Beneath her impressive crown, rising tall and heavy on her head and covered with a long, pale-green veil that cascaded over her shoulders, a passive face watched the spectacle, and she paid no attention to two chamberlains who had begun to argue over protocol.
Ulrika deduced from the gestures of the more important of the two stewards—tall and thin and wearing a curious robe that had sleeves and a pleated skirt—that the three newcomers must wait their turn. "Master," Timonides murmured, "if we are forced to wait, it could take days."
But now they were near the emperor, and could see the golden throne he occupied, the dais that lifted him above the crowd, the men surrounding him wearing white tunics and togas edged in purple. Empress Poppaea Sabina, Ulrika noticed, was not present, and she wondered why.
Nero was fretful. "I do not need midgets and dancers!" he snapped. "Can no one understand my plight? Rome must be made beautiful again. Do I pay for such a feat with beads and feathers?
During their walk from the inn, Ulrika had seen the charred ruins left by the great fire. Rubble was being hurriedly cleared by gangs of slaves, and alongside the skeletons of burned-out buildings new edifices were hastily going up, with scaffolding that seemed to Ulrika of dubious strength, supporting stonemasons, brick layers, carpenters, painters. Even the Imperial Palace was undergoing massive renovation, also at a frenetic pace, as if Emperor Nero were racing to stay ahead of a pursuing calamity. The audience chamber in which Ulrika now stood had been transformed—she could not believe that such a grand room could be made even grander. She looked up at the ceiling that, ten years prior, had been a dome of geometric squares, but was now a blazing panorama of the night sky, with a throned Nero at the center of a circle of zodiacal signs. The mosaic of Nero was executed in a rainbow of colors, while the constellations were composed of gold and silver tiles. Ulrika wondered how long it had taken the masterpiece to be rendered, for she could not imagine Nero exhibiting much patience with its progress.
The atmosphere, too, was different from ten years ago. Ulrika felt the tension in the air. There was none of the optimism that a young new emperor had generated. People's eyes shifted about with mistrust and anxiety while Nero sat on a new throne fashioned in solid gold beneath a purple canopy festooned with gold fringe and tassels. He was still handsome, Ulrika thought, with an imposing nose, thick curly hair, and a stylish beard that decorated his neck but left his jaw clean-shaven. He wore robes and a toga of purple silk, with a gold laurel wreath on his head. He was the most powerful man on earth, and he was twenty-six years old.
Sebastianus and his companions watched the two chamberlains argue, until Sebastianus suddenly strode forward, past the guards and the chamberlains, and, stopping squarely before Nero, declared, "Greetings, noble Caesar, from Sebastianus Gallus!"
"Wait!" cried the mortified chamberlains, and members of Caesar's elite Praetorian Guard jumped forward.
"Gallus!" Nero held up a hand to stay the others, and studied the impudent visitor through his notorious emerald monocle. "Sebastianus Gallus is a traitor to the people of Rome. Why is this man not in chains?"
The fat chamberlain with the raspberry mark vanished, while those nearby fell silent. The Chief Vestal slowly swiveled her head, as if her massive crown were the weight of Rome itself, and she watched with half-closed eyes as Sebastianus said in a commanding voice, "I have come of my own volition, great Caesar, and I stand before you not only as a friend but as your personally chosen ambassador to the faraway land of China. My mission was a success, Caesar, and I return with a gift."
Nero signaled for the Praetorians to hold their position. "What is this gift, Sebastianus Gallus?"
"My gift is this: Personal greetings to Most Honored Caesar from His Celestial Magnificence, the Emperor of China."
Nero stared at him. "That is it? That is all you bring me? A greeting?"
"Emperor Ming of Han invites Caesar to send Rome's gods to China. Shrines will be set up to house them. This would include your own divine self, Caesar, to be worshipped by many Chinese."
Nero grunted. "They are a backward people. I want nothing to do with China."
"I thought Caesar would be pleased that he would be worshipped by another race."
"You thought wrong, Gallus. I repeat: What else have you brought me?"
"You have been through the goods in my caravan, Caesar. You have seen and heard all that I brought back from China."
"What of precious gems?" Nero said, bringing the emerald monocle to his eye.
"Jade—"
"Worthless!" Nero leaned forward, placing an elbow on the arm of his golden throne. "Sebastianus Gallus, we have been told that you tarried in Babylon for no known reason while you kept your emperor waiting. Your emperor, who was in need. How do you account for yourself, and why should we not consider this a treasonous act?"
"My master is innocent, great Caesar!"
Attention shifted to Gallus's white-bearded companion. "Who are you?" barked the emperor.
"I am Timonides, my master's astrologer. For personal and greedy reasons I falsified my master's horoscopes, leading him in the wrong direction, forcing him to divert his path from Rome. Sebastianus Gallus is not guilty of treason, only of trusting an old servant."
"What of Judea, old man? Did you tell your master to go there?"
When Timonides faltered, having not expected the question, Sebastianus spoke up: "I went on my own, great Caesar, on a personal errand."
"It is well known that I am not honored in Judea, and that Rome is despised there. Why, I wonder, would someone loyal to his emperor visit a place that was disloyal to that same emperor? Unless of course it was to rescue treasure for your emperor, in which case it would not be an act of treason."
"There was no treasure, Caesar. I went to Judea in aid of a friend."
"I think you are lying. Everyone knows that the temple in Jerusalem was filled with gold and gemstones, and that the Jews took it all to safety when the Babylonians invaded. You found it and you have hidden it somewhere."
"There was no treasure, Caesar."
The chief chamberlain stepped up to the dais and murmured something to one of Nero's aides, who in turn whispered in the emperor's ear. Nero nodded, and a moment later a side door opened. To Ulrika's shock, Primo and Rachel were brought in, ropes binding their wrists. Behind them, a soldier carried the small cedar chest that had once held Rachel's garments.
Nero said to Sebastianus, "My agents sighted you at Brundisium and followed you to Rome. Did you really think you could sneak back without your emperor knowing, or that you could hide your partners in treason?"
"They are merely friends, Caesar," Sebastianus said. "There are no traitors here."
Nero pointed to the cedar chest. "And what is in that?"
"The box contains the bones of a man who wishes to be buried with his kin."
Nero ordered it opened while everyone watched in eager anticipation. The legendary Jewish treasure was said to be so great that even slaves' chains were wrought of gold.
As the Praetorian lifted the lid, Nero rose to his feet, his eyes fixed greedily on the chest. "What is it?" he said sharply. "What do you see?"