Chapter twenty-eight

Ortia

 

Aurelian waited patiently for Antonius to look up from his desk. He was quite used to this – the proconsul loved to keep people waiting.  

The desk was very well organised. There were piles of paper each neatly bundled with string and an army of eager clerks who came in and took old bundles out and replaced them with new bundles. It was all seemed very efficient but Aurelian wondered what could be written on the papers. Marthian never seemed to have anything much on her desk, except for the occasional letter or a few stray petals.

He sighed and the proconsul finally looked up. His face was stern. ‘Is the waiting wearying you, general?’ he asked.

Aurelian felt like saying, ‘well, of course it is…’ but he resisted. His concerns seemed petty compared with the Lady’s evident anger.  He forced himself to behave.

‘Not at all, sir’ he said, snapping neatly to attention and saluting with great precision. He was rather good at these professional niceties.   

As was usual when they met, Antonius was obviously a little discomforted by any display of his general’s martial punctilio. Quite unintentionally Aurelian had given the impression that things were a little more savage here, right on the edge of civilisation, more militaristic and more regimented. Where Senator Antonius came from the responses of subordinates was generally both more louche and a bit more ironic. He hadn’t had much experience of proper soldiers.  

‘I’m glad to hear it…’ he said. Any irritation that he had been feeling had apparently evaporated.  His gaze lingered on his visitor, as it always did. Aurelian knew that his secular commander could make no sense of him at all. It always gave him a morsel of grim satisfaction.

‘So, how can I help you, my fine soldier?’

Aurelian took a deep breath. This wasn’t going to be easy at all.  

‘I have a message from the Lady, sir’

Antonius frowned – this was another large area of incomprehension.

‘Oh, really?’ he said, shaking his head and pursing his lips, ‘Why will she not communicate directly with me?’

‘I have no idea’ said Aurelian, ‘but I think you should listen to what she said’

The proconsul forced himself to smile graciously.

‘Of course, of course – what is it?’

‘Well…’ Aurelian hesitated; he had no experience of bringing bad news to an enemy. He felt that he should be enjoying it far more than he was.

Antonius’s irritated look began to creep back into his face. His eyes strayed down to the columns of figures that he had been so carefully studying. Aurelian could see that one of columns was headed ‘number of sewage pipes’.

 ‘General… please… spit it out’

Seeing no alternative Aurelian did as he was told.

‘The Lady says that Marthian must be reinstated as proconsul…’

Antonius looked up again but his expression was blank. He was clearly having problems keeping up.

‘Could you say that again, general?’

‘The Lady does not accept your right to rule as proconsul, sir’

Senator Antonius’s eyes narrowed and sweat pricked on his brow. He pushed his chair back and stood up, quite suddenly extremely irritated.

‘What is this’ he asked, his voice very loud, ‘some form of jest?’

‘No, not at all, sir. I am simply reporting what the High Priestess said to me…’

Antonius leaned forward and laughed. It was a nasty laugh, high and strained.

 ‘Nonsense – this is some delusion of your own making, or of your exiled lover’s…’

He barked the words and then stopped himself. Once again he forced himself back to calm. He smiled sympathetically.

‘Sadly, I think that the strain of events have become too much for you. Perhaps a period of leave would be appropriate? We might even be able to arrange a trip to Amansk, perhaps?’

Aurelian breathed in deeply. He hadn’t finished. He tried as hard as he could to keep his tone even.  

‘I must reiterate, sir, that none of this comes from me. I promised to pass on this message exactly as I received it.’

 ‘What are you talking about?’

‘Just as I have just said – the Lady believes that the city can only be saved with Marthian as proconsul’

‘Saved from what?

’I have no idea, sir… that information was not passed on to me…’

 ‘Oh dear that is very unfortunate. I wonder what I can do to bring her around? I certainly don’t want the animosity of the local cult if I can help it in any way…’

‘It’s not my place to say, sir’ Aurelian said softly, ‘and… I have more of the message to pass on’

‘Is that so, general? Well, please hurry, I have a lot of important things to do today. To be honest, I think that you’ve made your point only too clearly’. He looked longingly back at his orderly columns of figures.

‘I’m sorry sir, but I think it is probably rather important’

‘Of course, of course…’ said Antonius, impatiently.

‘I was instructed to tell you that if the Lady’s request is refused, then there will be serious consequences’

Antonius laughed his hollow, venomous, laugh again.

‘I am the chosen delegate of the Emperor and the local interpreter of his commands. To contradict me is impossible – the Emperor will not allow it’

‘Of course, my lord’ Aurelian said, nodding in total agreement, ‘However, I think that the high priestess will expect an answer…’

‘To what, exactly, general?’

Aurelian was feeling the awful irony of him carrying this message more and more intensely. But he suspected that his choice as messenger was no coincidence.

‘Umm – I suppose she wants me ask you:  will you step down and allow Marthian to take back the proconsul’s position?’

Antonius’s mouth dropped open. He rubbed his eyes in astonishment.

‘I’m sure you have something more useful to do too general…’

Aurelian would have been happy to turn away and abandon this apparently pointless and painful conversation but he was literally compelled to carry on.  And he knew well enough who was compelling him.

‘Will you?’ he asked, with growing fear.

Antonius detected a change in his general’s tone, which was disconcerting, but he had to keep control. The answer was obvious. He spoke in his most sonorously powerful voice.

‘Of course not, general, and I really don’t want you to mention that again…’

Without any warning, without a flash, a bang or even a sigh, the senator disappeared. For a brief moment Aurelian almost thought he had been picked up by the hair and dragged upwards and away, but that couldn’t possibly be true. The general was left standing in the empty room wondering exactly what would happen next and what on earth he was expected to do about it.