Kathleen Kirkwood & Anita Gordon - Heart series (38 page)

Lyting held
Zoë’s gaze. “If the token is not proof enough, Rurik’s image is stamped upon my face. You know this to be true, Majesty. Also, do not forget the parchment from Dyrrachium, or the armband of Askel the Red. Five of your Dragons are dead, while I have already endured one attack, mistaken for the sixth Dragon, my brother. Helena, like Thengil and Vegeir, lies poisoned in her tomb. The ‘scorpion’ is real, as is the ‘spider,’ and they will destroy the throne of the Macedonians provided the chance.”

His words brought reactions from those gathered, but he could not read their looks all at once.

“And is the maid, Ailinn, rightfully this man’s slave?” asked the Domesticus.

Hakon
cut off Lyting’s response, utilizing his own limited knowledge of Greek. “ ‘Twas I who first seized her on raid.”

A half-truth, Lyting knew.

“And where did this raid occur?” Zoë asked calmly, her eyes lifting to Ailinn’s dark red hair.

When Hakon and the minister remained silent, she pulled her gaze to them.

“Where?” she demanded.

“
Ireland, Majesty,” Hakon replied.

The minister suddenly looked pinched and withdrew a pace.

A storm gathered about the empress, fire kindling to life in the depths of her coal black eyes. Zoë fixed her gaze on Hakon, searing him with her look.

“
Ireland is a
Christian
land,” she said tightly.

“
Já
. . .” Hakon replied, his words light and dispassionate, but his confidence visibly waned.

Anger sharpened in
Zoë eyes.

“
‘Tis illegal to transport Christian slaves through Christian lands. As a trader, you know this well. ‘Tis why the Rus bring us Slavs. Yet, you dare come before me and make this bold admittance before the crown itself?” Her indignation resonated throughout the room.

Hakon groped for words while Nikas shot him infuri
ated looks for revealing this information, his embarrassment acute and his anxiety over the girl plain.

Zoë
turned once more to Lyting. “I do not doubt that you are who you say. Your brother, Rurik, ever served us fearlessly, honestly, and nobly. Now I would hear of the journey from the West and its events from your own lips.”

Lyting recognized he must put an end to the matter in its entirety, not only Hakon
’s charges. He had seen others in the court hunger after Ailinn. Their appetites were as great and recognizable as those of his kinsman on the voyage. Since meeting the Imperials and court, he had yet to establish his relationship to Ailinn. He would do so now and place her safely beyond their hope-filled fantasies.

“
Majesty, I did not steal but freed Ailinn from the chains of her bondage — those of the chieftain, Skallagrim, who first enslaved her in Clonmel, then Hakon’s after he attacked me aboard our boat and sought to kill me in the rapids of Leanti. We fought in the waters, and they carried him off into the mists while, by God’s might, I clung to the vessel as Ailinn and I rode the rapids. The members of the convoy searched for Hakon, but none found a trace of him. We thought him to be dead and finally sailed on.”

Lyting took a breath, then forestalled the Drungarius who was about to speak.
“There is more.”

A ripple of warmth purled through Ailinn as Lyting lifted his crystal-blue gaze to her.

“Ailinn and I pledged ourselves to each other on Saint Gregory’s Island before all and espoused ourselves according to the traditions of the Norse. She is my
kona
. My wife. Hakon may verify this for himself by asking any member of the convoy. Ailinn and I are wed.”

As Ariana made the translation, Ailinn
’s mouth dropped open, her eyes rounding. For a moment she feared she would slip right off the throne, so stunned was she.

“
Why did you not mention this when we separated you and Ailinn into different pavilions?” Zoë asked.

Lyting
’s thoughts skipped rapidly. “Majesty, ours was a
Norse
ceremony. Both Ailinn and I embrace the Lord Christ. We have agreed not to consummate our vows until we can repeat them in a Christian ceremony, thus gaining the blessings of the Lord and enjoying a true marriage.”

The light softened in
Zoë’s eyes, and she, too, smiled, greatly pleased by his answer.

Ailinn
’s mouth remained open as Ariana continued to translate. The young emperor, who had been listening attentively, came suddenly to life and grinned widely.

“
We can see you wed! Can’t we, Mother?” His bright blue eyes sparkled with excitement, and he looked from his mother to Lyting and then to Ailinn.

“
I regret I cannot ask you to wait for me, Ailinn. But ‘twould be wrong to take you from Lyting, and I like him very much. He will make a fine husband for you.”

Zoë
looked up at her son in great surprise, but next to her Romanus voiced his support.

“
An excellent idea, Majesty. And having waited so long, they would wish to wed at once. We can afford them a resplendent ceremony in any one of the churches of Constantinople. As you wish, of course, my emperor.”

Ailinn
’s mouth dropped open even further as she looked to Lyting. He, too, appeared speechless at the suggestion.

Hakon and the minister looked utterly astonished and about to object when Constantine made another imperious proclamation.

“Rurik Atlison preserved the throne of my father and, in doing so, mine as well. Now Lyting has returned to preserve it once more.”

Constantine directed his brilliant blue gaze at Lyting.

“We could not fully reward your brother, as my father had wished. But we can reward you, Lyting Atlison. And ‘tis well deserved. Not only do you serve the house of the Macedonians, but you have saved Ailinn from a dark fate.”

Constantine
’s gaze fell harshly upon Hakon. “Guards! Take this man from my presence and expel him from the gates of the city. Take the minister, Nikas, also from my sight.”

The guards began to roughly remove the two men from the throne room. Nikas affected shallow, hasty bows, back-stepping out the door. Venom sliced Hakon
’s features. He darted a poisonous glare at Lyting as the guards forced him from the room.

