home, then we will never taste evil.”
    He was discomfited to see that Hypatia was suppressing a giggle.
    “I’m sorry,” she said, patting his hand affectionately. “But truly, when you’ve had perhaps a sip or two too much wine you could pass for a churchman.”
    Chapter Five
    The crowds bustling through the bright sunlight and long morning shadows striping the
colonnaded Mese were being regaled with a sight which, unlike the dining habits of bees, would soon be the subject of hundreds of excited conversations.
    A mounted company of heavily armed imperial guards, twenty strong, was clattering along the wide street at a steady pace. In the midst of the contingent rode two men of obvious importance, one a silver-haired aristocrat with tightly drawn lips, the other a lean, somber looking man who might have been mistaken for an ascetic except for his elegant robes and the richly embroidered mantle lying over his shoulders. Passersby stopped to stare, as they might have paused to listen to distant thunder, while hoping that the storm surely being heralded would break over someone else’s head.
    John was aware of the faces gaping at him. A private man, their attention made him uncomfortable. He knew, however, that both route and escort were designed precisely to gain such attention. The emperor could have ordered his envoys ferried across the narrow mouth of the Golden Horn from where it was but a short ride to Saint Michael’s shrine beside the Bosporos. But, John guessed, Justinian’s agents were already spreading word of this diplomatic mission far and wide and before long, all over the city, people would be exclaiming that indeed it was true, the most pious of