Read Those Above: The Empty Throne Book 1 for Free Online Page B

he was as lacking in physical courage as he was moral. He dressed well, and was a deft if unspectacular hand at cards. Eudokia didn’t rank either of these qualities as relevant to being a leader of men, but then Eudokia was not a man.
    All things considered, what had brought Gratian to the forefront of the Senate was that he spoke in a pleasing baritone and said what she told him to say. One would think, given the commonplace nature of these traits, Gratian would do everything possible not to cause her any undue difficulty. But in fact barely a week passed without him begging a concession or favour, assistance in erasing some self-created misfortune.
    ‘Senator,’ Eudokia said, presenting her cheek. ‘How goes things among the great and good?’
    ‘I’m not sure that the Senate is either of those things, Revered Mother,’ he said ruefully, after planting a kiss a paper’s breadth from her skin. ‘But in a state of something close to chaos, regardless.’
    Eudokia gestured to the opposite chair, ‘You say that every time I see you.’
    ‘And I’m right every time. The west seethes with rebellion – the March lords will chase us back to the Pau River, for all the vaunted skill of the Caracal. The Salucians continue their programme of economic warfare, and every day we accept it we show ourselves unworthy of the duties of our fathers. And of course the Anamnesis draws close, with all its attendant concerns.’
    ‘The Commonwealth can be grateful for your leadership in these times of woe.’
    Gratian shook his fat face back and forth, rotund cheeks quivering for a half-second before falling still. ‘This is my last term as a senator, I swear it by the Self-Formed. This time next year I’ll be on my estate, free of the nattering of fools and ingrates.’
    It would be a neat trick to escape himself, though Eudokia doubted the senator would attempt it. He aired the possibility of retirement with all the frequency of a refrain in a drinking song, but Gratian couldn’t last half a month away from the fleshpots and eating houses of the capital. ‘Then we can only be grateful for the time you’re willing to spare us.’
    Gratian took that as his due, barely seemed even to hear it, so caught up was he with the problem he was about to lay at Eudokia’s feet. ‘Though in truth, it’s not politics that has brought me here today, but something more personal.’
    That he imagined there was a distinction between these two realms was one of the many things that made Gratian a fool. ‘Do continue.’
    ‘You’ve heard, I imagine, that I have grown very … close to Helena Comatus, daughter of Zeno who was once Strategos?’
    ‘If one paid attention to rumour, one would hardly have time to attend to anything else.’
    ‘In this case the gossips have the truth of it.’
    ‘She’s a fine woman. I can only hope she brings you the joy you deserve.’ In fact Helena was one of the single dullest people Eudokia had ever had the misfortune to be seated next to at a garden party, lacking in any virtue except for the cosmetic.
    ‘An angel, I assure you. The most exquisite creature. To find, in these days, such a storied innocence, such taste, such refinement—’
    This needed to be ended, or it would continue till sundown. ‘And what might I do for this half-divine?’
    ‘For her, nothing. For her cousin, however …’
    ‘Cousin?’
    ‘Justinian. She’s terribly fond of him, you see. A fine young lad, though he’s had some trouble finding his way in the world.’
    Justinian Comatus had trouble finding his way in the world because he was virtually an imbecile – indeed a difficult burden to labour beneath. Rumour also suggested that he and Helena shared bonds more than cousinly, and though as a rule Eudokia did not believe any gossip so piquant, somehow this one smacked of truth. ‘And what might I do for the young gentleman?’
    ‘The elections for Consul are coming up next month, and Justinian is on the