Belisarius waved his hand. “But we are getting side-tracked. Later, I would be interested in hearing more from you regarding Justinian’s western ambitions. But not now. And you are mistaking my question. I was not asking if we needed to keep our conspiracy secret from Justinian. Obviously, if we conspire, we must do so. The question is: do we need to conspire at all? Can we not simply bring him into our confidence? For all Justinian’s obvious faults, he is one of the most capable men who ever sat upon the imperial throne.”
Antonina drew in a sharp breath. Cassian glanced at her and shook his head.
“No. Absolutely not. Justinian must know nothing. At least, not until it is too late for him to do more than simply acquiesce in what we have done.” He made a rueful grimace. “And, then, we will have to hope he doesn’t remove our heads.”
Belisarius seemed still unconvinced. Cassian pressed on.
“Belisarius, have no delusions. Suppose we told Justinian. Suppose, further, that he accepted all that we told him. Suppose, even—and here I tread on fantastical ground—he did not suspect our motives. What then?”
Belisarius hesitated. Antonina answered.
“He would insist on placing himself at the head of our struggle. With all of his competence. And with all of his pigheaded stubbornness, his petty vanities, his constant intrigues, his overweening pride, his endless petty meddling and fussing, his distrust of anyone else’s competence as well as loyalty, his—”
“Enough!” cried Belisarius, chuckling. “I am convinced.” He laced his fingers together and leaned forward, his elbows on his knees, staring down at the floor. Again, the simple tiles received an unaccustomed scrutiny.
Cassian’s voice broke into his thoughts.
“Are you familiar, Belisarius, with India? Or you, Antonina?”
Antonina shook her head. Belisarius, still gazing absently at the floor, shrugged and said:
“I know a bit about that distant land, from hearsay, but I have never even met—”
He stopped in midsentence, gasping. His head snapped erect.
“What am I saying? I know an enormous amount about India. From my vision! I spent thirty years in an unending struggle against India. Against the Malwa tyranny, I should say. And I always had the shrewd advice of Raghunath Rao to fall back on.” His face grew pale. “God in Heaven. Anthony, you are right. We must conspire, and bury the conspiracy deep. I only hope it is not too late already.”
“What are you talking about?” asked Antonina.
Belisarius looked at her. “One thing I remember now, from my vision, is that the Malwa Empire has the most extensive and developed espionage service in the world. An enormous apparatus, and highly skilled.” His eyes lost their focus for a moment. “It was one of the deadly blows they inflicted on us, I remember. By the time we finally awoke to the full scope of the danger, the Roman Empire was riddled with Indian spies and intriguers.”
He focused on Cassian. “Do you think—”
The bishop waved his hand. “I do not think we need concern ourselves, Belisarius. I am quite certain Michael was not seen coming here. And I am a frequent guest, so my presence will not be noteworthy. We will have to be careful when Michael leaves, of course, but that is not difficult.”
The bishop stroked his beard vigorously. “In the future, however, the problem will quickly become severe. But let us come back to that problem. For the moment—I can provide us with a place to establish our initial base. Where we can create an arms foundry—a ‘weapons project,’ as you called it. And, if we can uncover the secret of the Malwa weapons, begin to forge an army to wield them. Recently, as it happens, a wealthy widow bequeathed her entire inheritance to the Church, with the specific stipulation that I was to have control of its disposition. She died three months ago. Among her many possessions was a large estate not far from Daras. Near the Persian border.
“The villa at the estate is quite large, with more than enough buildings to serve our purpose. And the peasants who till the land are borderers. Syrians and Monophysites, down to the newborn babes.”