Felix shook his head. “You amaze me, John. I can’t see how it’s possible.”
“Sebastian couldn’t see either. When I arrived at the church, he ran his fingers over the seal on my orders instead of actually reading them. He told me of a young man who had arrived earlier with orders the prisoners were to be taken to the palace. He too had an imperial seal.”
John paused to collect his thoughts. “Now what if this young man was Julianna? Let us suppose it was. Then it seems likely the alleged order she brought with her was in fact a piece of parchment carrying one of Anastasius’ seals. Being relatives of his, the family doubtless have seals on a number of such documents, one of which would seem genuine enough.”
Felix looked dubious. “That’s a big leap, John.”
“Not when you consider I myself saw Hippolytus possessed one of Anastasius’ seals when he died. Julianna is the only person who could have given it to him. He was in a dangerous predicament. Perhaps she thought it might be of use.”
“Even so, I can’t see how you connect Julianna with this mysterious young man,” Felix replied.
“Hypatius told me he suspected that she left the house in secret to visit Hippolytus or to see the races at the Hippodrome.” John stepped into the garden and gestured toward the opposite side. “I caught her coming in across the roof over there. Probably she had been out searching for Hippolytus. Porphyrius mentioned Hippolytus showing one of the faction’s horses to a callow-faced fellow, whom Hippolytus claimed was his younger brother. Yet despite an invitation from the great Porphyrius to meet him and his evident interest in racing, the boy did not reappear. Then one of the other charioteers remarked women were known to see the races disguised in male clothing, and some would visit the Hippodrome’s substructure to see charioteers they admired.”
“So you think Julianna was both the alleged younger brother and the young man with the seal? I suppose it’s possible.” Felix frowned. “But it’s a distinct possibility Sebastian will be in complete darkness now after the torturers’ needles have done their work, and that’s assuming he’s still breathing.”
“Sebastian’s been released.”
“Released?”
“The emperor told me he was demonstrating Christian mercy. Besides, he reasoned that it was Prefect Eudaemon who was at fault for giving a practically blind commander such an important task. What’s more startling is that Sebastian’s got his eyesight back. According to that loose-tongued physician Rusticus, the old commander suffered from cataracts. Purely by accident Justinian’s torturers treated them to the traditional cure when they inserted needles into his eyes.”
“Remarkable! That will give Rusticus another story with which to entertain his patients. But when I said I was puzzled I wasn’t thinking about the seal, but about Julianna’s involvement. The escape took place not long after the hanging. How could she possibly have known she would find Hippolytus at Saint Laurentius?”
“After Rusticus examined Haik he told me he’d called on her uncle Pompeius immediately after serving in his official capacity at the executions. He mentioned Julianna was at the house, tending her uncle. Naturally Rusticus regaled them with an account of the executions. He had recognized Hippolytus as one of two men who were saved, having treated him as a patient not long before, meaning Julianna realized he was still alive.”
“She had a quick intelligence. When she got to Hippolytus only to discover he’d killed his fellow prisoner, it must have been a shock.”
John nodded. “And the two guards posted at the door to keep the prisoners safe were even more shocked, I’ll wager. It wouldn’t have taken a very large bribe to convince them to carry off the evidence of their utter failure and flee the city to find work elsewhere. I am sure Julianna came prepared to offer bribes if necessary.”
“Plenty of people decide to find work elsewhere whenever riots threaten to break out,” Felix observed.
“When panic broke out in the church, it wasn’t hard for them to get out without being seen,” John continued. “There was doubtless more than one exit from the vault. The blind beggar who heard something being carted past was perfectly willing to have heard as many men go by as I wished, and when I dragged the Blue with the marks of strangulation and rope tied round his wrist out of the cistern I leapt to the conclusion that whoever had killed one of the prisoners had killed both.”
“You were thinking in terms of them being disposed of by those involved in a plot so Justinian could not produce them.”
“Yes. But it’s no excuse. I erred badly.”
“Then after Julianna had to return home Hippolytus was free in the city although I don’t suppose he fully understood what was happening. Yet he did retain enough cunning to kill Haik. Obviously he could get onto the palace grounds, since he confronted Justinian. But as to remembering the significance of the document…and surely that is why Haik was murdered?”
“I don’t doubt it.”
Felix scowled in perplexity. The two men had walked out into the garden. John stopped beside the stone horse Julianna had found half hidden by brambles. On the day he had first seen the horse a cold breeze was rattling dead leaves. Today thin, bright sunlight illuminated the small statue, making the lichens partly covering it look more gray than blue. Then Julianna had been alive. Today she was dead.
“Most people would kill to be emperor,” John said. “Some might kill to avoid the throne. Hypatius was not ambitious.” He ran a hand lightly across the back of the horse. “Julianna told me her father didn’t want to be emperor. She was afraid the mob would crown him and both she and her father realized what the outcome was likely to be, even if Hippolytus did not.”
Felix pointed out that except for Fortuna intervening Hippolytus would have died before the population took to the streets.
“The Hippolytus Julianna knew did die before that happened. She was right, though, in thinking she could have saved him, had he not been so badly hurt by the failed hanging,” John replied. “Justinian had ordered the execution of several troublesome faction members as an example. He can be surprisingly forgiving, if Theodora does not interfere. If he had found out one of the condemned was, say, to marry into an aristocratic family-for Julianna surely hoped it would be so, despite her father’s opposition to her friendship with Hippolytus-a family which had remained loyal during the riots, he almost certainly would have pardoned the man.”
“That’s true, John. I strongly suspect Theodora must have persuaded Justinian to have Hypatius and Pompeius executed immediately, before he had a chance to change his mind.”
John was silent for a time, looking reflectively at Julianna’s horse. Should he remove it to his new house? No, perhaps not. It would remind him of Julianna, and she had reminded him of someone else.
“We mourn people and places time has stolen from us,” he said. “But sometimes it is better that past things remain lost. I wish I had never seen my old friend Haik again, for it was that cursed document that caused all the trouble, as I’ve said. It isn’t surprising that Julianna knew about the document. She was meeting Hippolytus all the time. He would surely have told her about overhearing Haik and Porphyrius. Or maybe he told her when she arrived at the church.
“He was deranged but not to the point of having lost all his senses. And when she heard about it, Julianna certainly would have known how dangerous the document was. It would have fueled the mob’s anger. And whether by enticing Porphyrius or some other prominent person to enter the fray or simply by providing another rallying point for the rioters, it increased the likelihood that her father would not be able to retain any appearance of loyalty, but would instead be dragged to his doom. Or even go to it willingly. What if Haik, who was staying in the same house, had decided to forget about Porphyrius and present the adoption document directly to Hypatius?”