‘There is more, my lord,’ added Artibasos quietly. ‘Look to the western rim of the dome, where he shows us Rhodias in ruins-a reminder of how fragile the achievements of mortal men must be. And see how all along the northern curve we will have the world the god has made in all its splendour and variety: men and women, farms, roads, small children, animals of all kinds, birds, hills, forests. Imagine these sketched trees as an autumn forest, my lords, as the notes suggest. Imagine the leaves in colour overhead, lit by lanterns or the sun. That bull is a part of that, a part of what Jad has made, just as is the sea sweeping along the southern side of the dome towards the City. My lord Emperor, my lord Patriarch, the Rhodian is proposing to offer us, in mosaic, upon my dome, a rendering of so much of the world, the god’s world, that I am … I find it overwhelming, I confess.’
His voice trailed away. Pertennius, the historian, gave him a curious look. No one spoke immediately. Even Maximius was still. Zakarios drew a hand through his beard and looked across at the Emperor. They had known each other a long time.
‘Overwhelming,’ the Patriarch echoed, claiming the word for himself. ‘Is it too ambitious?’
And saw he’d hit a sore point. Valerius looked directly at him a moment, then shrugged. ‘He has sketched it, undertakes to achieve it if we give him the men and material.’ He shrugged. ‘I can cut off his hands and blind him if he fails.’
Pertennius glanced over at that, his thin features betraying no expression, then back to the sketches, which he’d been continuing to study.
‘A question, if I may?’ he murmured. ‘Is it… unbalanced, my lords? The god is always at the centre of a dome. But here Jad and the City are to the east, the god mounting up that side towards the apex … but there is nothing to match him to the west. It is almost as if the design … requires a figure on the other side.’
‘He will give us a sky,’ said Artibasos, walking over. ‘Earth, sea, and sky. The notes describe a sunset, west, over Rhodias. Imagine that, with colours.’
‘Even so, I see a difficulty,’ said Leontes’s long-faced scribe. He laid a manicured finger on the charcoal sketch. ‘With respect, my lords, you might suggest he put something here. More, um, well… something. Balance. For as we all know, balance is everything to the virtuous man.’ He looked pious, briefly, pursing his thin lips together.
Some pagan philosopher or other had probably said that, Zakarios thought sourly. He didn’t like the historian. The man seemed to be always present, watching, giving nothing away.
‘That,’ said Maximius, a little too petulantly, ‘might be so, but it does nothing to ease my headache, I can tell you that.’
‘And we are all very grateful,’ said the Emperor softly, ‘to be told that, cleric.’
Maximius flushed beneath his black beard and then, seeing Valerius’s icy expression, which did not sort with his mild tone, went pale. It was too easy to forget, sometimes, with the easy manners and open nature the Emperor displayed, Zakarios thought, sympathizing with his aide, how Valerius had brought his uncle to the throne and how he had kept it, himself.
The Patriarch intervened. ‘I am prepared to say that I am content. We find no heresies here. The god is honoured and the City’s earthly glory is properly shown to lie beneath Jad’s protection. If the Emperor and his advisers are pleased we will approve this design on behalf of the god’s clergy and bless the doing and the completing of it.’
‘Thank you,’ said Valerius. His nod was brief, formal. ‘We had relied upon you to say as much. This is a vision worthy of the Sanctuary, we judge.’
‘If it can be done,’ said Zakarios.
‘There is always that,’ said Valerius. ‘Much that men strive to achieve fails in the doing. Will you take more wine?’
It was really very late. It was later still when the two clerics and the architect and historian took their leave, to be escorted from the Precinct by Excubitors. As they left the room, Zakarios saw Valerius signalling one of his secretaries. The man stumbled forward from the shadows along the wall. The Emperor had begun dictating to him, even before the door was closed. Zakarios was to remember that image, and also the sensation he had, in the depths of the same night, waking from a dream.