Theodora by Stella Duffy Page B

Sophia emphasised, not his wife – to join him in his new job, just confirmed. Hecebolus was to be Governor of the Pentapolis, the Five Cities at the tip of Africa, the point where the Empire gave way to desert and an unknown world. They would travel to serve the Emperor. It would be a relief to go with him and leave Anastasia’s death and Comito’s increasingly cold ambition and her mother’s unbearable sadness and the constant barb that was her non-existent relationship with her own daughter, to get away from all those people who, in the street, in the theatre, in the market, knew too much about her. Hecebolus’ offer – made in the heady throes of lust, and then repeated, soberly, more than once – to make her his mistress,the concubine of the new Governor, was her perfect escape route. They would be based in Apollonia, the chief of the Five Cities, he would take up his new job, together they would experience a new life. In some ways, in many ways, Hecebolus was offering a far more prestigious position than the one she now occupied as Hippodrome star, albeit a position with no safety net, as Comito pointed out and Sophia repeated, shaking her head. But Theodora was not listening. Even without her grief she had been restless: with it, she was positively hungry to get away.
    It was all change at the Imperial Palace – with the new Emperor Justin and his nephew Justinian advising him, the Blues were once again in the ascendant and, from the opposing side of the religious divide to his predecessor, Justin was clamping down hard on those who opposed the rulings of the Council of Chalcedon. He had already deposed Severus, the Patriarch of Antioch, and now he needed a good man out in Africa where the Copts and the anti-Chalcedonians and any number of growing sects were increasingly at odds with the Church of Rome and Constantinople. This would be a great opportunity for Hecebolus to show his skills in diplomacy, both with the religious rebels and with those he would now rule – and, more importantly, tax – on behalf of the August. It was late spring, fishermen said the seas were generous just now, sailors looked at the stars and commented on their favourable position: if ever there was a time to move on, this was it. A sea-path in soft weather would give them time to get to know each other better as they began a new life together.
    Hecebolus had been kind in his compassion for Theodora’s loss. He really seemed to mean it when he asked her to join him, to be his lady both on the voyage south and when he took up his posting as Governor. She could not be his wife, ofcourse, the world had not changed so much that all the old proprieties could be ignored, and on the outskirts of the Empire even less so. Through an alliance with Hecebolus though, Theodora had another chance to gain fortune. The Governor-to-be was full of talk about what could be done with tax revenue and crop gains, some to pass on, some to siphon off and invest – especially as part of a new regime and, even for an ex-actress, a rise in fortune would mean some rise in status.
    Theodora had gone as far as she could as the people’s darling. She was eighteen, the mother of one living child; if she was lucky her physical skills would last another ten years at most, not more – not at the rate she’d been working. Her audience was no more fickle than any other, and no less. She understood that money and position, in that order, were what she needed in the next stage of her life and with this posting Hecebolus had the means to offer both. Theodora had always been drawn to doing anything she’d been warned against. Hecebolus’ offer was, in many ways, a challenge, a dare. She packed her bags.
    In the theatre there were drunken protestations of friendship forever from her colleagues and five encores from the crowd, disbelieving but finally persuaded – by Theodora throwing her actor’s cloak into the crowd – that this was indeed her last show. And then