Six for Gold by Mary Reed & Eric Mayer Page A

uneasily to the girl in the wall mosaic. Anatolius was surprised John did not bring people there to be interrogated, considering the assistance Zoe’s discomfiting gaze would give him.
    â€œSir, I have those old drafts you were working on, but Justinian ordered the one for the Lord Chamberlain’s introduction be destroyed.”
    â€œThat is the usual procedure.”
    â€œI was thinking, on the way over, pardon me, sir, but I can’t reveal anything—”
    â€œI wouldn’t expect it, Batzas. As secretary to the emperor you must cultivate discretion as diligently as a gardener tends her herbs. If anyone had approached me with suspicious inquiries about imperial correspondence, I would have reported the fact to Justinian immediately.”
    â€œThat’s exactly what I would do in the same circumstances.”
    â€œYou are an astute young man. However, you are also aware that the emperor intensely dislikes being disturbed with trivial matters?”
    â€œUnderstandably.”
    â€œYou’ll appreciate then why I asked you to bring me all the documents I left in my office. As I mentioned then, although I am no longer his official secretary, Justinian has ordered me to draft further correspondence regarding the Lord Chamberlain. There is a detail that has unfortunately escaped me. Naturally, I don’t want to impose on the emperor.”
    He took the bundle Batzas had brought and rifled through it. “What miserable luck! I was certain I’d made a note of it.”
    â€œOf what, sir?”
    â€œThe Lord Chamberlain’s destination.”
    Batzas stiffened. “Sir, I am not permitted—”
    â€œIt’s just that I can’t recall how the place was spelled. Those Egyptian names are always so difficult, and I was hoping you could recall the spelling.”
    â€œOh. Well, if that’s all it is. I can probably remember it.” Batzas looked at the ceiling for a brief time, resembling a schoolboy who was being quizzed. “It’s M-e-h-e-n-o-p-o-l-i-s.”
    Anatolius accompanied the young clerk to the door. It irked him to serve as a doorkeeper, but it was quicker than calling for Hypatia, who for once was spending the day there rather than in the hospice. He wondered if she was still at work in the garden.
    How could a Lord Chamberlain employ only two servants? There were clerks at the palace who employed more.
    As he saw Batzas out, a small brown bird flew into the atrium. They were always getting into his own house too, probably because they nested under the peristyle. He’d even seen them come straight down through the compluvium to bathe in the atrium’s impluvium.
    He didn’t want the avian intruder to get upstairs, where there would be no escape and its panic would foul the floors. It was already perched halfway up the stairway, so Anatolius trotted forward, waving his hands. The bird took flight in a small explosion of pinfeathers, but fortunately fled into the garden.
    Anatolius followed. Looking up, he saw the bird dwindle and vanish into the deep blue rectangle of sky framed by the roof of the peristyle.
    Hypatia was working in one of the herb beds. Her hands were black with dirt and her tawny face, sheened with perspiration, glittered like polished marble.
    At his greeting, she brushed a strand of hair away from her forehead, carefully using the back of her hand. Nevertheless, the gesture left a streak of grime. “I’m almost finished here, sir, and as soon as I get cleaned up I’ll see what I can find for the evening meal.”
    â€œDon’t worry. You’re overworked, Hypatia. What have you been pruning?”
    â€œIt’s fennel and dill, sir. The fennel’s got into the dill and if it’s left there it will weaken the stock. Dill needs the light in the center of the garden, so I’ve been digging up the fennel plants to move them further away.”
    â€œThat sounds like an excellent