In the Heart of Darkness(69)

Belisarius turned his head toward Nanda Lal.



"I did not even think of it, Nanda Lal. It is not a weapon. It's simply a little knife I carry with me to sharpen my ink quills."



With a wry smile:



"I imagine I could kill a chicken with it, after a desperate struggle." He shrugged. "You're quite welcome to take the thing, if it makes you nervous."



Nanda Lal stared at him for a moment. Then, without taking his eyes from the general, asked the assassin a question in that same unknown tongue.



The assassin spoke a few phrases. Nanda Lal smiled.



"Never mind, general. Great Lady Holi's chief bodyguard confirms your depiction of the—ah, device."



Now the image of cordiality, Nanda Lal took Belisarius by the arm and began leading him toward the women at the far end of the salon. The spymaster leaned over and whispered:



"The bodyguard says the chicken would win."



Belisarius smiled crookedly. "He underestimates my prowess. But I'm quite certain I would carry the scars to my grave."



Ten feet from the line of kneeling eunuchs, Nanda Lal brought himself and Belisarius to a halt. Nanda Lal—Belisarius following the spymaster's example—bowed deeply, but did not prostrate himself. Two servants appeared from a small door in the corner of the room behind the seated women. The servants carried cushions, which they set on the floor just in front of Belisarius and Nanda Lal. That done, each man stepped away. They did not leave, however, but remained standing, one on either side. As he squatted down on his cushion, Belisarius gave them both a quick, searching, sidelong scrutiny.



Servants, I think. Nothing more.



A feminine voice drew his attention forward. The voice had the timber of a young woman, and it came—just as he had surmised—from the woman seated to his left.



"We are very pleased to meet you at last, General Belisarius. We have heard so much about you."



Belisarius could discern nothing of the woman's face, because of her veil. But he did not miss the sharp intelligence in that voice, lurking beneath the platitudes. Nor the fact that the Greek in which it spoke was perfect. Without a trace of an accent.



He nodded his head in acknowledgment, but said nothing.



The young woman continued.



"My name is Sati. I have the honor of being one of Emperor Skandagupta's daughters. This—" a slight gesture of the hand to the woman seated next to her "—is the Great Lady Holi. The Emperor's aunt, as I imagine you have already been told."



The Great Lady Holi's head bobbed, minutely. Beyond that, the woman was as still as a statue. The veil completely disguised her face also.



Again, Belisarius nodded.



"My aunt asked to meet you because she has heard that you desire to give your allegiance to the destiny of Malwa. And she has heard that you have proposed the most ingenious plan to further our great cause."



Belisarius decided that this last remark required a reply.



"I thank you—and her—for your kind words. I would not go so far as to describe my plan as ingenious. Though it is, I think, shrewd. The Roman Emperor Justinian is planning to invade the western Mediterranean anyway. I simply intend to encourage him in the endeavour. In that manner, without drawing suspicion upon myself, I can keep Rome's armies from interfering with your coming conquest of Persia."



He stopped, hoping that would be enough. But the Lady Sati pressed him further.



"Are you not concerned that the reunification of the Roman Empire will pose a long-term danger to Malwa?"



Belisarius shook his head, very firmly.



"No, Lady Sati. Justinian's project is sheer folly."



"You are saying that the eastern Roman Empire cannot reconquer the west?"



There was a lurking danger in that question, Belisarius sensed, though he could not tell exactly where it lay. After a slight hesitation, he decided that truth was the best option.



"I did not say that. In my opinion, the conquest is possible. In fact—" Here, another pause, but this one for calculated effect "—if you will allow me the immodesty, I am convinced that it can be done. So long as Justinian gives me the command of the enterprise. But it will be a fruitless victory."



"Why so?"



He shrugged. "We can reconquer the west, but not easily. The wars will be long and difficult. At the end, Justinian will rule over a war-ravaged west. Which he will try to administer from a bankrupted east. Rome will be larger in size, and much smaller in strength."



"Ah." That was all Lady Sati said, but Belisarius instantly knew that he had passed some kind of test.



The knowledge brought a slight relief to the tension which tightened his neck. But, a moment later, the tension returned in full force.