Eight for Eternity by Mary Reed, Eric Mayer Page A

tongue as hasty as it had been in those days. But what did John really know about the man who sat across from him now?
    “I didn’t mean to offend you, Haik. The city is full of relics.”
    Haik waved his knife. “I am not a very religious man. But I’ve seen the spot where Simeon stood many times. It amazed me, to think how a man could spend his life confined to a pillar, exposed to the elements, never lying down.”
    “You’re not here on a pilgrimage though. You said you had business.”
    “A minor matter.”
    “It’s a long journey for a minor matter.”
    “Blame that on Justinian’s Prefect of the East, the Cappadocian. He’s been bleeding us dry, and demanding we bleed in gold.”
    “I understand John the Cappadocian has been extremely efficient in collecting revenues. If you’re here to petition the emperor about it I doubt you’ll get far. Half of the provinces are already here.” He glanced around at the farmers who had been staring at them. “Not that they’ll get to speak to anyone closer to the throne than the guards at the Chalke.”
    Haik shook his head. “That’s not why I’m here. The Cappadocian has destroyed the postal system. They’re using asses instead of horses now. Cheaper. And so much slower I decided I might as well come myself rather than send a letter, particularly when I heard that Belisarius had been recalled. If another earthquake hits Antioch the emperor won’t find out until grass is growing over the ruins.
    “He might not find out until too late if the Persians suddenly arrive at the walls, either.”
    “Very true, but the Persians aren’t likely to be attacking again soon after the beating Belisarius gave them.”
    “There are those who say that it is Belisarius who took most of the beating. That he was lucky to escape back across the Euphrates to Callinicum. They consider him a better politician than soldier.”
    Haik knifed another sausage. The blade hit the metal plate with a click. “As a hot-blooded young soldier I might have felt differently, but these days I agree with what Belisarius says, that the best general is one who is able to bring about peace from war. Whoever won the battle, the fact remains that the Persians no longer threaten Roman territory. And now that Chosroes has succeeded Cabades as king and agreed to sign an eternal peace, the emperor must be well pleased.
    “It can be difficult to discern what the emperor thinks about anything. You said you don’t know General Belisarius well?”
    “Not at all, actually. I have a good reputation in the area. I’m a respected landowner so he was happy to let me accompany him.”
    A couple of the provincials who had been staring got up and left, trailing a vague odor of livestock. The Blue who had drunk too much wobbled to his feet at the same time. One of the provincials paused at the bar to hand the tavern keeper two tiny copper nummi. He stared into the age blackened pouch from which the coins had come, grunted in disgust, and tossed it away. Funds had run out as they soon did in the city.
    The Blue staggered off toward the door leading to the lavatory. John wondered if he had intended to follow the unsuspecting visitors into the street and rob them. If so, they were fortunate to be destitute.
    John sipped his wine and watched Haik devour another sausage. Hadn’t he stopped to eat after arriving in the city? He shifted his weight. The hard bench dug into his thighs. He could practically feel the glass-eyed Porphyrius in the wall mosaic looking over his shoulder. It made him uncomfortable even though he knew it was only his imagination.
    “It’s quite a leap, from mercenary to estate owner,” John said. “What made you think of growing pistachios?
    Haik swallowed, then grinned. He tapped the half-tooth that left a gap in his smile. “Don’t you remember when I broke this on a shell?”
    John chuckled. “Now that you have reminded me. The way you howled, half of us in the camp grabbed our