"David Drake - Belisarius 3 - Destiny's Shield" - читать интересную книгу автора (Drake David)

Rome! It's undignified."
The Emperor sighed, but obeyed.
It's not fair. I never asked them to make me Emperor.


Chapter 1
CONSTANTINOPLE
Spring, 531 A.D.
As soon as Antonina put Photius to bed, she hastened to the imperial audience
chamber. By the time she arrived, the Persian ambassador was reaching the
conclusion of what had apparently been a lengthy speech.
Taking her seat next to Belisarius, Antonina scanned the room quickly. Except
for the guards standing against the walls, the huge chamber was almost empty.
The usual mob of advisers who sat in on Theodora's audiences was absent. The
only Romans present to hear the Persian ambassador were Theodora, Justinian,
and Belisarius.
Baresmanas himself was the only Persian present. Antonina knew that the
extremely limited participation had been at the request of the Persians. That
fact alone made clear the seriousness with which they took this meeting. She
focussed her attention on the ambassador's final remarks.
"And so," said Baresmanas sternly, "I must caution you once again. Do not
think that Roman meddling in the current internal situation in Persia will go
unchallenged. Your spies may have told you that our realm verges on civil war.
I, for one, do not believe that is true. But even if it is -- all Aryans will
unite against Roman intrusion. Do not doubt that for a moment."
The ambassador's stern expression relaxed, replaced by a semi-apologetic smile
which was, under the circumstances, quite warm. Antonina was struck by
Baresmanas' change in demeanor. She suspected that the friendly face which now
confronted the Roman Empress and her top advisers was much closer to the man
himself than the stiff mask which had delivered the previous words.
"Of course, it is quite possible that all of my teeth-baring is unnecessary. I
do not mean to be rude. Rome is known for its wisdom as well as its martial
prowess, after all. It is quite possible -- likely, I should say -- that the
thought of intervening in Persia has never once crossed your mind."
Antonina was impressed. Baresmanas had managed to deliver the last sentence
with a straight face. The statement, of course, was preposterous. For the last
five hundred years, no Roman emperor had spent more than three consecutive
days without at least thinking about attacking Persia. The reverse, needless
to say, was equally true.
She leaned over and whispered into Belisarius' ear:
"What's this about?"
His reply also came in a whisper:
"The usual, whenever the Persians have to find a new emperor. Khusrau's been
the leading candidate ever since Kavad died -- he's been officially
proclaimed, actually -- but his half-brother Ormazd is apparently not
reconciled to the situation. Baresmanas was sent here by Khusrau to warn us
not to muck around in the mess."
Antonina made a little grimace.
"As if we would," she muttered.
Belisarius smiled crookedly. "Now, love, let's not be quite so self-righteous.