Like the cat that ever found its way back, Hakon would seek his way, too, Lyting held certain.
‘Twould be foolish to think otherwise, and fatal to underestimate him.

As Constantine pressed on the throne
’s arm and it began to descend, he addressed the Eparch, Sergius. “I would know more of our Minister of Trade. I do not like him. I believe he knew Ailinn was a Christian slave and would not have urged Hakon to free her.”

“
As you wish, Majesty.” Sergius bowed, not meeting the emperor’s eyes, covering his own embarrassment.

“
You might also visit Nikas’s home,” Lyting suggested to the Eparch. “I believe you will find his residence filled with exotic concubines — beautiful slavewomen he accepts as gifts for ministerial favors. Skallagrim intended Ailinn as such a gift. ‘Tis likely why Hakon knew to approach him for aid and why Nikas supported him.”

This brought many a raised brow. Sergius flushed red.

As the throne settled on the marble platform, Constantine rose and aided Ariana down the steps.

Ailinn pressed slowly to her feet, suddenly feeling shivery and self-conscious as Lyting
approached. Their eyes met, and she suddenly found herself short of breath.

“
Ailinn, I will aright this,” he promised softly as he took her hand and drew her down the steps.

She wondered what he wished to aright, still dazed by the shock of Hakon
’s return, the horrid accusations and her fears for Lyting, followed by his startling revelation. She tipped her face up to his.

“
You married me at Saint Gregory’s Island?”

“
Ailinn, I realize it must displease you to find yourself espoused to a Norseman. Bear with these things for now. ‘Twas never my wish to mislead you, only to place you unquestionably under my protection from those who would harm you. Now, ‘twould seem necessary to do so and in like manner once more, to place you beyond the reach of such men as Hakon and Nikas and whomever else.” A smile tugged at the side of his mouth. “Besides, the emperor is intent on seeing us wed, and we cannot easily say him nay.”

His smile faded.
“Have no fear, though. I will not press my `husbandly rights.’ The marriage will be in name only, and once performed, I will request passage home from the emperor.”

Lyting
compressed his lips and looked away. “When I return you to your people, you can initiate an annulment. It should not prevent you from making a good and desirous marriage someday.”

Ailinn started to speak, her emotions knotting. But as she opened her mouth, Xenia moved apart from the other ladies-in-waiting and came to greet them.

Xenia’s eyes pierced Ailinn’s, a dark, indefinable look that she transferred to Lyting as she addressed him in Greek.

“
Congratulations,” she breathed. “You are so like your brother.” Her gaze trailed over his features, then to Ailinn. Her lips curved upward. “The Atlisons ever have an eye for a beautiful woman.”

Ailinn
suppressed a sudden shiver as Xenia withdrew, and wondered if Lyting sensed something unsettling about the woman as well.

Constantine
’s voice drew her back.

“
The emperor is enumerating for the servants the many arrangements required for your wedding,” Ariana said happily as she joined Lyting and Ailinn. “He loves court ceremonials and will see that you have a magnificent wedding.”

Ailinn looked to Constantine. Though the details would be in a child
’s hands, she was certain the wedding would be grander than even those celebrated by the kings of Tara.

Lyting moved off and stood speaking with the empress for several moments, then returned to Ailinn
’s side.

“
Zoë wishes to convene her Council, and I must attend. Ariana and the empress’s ladies-in-waiting appear eager to attend to you, my bride.” He could not help but smile at that thought. “Go with them now. I will come for you later.”

He traced her face with his finger, then tipped her chin, his blue eyes brushing hers, warm and golden brown.

“We shall yet see this through,
elskan mín
.”

Reluctantly Ailinn withdrew from Lyting and crossed the room surrounded
amid great excitement — Constantine, Ariana, and the noble ladies-in-waiting all accompanying her. Lyting watched, a host of concerns swarming through him.

A
“spider” spun in the hall of the Caesars, a “scorpion” poised beneath the throne. Now, Hakon had returned. And if that wasn’t enough, the Byzantines wished to place him squarely in the marital bed with Ailinn. If they did so with as much passion as was done in the wedding customs of Francia, he just might not survive this last ordeal.

As Lyting left with
Zoë and her officials, he wondered what more could possibly befall him this day.

»«

Hours later Lyting emerged from the hastily called meeting with Zoë and her Council.

He smiled grimly.
Matters had become so twisted, so “Byzantine,” as his brother would say. But mayhap they had found a way to bring everything to culmination, at least concerning the conspirators lurking about the throne.

He was not overly happy with their solution, for it placed Ailinn in the midst of possible danger. Yet,
‘twould likely flush the “scorpion” and his “spider” out.

Lyting reviewed the strategy in his mind. The wedding would serve as a trap. If the
“scorpion” and “spider” were truly so near the throne — possibly among those with whom he supped last night — then they already knew his identity. No longer waiting to ensnare Rurik, doubtless they readied to strike at the throne itself — at Zoë and Constantine.

The wedding procession provided that opportunity. The empress and her council wished to ensure they take it, with the Imperial net waiting to
trap them.

On the day of the wedding word would be circulated that
several men had been seized, whom Lyting recognized from the incident in the cemetery. ‘Twould be rumored that they were in the course of being questioned and had begun to supply names of others involved. A little later ‘twould be spread that when the wedding procession commenced at dusk, all those named would be quietly apprehended.

The Council expected
— given the announcement of imminent arrest — that they would force the conspirators’ hands and that those guilty would either flee or attempt an open attack on the procession itself in which the emperor and the Augusta would be in attendance.

Zoë
insisted that Constantine remain behind, safeguarded in the palace. A distant cousin who favored Constantine in appearance would take her son’s place. In full regalia and the shadows of evening, the deception might go unnoticed, and she would strive to center attention upon herself.