He paused for a moment, struck by the sunset. Belisarius joined him in that admiration.
“It is a beautiful world, in truth, for all the evil in it. Let us never lose sight of that, Belisarius, however dark the future may seem.”
The Emperor shook his head, glancing at the pavilion. “Speaking of dark futures—and a near one, at that—my brother Ormazd will be at the reception.” He scowled fiercely. “I will have to be polite to him, of course. In the end, he did not—quite!—disobey me.”
Belisarius snorted. “It was amazing, actually, how quickly he made his decision. Once Baresmanas and I showed up at his camp outside Ctesiphon, with almost twenty thousand troops and the aura of our victory at Anatha. He did not even dawdle, during the march here.”
“I should think not,” snarled the Emperor. “He had a lot of face-saving to do.”
The Roman general’s smile faded. Belisarius turned to face Khusrau, his gaze intent. He said nothing. There was no need to explain—not with this emperor.
Khusrau sighed.
“Yes, Belisarius. I agree. You have my permission to implement your plan.”
Belisarius hesitated. “Do you understand—did Baresmanas explain it to you fully? At the end—”
Khusrau made a short, chopping gesture with his hand. “Yes, I understand. I will have to trust you.”
“I will give you my oath, if you so desire.”
The Emperor laughed, now, quite cheerfully. “Nonsense! I don’t want your oath. I want—those two bodyguards of yours? That is their permanent duty?”
Belisarius nodded.
Khusrau took the general by the arm and resumed their progress toward the pavilion. His stride was no longer the leisurely amble of a man enjoying the sunset. It was the determined pace of a decisive man, who had made up his mind.
“Good,” he announced. “They will be at the reception, then. I will want to meet with them privately.”
Belisarius’ eyes widened.
“Privately? With Valentinian and Anastasius? Whatever for?”
“I want their oath. To keep you safe and alive, at all costs.”
He eyed the general. “Even if that means binding you with ropes and hitting you over the head, to keep you from any more of the cavalry charges for which you have become quite famous. Among my dehgans, no less!”
The Emperor shook his head. “Any general who can impress dehgans with his heroism and disregard for personal safety needs close supervision. Strict supervision.”
They were almost at the pavilion, now.
“That Anastasius fellow? Is he the gigantic one?”
Belisarius nodded. Khusrau stopped at the pavilion’s entrance, eyeing the general up and down, much like a man estimating livestock.
“Yes, yes,” he murmured. “He should have no difficulty. Even if it comes to shackling you.”
He turned and strode within. And called over his shoulder:
“I will have his oath on it!”
Anastasius kept a straight face. Valentinian didn’t even try.
“—in the name of God and his son Jesus Christ,” they concluded simultaneously.
The solemnity of the occasion was undermined, of course, by the fact that Valentinian was grinning from ear to ear. But Khusrau did not seem dissatisfied with the result, judging from his own smiling face.
“Excellent,” he pronounced.
Anastasius and Valentinian took that as their cue. A moment later, bowing respectfully, they backed through the silk curtains which separated Khusrau’s private quarters from the main area of the imperial pavilion.
A little frown came to the Emperor’s brow. He cocked his head toward Belisarius. “What did he say? The smaller one—he muttered something on the way out.”
Belisarius smiled. “I think he said: ‘God bless wise emperors.’ But, perhaps I misunderstood. Perhaps he said—”
“Nonsense!” exclaimed Khusrau. “I’m quite sure that’s what he said.”
He took Belisarius by the arm and began leading him out. “Excellent fellow! Marvelous, marvelous! Even if he does look like a vicious weasel.”
Belisarius kept his own counsel. Aide did not.
I agree. Excellent fellow. And Anastasius!
Try to be philosophical about the whole thing, Belisarius. Perhaps you could ask Anastasius to quote some appropriate words from Marcus Aurelius, or—
What was that? You muttered something in your mind.
Chapter 26
THE EUPHRATES
“And the charges are laid?” asked Belisarius. “All of them?”
Seeing the hesitation on Basil’s face, the general sighed.