Dryopus was frowning slightly. “My apologies for disturbing you, Antonina. But I am a little concerned by the situation with the Circe. More than a little, actually.”
“Why? What did the inspectors report?”
“They haven’t reported, Antonina. I’ve not seen or heard from them since we sent them off this morning to inspect the ship.”
Antonina stiffened and set the goblet down on the table. “That was hours ago!”
The cheerful conviviality had left the faces of the Axumites also. “What is wrong, Antonina?” asked Ousanas.
Quickly, Antonina sketched the situation. The stubborn reluctance—odd, under the circumstances—of the brothers Aco and Numenius to allow their ship to be used for hauling military supplies; her decision to send inspectors this morning.
“Malwa,” stated Ousanas firmly. “The Circe is loaded with gunpowder, and packed with Malwa soldiery. That’s a fireship, aimed at the shipping in the harbor.”
His quick conclusion summed up the worst of Antonina’s fears. She rose abruptly and began heading toward the entrance to the palace. Behind her, she heard the scrape of stools as the Axumites followed suit.
“That ship has been kept out of the harbor itself, hasn’t it?” she asked Dryopus, who was scurrying next to her.
“Oh, yes,” he assured Antonina. “Until they’ve been inspected, no ship is allowed past the screen of galleys into the harbor. Those were your orders from the very beginning, and I’ve seen to it they’ve been scrupulously adhered to.”
Ousanas had drawn alongside her and heard Dryopus’ last words.
“Won’t matter,” he said curtly. “The Malwa are canny, and their spies are excellent. By now, those procedures of yours have become routine. The Malwa waited until enough time had elapsed for everyone to become lackadaisical.”
“The procedures have been followed,” insisted Dryopus stubbornly. “Not a single ship has ever entered the actual harbor without being inspected. Not one!”
Antonina felt compelled to defend her subordinate. “He’s right, Ousanas. And while I have no doubt many ships have come in carrying contraband, that’s not the same thing as sabotage. No inspector, no matter how corrupt, is crazy enough to accept a bribe from a Malwa ship loaded with soldiers and weapons.”
Ousanas shook his head. “The problem is not with the inspectors. It’s with the galleys. By now, those soldiers and sailors are so bored with guard duty they won’t be paying attention to anything.”
They had reached the palace’s aivan, which was doubling for the evening as a weapons repository for the nobility enjoying Khusrau’s hospitality. The Axumite weaponry was as distinctive as the Ethiopians themselves, so by the time Antonina and Ousanas came up the Persian soldiers guarding the weapons had sorted them from the rest.
Ousanas himself had brought nothing but his great spear. He waited impatiently while the other Axumite officers donned their armor and attached the baldrics holding their swords. That done, the officers took up their own spears and the entire party began hurrying through the aivan.
Antonina had brought no weapons of any kind herself, and was now regretting the loss. But when she murmured something to that effect, Ousanas smiled grimly.
“Not to worry,” he said. “Your maidservant was smart and efficient even before she obtained me for a paramour.”
At that moment, they passed through the entrance vault of the aivan and debouched onto the street beyond. Antonina immediately spotted Koutina, squatting among a small horde of servants waiting for their masters and mistresses to emerge from the imperial soiree.
Actually, Koutina was the only one of the servants who was not squatting. She was perched comfortably on a piece of luggage standing on end. The handcrafted leather-and-brass valise was something which Koutina was in the habit of carrying with her every time she and Antonina went anywhere beyond the immediate vicinity of the small mansion Antonina had appropriated for her activities. Weeks earlier, she had requested enough money from Antonina to pay for the rather expensive item. Which Antonina had given her readily enough, of course. She had long since come to have complete confidence in Koutina’s ability to manage all of Antonina’s household affairs.
Antonina had wondered about that valise. The thing was rather large, and heavy enough that Koutina had had straps attached to it by which she could hoist the thing onto her shoulders. But the one time Antonina had inquired, Koutina had simply smiled and said it contained the odd necessities which might be required by some unlikely eventuality.