Before she could answer, however, Aspar came out onto the terrace. Flacilla arose and came forward to greet him. "My lord, why did you not tell me you were coming? Patricius will be so delighted to see you. He has been doing very well at his studies lately, his tutors say."

"I apologize for interrupting you, and your guest, Flacilla," Aspar said with a hint of censure in his voice.

She heard it, and quickly replied, "This is Justin Gabras, a gentleman from Trebizond, my lord. He is now making his home in the city. The patriarch has asked him to help me in a project to aid the poor. We were just discussing it when you arrived. Will you join us?"

A small amused smile touched Aspar's lips, but it was quickly gone. "I have come for Patricius," he said. "I have decided to send him to live with Ardiburius and Zoe. You have been a good mother to him, Flacilla, but he is at an age now where he needs the company of other children. My grandson David is just slightly younger than Patricius, and will benefit as well from their shared companionship. Since both my elder son and daughter-in-law follow the Orthodox faith, Patricius will, of course, continue in that instruction. Will you send for him?"

Flacilla was astounded, and frankly curious as to his apparently sudden decision, but she nodded. Calling a servant, she gave instructions that the boy be brought to them. "May I see Patricius on occasion, my lord?" she asked her husband. "I have grown fond of the child."

"Of course," he said, smiling. "You are always welcome at my elder son's home to visit Patricius. He is fond of you also, I know."

Justin Gabras was fascinated. He had never seen two more poorly matched people. He would be sorry to see the boy go, too. Only recently he had begun to consider what an appetizing little tidbit the child would be. As Patricius was sweet-natured, and eager to please, seducing him would have been a simple matter. And afterward he would have taught him how to please his lusty stepmother as well. Bad luck, he thought, an opportunity lost, but another will appear.

The general and his wife had grown silent, for they had little if nothing to say to each other. Aspar looked like a dull fellow, Justin Gabras thought. Brilliant in the field, but boring in the bedchamber. Flacilla politely offered wine, and then mercifully the boy came.

"Father!" Aspar's youngest child ran into the room, his face joyful at the sight of the general. "What a grand surprise, Father!"

Aspar caught the boy in an embrace, and then stepping back, said, "You have grown again, lad! And the lady Flacilla says your tutors give good reports of your studies. You make me proud, and I have come with a surprise for you. You are to go and live with your brother and his wife. Your cousin David is most eager for your arrival."

"Ohh, Father! That is splendid news!" Patricius cried. "When am I to go?" Then his face fell, and turning toward Flacilla, he said almost apologetically, "I will miss you, lady. You have been good to me."

Flacilla smiled, but there was no warmth in it. "I think your father has made an excellent decision, Patricius. You should be with other children, and my household is long past children."

"If we left now, my lad, would that suit you?" Aspar asked his son. The boy nodded vigorously, and Aspar said to his wife, "Have old Marie pack my son's things up. You may send her and his tutors to Ardiburius's home tomorrow. Now, we will take our leave of you, my lady, and you may return to your business with this gentleman." He bowed politely to Flacilla first, and then to Justin Gabras. Taking Patricius's hand in his, they departed the terrace.

When they were safely out of hearing, Patricius said to his father, "I am glad to be going to my brother's house, Father. The lady Flacilla entertains too many gentlemen, and this latest fellow frightens me. He was always watching me."

"He did not touch you, or hurt you, my son, did he?"

"Oh no, Father!" the boy assured his parent. "I never let him come that close to me. Marie says he is a very bad man."

"You listen to your old nurse, Patricius. She loves you well," Aspar told his child. "Your mother picked her especially to care for you."

Upon the terrace, Flacilla watched through the latticed screen that topped one of the low walls as her husband and his child rode off down the wide street. Justin Gabras stood behind her, his hands upon her hips, plunging himself in and out of her woman's passage as she leaned upon the parapet. "It was so sudden," she said irritably. "How typical of Aspar to make this surprise visit with its surprise ending."

Her lover ground himself slowly into her, and bending over, whispered in her ear, "He thinks you no longer fit to watch over the child, my pet. Oh, he masked his intent with sweet words, but it was obvious to me what he was really thinking, Flacilla. What will the gossips make of it, I wonder, for it will certainly provide grist for their mills."

She felt her crisis approaching, and moaned hungrily, thrusting her hips back to meet him. "I will… go… to the empress!" she gasped.

