Three for a Letter by Mary Reed, Eric Mayer

was that Fortuna had been playing with him. Or perhaps, he suddenly thought, it had been because the Lord of Light, Mithra, had been watching over him.
    “A long time ago, I went looking for something I urgently desired,” he finally began, “and I strayed somewhere I shouldn’t have. Across the Persian border, in fact.”
    “The Persians are enemies of the emperor and godless heathen,” put in Sunilda.
    “Indeed. Well, they caught me and I was wounded most grievously. So you see, Sunilda, when you are repeatedly warned you must not run off or stray away from Bertrada, you must pay attention. Doing so might put you into great danger, just as it did me.”
    “There aren’t any Persians anywhere near here,” the girl pointed out. “Why did they hurt you, Lord Chamberlain?”
    “Because it would gain them a few coins.”
    “People do many bad things for money. That’s what Godomar says.”
    “He is certainly right in that at least.”
    Apparently satisfied with his answers, Sunilda grabbed John’s hand. “At least do hurry up a bit even if you don’t want to race!”
    She tugged him back along the shadowy path. She at least was not awed by the high court post he held, it seemed. John felt a hint of wetness at the corners of his eyes. He was thinking of another real girl now, not the mosaic Zoe. Far away across the sea his daughter lived with her mother. He might perhaps see them again one day, but by then Europa would be a grown woman. If they ever met once more, he hoped they could spend more time together than they had during their one brief encounter. But he had never known her as a child and the child she had been was already gone, as dead as the boy, Gadaric.
    But then, so was the man he had once been, the man who had fathered a daughter.
    ***
    Arriving at his uncle’s estate to see how his elderly relative was coping with the aftermath of Gadaric’s death, Anatolius was greeted by the strange sight of a grim-faced Lord Chamberlain being dragged towards him by a small girl.
    “What’s the matter, John?” he asked with a chuckle. “You look absolutely morose. Is your captor here hauling you off to the dungeons?”
    Short as she was by comparison, Sunilda nevertheless contrived to appear as if she was looking down her nose at Anatolius.
    “Sunilda and I were just having a little talk.” John extracted his hand from the girl’s grasp and handed her over to the servant who arrived in response to Anatolius’ rap on the villa door.
    Before going inside, Sunilda turned and gave Anatolius an appraising look. “You are the one Calyce is going to marry, aren’t you?” she remarked suddenly. “I must say that you look very young and not very rich.”
    When she had vanished inside John gave Anatolius a questioning look.
    “The child is certainly not going to rival those famous goats as an oracle,” Anatolius told him with a grin. “I spent the whole day of the banquet trying to avoid that woman, as you may recall. She’s not unattractive in a patrician sort of way, I suppose, but I’ve decided it’s wise to keep away from those sorts of entanglements.”
    “It would appear that the lady in question has other plans,” John remarked dryly.
    “Romantic fantasies, you mean. It really is embarrassing, John. A pity, too. I understand Calyce’s family had considerable holdings in Italy but they’ve all been lost to the Ostrogoths. Apparently Theodora magnanimously granted Calyce the privilege of remaining at court in order to serve as one of her ladies-in-waiting. Theodora’s gifts always come with a heavy price.” Anatolius gave a rueful laugh.
    The last of the light stole from the sky. One of the torches flanking the doorway flared briefly. Startled, John looked quickly around. His reaction made him realize just how exhausted he had become.
    “Being lady-in-waiting to Theodora might be even more perilous than you think,” he said.
    “Especially when the two of them dislike each other