Chapter 13

This morning on his way to the warehouse, a group of four men, guards of the King, and a small man stopped him. They asked, politely, that he come with them to see the King. The look that Mamercus got from the little man made his skin crawl; it looked as if he wanted to take electrodes to his body, just for fun.

Not seeing any way out, Mamercus went with them. They took him to a small room in the Palace. The only illumination came from a hanging overhead light with a bright bulb. The light only shone on a table underneath with a man sitting down. His suit stood out in the light, while his face remained in the shadows. Only the small man came in with Mamercus.

"As-Salāmu 'alayka," said Mamercus.

"Wa 'alayka s-salām," replied the sitting man.

"Thank you for coming."

"It is not like I had any choice. How can I help you gentlemen?"

"We are concerned. You ask questions everywhere. We would like to know why."

"Have I broken the law?"

"No, but we live in perilous times. We just want to make that everyone stays safe."

"I am sure by now that I am a merchant? Well, any information that I can get allows me to predict items that would sell very well. Knowing the environment where I am selling means I carry what is popular, or needed."

"I can see that, but what about the questions about the King. Why ask those questions?"

"Asking those questions let me know if he would have a problem with some of the items that I can get. For an example, before the war, my family had a line of Roman cotton, we still have some left.

"But with the war no one in Arabia wants it. By finding out what the King is like with his people and some of his attitudes, I can tell he would deny the cotton coming here. Not just in support of his Islamic brothers, but it would lower the value of his own cotton."

"Thank you. The guards will show you out. It is my hope that we do not meet again. That would be bad for you."

"Of course," said Mamercus standing.

When he the door closed, the sitting man turned to Taonga, "What do you think?"

"He had an answer for everything, but there is still something there. He should be kept an eye on, Sire."

"I agree, see to it," replied King Tichaona, leaning forward into the light.

Except for his white peaked patasus, which an attendant took for him, Ninian stood in his Class B uniform: a red jacket with a standing collar, insignia of both arms, and his black belt around his waist. White gloves hung off his belt, and his dark blue pants, with a red stripe down the outside of his legs, set off the red of his jacket. His highly shined black shoes graced his feet.

It had taken the quartermasters in Jerusalem a week to get it done, as Class B's needed to be tailor made. If he had any medals, they would have gone over his heart, so it was bare. He paced, nervously, in front of two massive doors with Praetorian Guards in front.

"Excuse me, Tess.," said one of the Guardsmen, a Centurion, "one minute."

"Thank you, sir," replied Ninian.

He took his place in front of the doors, right in the middle. Before he knew it, the two Guardsmen nodded to him and started to open the doors. Ninian took a deep breath, coming to attention as the doors opened.

While waiting for his uniform in Jerusalem, he went to the base library and read up on court etiquette. He was not to start walking until the doors fully opened, and the Seneschal started to say his rank and name.

The doors fully opened, and the Seneschal started to announce him. In walked Ninian, into the Aula Regia. Marble shone from every possible place, statues of Gods and Goddesses stood in alcoves in the two story tall room. At the far end of the room sat a raised platform with three chairs.

Ninian remembered reading about them. The biggest chair in the back was for Roma, the Goddess of Rome. The two in the front were for the Imperator and Imperatrix. The Imperatrix sat on her throne and the Imperator stood. Next to the chairs, but still on the platform, stood three young women. He only got a brief glance of them as he came up to a kneeling stool.

As protocol asked, Ninian knelled two steps in front of the stool saying, "Hail Caesar!"

"Rise, Tesserarius," commanded Domitus.

Ninian rose and Domitus came down off the platform. The two of them could almost look eye to eye.