Justin Gabras pushed Flacilla farther over so that she was almost bent double, enjoying her surprised scream as he moved from her temple of Venus and jammed himself into the entry of her temple of Sodom. His hands held heT firmly, stilling her feeble struggles as he leaned forward and bit her neck. "You will be the laughingstock of Constantinople, my pet. Everyone knows you for a whore, but now they will know you for a bad mother as well. Do you not ever wonder why your daughters do not visit you, Flacilla? Their husbands' families will not let them associate with you, I am told." His lust exploded into her aching body, and finally, with a satisfied groan, he withdrew from her.

Flacilla burst into tears. "Why do you tell me these lies?" she demanded of him.

"Because you have a delightful talent for perversion to match mine, my pet. You have barely scratched the surface of your own wickedness yet, but under my tutelage you will become a mistress of evil. Do not weep. You are too old to do so publicly; and your face is getting puffy. 'Tis most unattractive. I do not lie to you, Flacilla, when I say you are the perfect woman for me. I want to marry you. You have powerful family connections, and if I must remain here in Constantinople, then I want a wife such as you, my dear. A young girl would bore me. She would whine and complain about my tastes. You, however, will not, will you?"

"You would let me take lovers?" she asked him nervously.

"Of course," he said, laughing, "for I will take lovers, too." He took her hand and they lay together upon the couch. "Think of it, Flacilla! Think of what we could share together, and with no recriminations on either side. We could even share lovers. You know I enjoy both women and men as you do. Shall we go to Villa Maxima tonight and choose a lover to share? What about one of those wonderful dumb Northmen Jovian so favors? Or perhaps Casia is more to your taste? What say you?"

"Let me think," she said. "Ohh, I wish that girl that Jovian featured in the first of his playlets was still here. She was so beautiful, but she disappeared very quickly. You did not see the performance, of course, not having yet come to Constantinople, but the girl took all three of those Northmen into her body at one time! Jovian never allowed anyone else to have her, and then suddenly she was gone. He would never explain what had happened to her. I think she may have killed herself. She did not look like a whore."

"Let us have all three of the Northmen, then, Flacilla. You shall play the girl's part for me, and we shall have Casia as well," he said, kissing her quickly. "It will be a celebtation of our engagement."

Flacilla sat up. "My family would never allow me to divorce Aspar and marry you," she said. "They value Aspar's influence too much. Though they forced him to wed me in order to gain their support for Leo, they have gotten much through his influence, Justin. They will not easily give all that up."

"Do not ask your family, Flacilla. Ask your husband for a divorce. I suspect he wants to ask you for one, and removing his child from your care is his first step along the road to ridding himself of you. Once again Aspar will embarrass you and hold you up to ridicule. Sttike first, my pet! I doubt he cares as long as he is rid of you."

"What if he refuses me?" she said. "You never know with Aspar."

"Then you can go to your family," Justin replied. "Your husband is not a god, Flacilla. There must be some weakness of his you can play upon. Have you learned nothing in the time you were married to him?"

"Actually," she admitted, "I know little of him. We have never lived together, nor slept together. He is an enigma to me."

"Then you must spy upon him to learn what we need to know, my pet, for I will have you, or no one will!" He kissed her hard.

After a night of particularly wild debauchery, Flacilla awoke clear-headed and determined. "Send a messenger to my husband's palace," she told her majordomo, "and say that I wish to visit him this morning. I shall arrive before the noon hour."

"The general is not at his palace, my lady," the majordomo said. "He closed his palace up some months ago, and lives at Villa Mare now. Shall I send a messenger to the country to inform him you are coming, my lady? The villa is just five miles beyond the gates."

"No," Flacilla said. "Do not bother. I will simply go. By the time a messenger went and returned, I could be there myself. Have my litter made ready." She dismissed the majordomo and called her maids.

Wanting to make a good impression, Flacilla chose her garments carefully. Her stola was blue-green in color, and matched her eyes. It was shot through with gold threads, and the fabric was very rich. The sleeves were long and tight, and the garment was belted at the waist with a wide gold belt that was most flattering. Her gold slippers were beautifully bejeweled, and her hair was a mass of golden braids, fastened high and decorated with jewels. A matching cloak lined in fur completed her outfit. Flacilla stared hard at herself in the polished silver mirror. Then she smiled, well-pleased. Aspar would be impressed.