Death in Byzantium - Box Set by M.E. Mayer

Author:M.E. Mayer [Mayer, M.E.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781781859063
Publisher: Head of Zeus Ltd.

2

Greetings, dear Aunt Matasuntha.

I have amazing news for you! Not only has the whale kept his promise but he did it so well that even the empress has been deceived! Now she’s in a foul mood although I gather that some of her dark humor is because her favorite mime is missing. Bertrada (my nursemaid, you’ll recall) says the mime did something really terrible but wouldn’t say what and when I get near to people they stop talking so I don’t know what she means, but I shall find out and tell you when I do.

Theodora has been here three days now. We’ve had lots and lots of entertainments to honor Gadaric and myself but with all the bustle everyone has been cross and hardly had time to talk to us at all. Even Zeno’s cook got bad-tempered and wouldn’t let us stay in the kitchen. Usually he doesn’t mind if we watch him at work. We like to visit because he gives us fruit or sweet dates or something nice like that and tells us wild tales about when he was young. Perhaps it was because the kitchen has been very crowded with all the boxes and baskets of food for the banquet.

I took a peek in some of the baskets as the porters brought them in and before the cook chased us out. One had a lovely pair of plump ducks in it. Their feathers were so pretty I felt sorry they would be eaten. The birds, I mean, not the feathers. There were two or three baskets full of nuts but Gadaric reminded me we’re not allowed to eat them and I didn’t want to get sick so I took some peaches instead. They were very nice and juicy. Most of the food for the banquet was different sorts of fishy stuff. Then the cook saw us poking about and said we had to leave. But I suppose cooking for the empress must be very hard. What if she doesn’t like your sauce or says the wine is vinegary and orders your head chopped off?

Anyhow, after that we went for a walk in the garden with Bertrada. The gardeners were all rushing about trimming bushes and bringing in flowers and greenery to decorate the villa. It was so frantic it made my head ache. But even in the garden we kept getting in the way, so we went and found Poppaea and went down to the seashore. I was hoping we’d see Porphyrio but we didn’t.

Zeno told us that a whale has been spied now and then for many years and that he’s called Porphyrio because he’s the same purple gray as the marble. I wouldn’t name a whale after a piece of rock, would you? We’ve seen Porphyrio a few times and he’s more gray than purple, it reminds me of the color of a storm cloud. Zeno says Porphyrio has been attacking ships for years and years. The sailors don’t like him, it seems, which goes to show how foolish some people are.

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