Shadow of Ararat

THE VILLA OF SWANS

Anastasia groaned theatrically and waved for her handmaiden to lay another chilled cloth on her forehead. “The heat is terrible.” She moaned. “Like the forges of Vulcan.”

Thyatis, sitting on a low stool next to her, eyed the slave Krista out of the corner of one eye. Krista knelt at Anastasia’s side. The slave rolled her eyes while deftly picking a second cloth out of the chilled ewer. Another slave, this a handsome Nubian lad in a short tunic, slowly waved a fan over the recumbent form of the mistress of the house.

At last, Anastasia sat up and Krista plumped the pillows behind her so that she might rest more easily. A small plate of freshly pitted cherries was placed near the Lady’s hand, in case she desired refreshment. Having come from the Offices only moments before, Anastasia was dressed in a regal yet subdued outfit. Somber colors, showing very little skin, and restrained makeup. In the dim light of the sitting room, under the frescoes of forest creatures, nymphs, and centaurs, she seemed to Thyatis to show her true age. There was a drained look about her eyes that the carefully applied powders could not disguise. Thyatis sat straighter and composed herself as Anastasia’s languid gaze fell upon her.

The Duchess shook her head slowly, picking up a cherry from the little porcelain bowl. “I fear that I made a mistake with you, my dear. One of the first things that my late husband told me when he decided to accept me as a partner and equal in his business here in the city was: to each tool a proper purpose.”

Inwardly Thyatis quailed in fear. The moderate-seeming disaster of the dinner party for the Prince now assumed much larger character. It was a struggle to keep from breaking into tears, yet she managed. It was not fair! I tried my best… it’s not my fault I don’t know how to be coy!

Anastasia leaned a little closer, her eyes intent upon Thyatis. “I apologize for misusing you.”

The words took a long tick of the water-clock to make themselves known in Thyatis’ conscious thought. When they did, she smiled in relief and quickly composed herself again. Anastasia nodded, picking one of the cherries off of the plate and rolling it between her long fingertips.

“You have tremendous skills for one so young-skills that I value very highly-but not the ones that I attempted to foster in you for this one purpose. At the time, the throw seemed worth the risk. However, the tactics of seduction and pleasant intrigue are not what I have had you trained in for five years. Your talents so obviously lie in direct action. It was a mistake on my part, one that I will not make again. I confess that I was tremendously angry at the outcome of that night.”

She glared at Krista, who prostrated herself to the floor. As the slave girl put her forehead to the pale rose tiles, Thyatis caught the edge of a self-satisfied smirk, like the little cat Bastet lapping up fresh cream. Anastasia continued, “When one manages-after weeks of effort-to get a Prince of the Empire to spend the night in one’s house, it should be in the bed of the intended, not with some minx of a slave girl.” The Duchess sighed.

“No matter, he left hung over and satisfied. At that point, it was as good an outcome as I could hope for.”

Thyatis bowed her head as well, in contrition and to hide her relief that she would not be forced to undergo the awful prospect of trying to seduce a young man of high station in front of twenty or thirty of his peers and acquaintances. Only the evident discomfiture of the Prince and the timely intervention of Krista with an artfully spilled tray of fresh-cut fruit had saved her from fleeing the dining hall in shame and utter embarrassment.

Anastasia sighed, leaning back in the divan, her eyes narrowed in thought. Krista, still prostrate, slowly crept back out of sight of her mistress. The Duchess twirled one of her long dark curls around an elegant finger for a moment, then tucked it back into place. By her face, Thyatis saw that she had come to some decision.

“Today,” Anastasia began in a businesslike voice, “the Emperor summoned me to the Offices and laid out before me his… requests… for me and those who serve me. He is undertaking a daring campaign to assist the Emperor of the East. He has requested that I provide him with persons of certain abilities to serve on his staff during this expedition. Among them, I believe that I shall send you, Thyatis, along with your faithful Nikos, as… hmm… couriers would suit you best. I expect that you will be rather out of place in precincts that are usually the domain of men, but I believe that you will prosper.”

Thyatis was slowly overcome by a sense of giddy relief and anticipation. She was going to resume her previous work, and with Nikos at her side, no less.‘ The prospect of having a well-wrapped sword-hilt in her hand and boots on her feet washed over her like an exquisite wine. No more wretched perfumes or troublesome garments! No more house servants fluttering around her like distraught moths when she did not sit properly…

Anastasia shook her head, smiling, at the joy apparent in her young ward. She wagged an admonishing finger at the seventeen-year-old. “Calm yourself, my dear. You will be in Constantinople soon enough.”