A small commotion was taking place. The little mob of dehgans along the eastern wall was stepping aside, clearing a space for a small party advancing into the chamber through an archway in the eastern wall.
Four women appeared—the first women Belisarius had seen since he entered the palace.
Aide’s voice—smug, smug:
I figured it out yesterday.
The woman in front was middle-aged. The three walking behind her were quite young. Her daughters, obviously.
Belisarius felt his jaw sag.
What a dummy.
The girl in the center, the oldest, was perhaps sixteen years of age.
It’s the first signs of senility, that’s what it is.
She was dressed in an elaborate costume. Her sisters, flanking her, wore clothing which was generically similar but not quite as ostentatious.
Don’t worry, grandpa.
Her face was covered with a veil, except for her eyes. Dark brown eyes, they were. Gleaming with excitement. Beautiful eyes. Belisarius had no doubt that the rest of the girl was just as beautiful.
I’ll take care of you.
Belisarius was not able to follow most of the ritual—the long ritual—which followed. Just the obvious highlights. Partly, because he was caught off-guard. Partly, because it was the ceremony of a foreign religion. Mostly, though, because Aide kept interrupting his train of thought.
The lighting of the sacred fire—
You’ll have to stick with porridge from now on.
The presentation by the chief scribe of the intricate property rights and obligations which were a central feature of patixsayih marriages—
Can’t risk you eating meat. Cut yourself, for sure, forgetting which end of the dagger to use.
The stiff presentations, by Agathius and Merena, of their respective noble rankings—
We’ll get rid of your horse, of course.
The learned counsel of the herbads, added to the judgement of the mobads, weighed by the district governor and his assembled advisers—
Find you a donkey to ride.
—who agreed, after lengthy consultation, that the marriage maintained the necessary purity of the Aryan nobility.
A small donkey. So you won’t get hurt, all the times you’ll fall off.
After the ceremony was over, during the feast which followed, Merena approached Belisarius.
“I have a question,” he asked. Stiff as ever.
Politely, Belisarius inclined his head in invitation.
“Was Agathius at Mindouos? I did not wish to ask him, before. And now that he is my son-in-law, I cannot.”
“No, Merena. He wasn’t.”
The dehgan grunted. “Good, good.” Merena rubbed his thigh. “That would have been—difficult,” he murmured. Then, moved away, limping very badly.
Walking out of the palace, Belisarius glanced at Baresmanas. The smile was still there. Not enigmatic, however. Simply smug.
“And how did you find out about it?” growled the general.
“I didn’t ‘find out about it,’ my friend. I am the one who—ah, what is that word you Romans are so fond of? Yes, yes—I engineered the whole thing.”
Belisarius’ eyes widened. Baresmanas chuckled.
“Oh, yes. I am the one who introduced the gallant young officer to Merena and his family—after conspiring with his wife to make sure that Sudaba would be present, looking her very—beautiful! beautiful!—best. I am the one—”
“Stop bragging,” grumbled Belisarius. “I will fully admit that it was a masterstroke, insofar as the problem we discussed—”
“You think I did it because of that?” The sahrdaran snorted. “I had a much more immediate problem to solve, my friend. As I told you, Merena is a famous warrior and an absolute paragon of Aryan propriety. He is also, by dehgan standards, poor. So—the man had a daughter of marriageable age and no respectable dowry to give her. Think of the shame! The disgrace! No suitable Persian nobleman would accept a bride with no dowry.”
Belisarius smiled crookedly.
“Whereas a vigorous, ambitious young Roman officer risen from the ranks—and newly rich from the booty of Anatha—would be far more concerned with increasing his status than his wealth.”
“Precisely.”
Belisarius shook his head sadly. “I am a lamb among wolves. An innocent babe surrounded by schemers.”
Don’t worry, old man. I’ll take care of you.
Oh—be careful! There’s a step coming up!
Chapter 25
BABYLON
Autumn, 531 a.d.
Khusrau Anushirvan sprang lightly onto the low wall which surmounted the highest level of Esagila, the ancient ruin which had once been the great temple of the god Marduk. From that vantage point, the Emperor of Persia could gaze south at the huge Malwa army encamped before Babylon.