Six for Gold Read Online Free PDF

Zoe?”
    â€œNooooo…” came the whispered reply.
    Anatolius stepped back in a panic.
    From behind him came a deep, muffled laugh.
    He spun around. His hand went to the blade concealed in his robes. Not that the puny weapon would have been any protection, he immediately realized. The figure filling the doorway held an upraised sword. The intruder had his free hand half buried in a bristling red beard, pressed over his mouth to stifle a laugh.
    It was Thomas, who glanced back over his shoulder, trod into the room, and sat down.
    Anatolius began to speak.
    Thomas shook his head. “Let’s not wake anyone. I’m afraid I’m in desperate trouble, Anatolius.”
    â€œThat explains why you couldn’t keep yourself from laughing out loud just now.”
    Thomas grimaced. “I couldn’t help it. If you’d seen yourself, gaping at that mosaic like it was a demon come to life. Surely you’ve laughed on the bloody field of battle, even though it’s strewn with the limbs of your dead comrades?”
    â€œActually, I haven’t,” Anatolius replied. And neither have you, he thought. He didn’t believe Thomas’ endless battlefield stories any more than he believed it when the Briton claimed to be a knight.
    â€œWhat are you talking about?”
    â€œJohn. Is he terribly angry at me?”
    â€œHe isn’t here.” In a furious undertone, Anatolius related all that had happened in Thomas’ absence. “So John has been exiled,” he concluded, “and Peter and Cornelia followed him. I expect we’ll never see them again.”
    Thomas’ face had gone as white as bone and suddenly his big shoulders shook. He drew in a great, sobbing breath, as if to steady himself before speaking.
    â€œFor one thing, John didn’t kill the senator,” he said. “I was at the Hippodrome and can swear an oath he’s innocent.”
    â€œYou were there?”
    â€œYes. And no, before you ask, I didn’t murder the senator either.”
    â€œI don’t think you’re a murderer, Thomas. A naive fool, yes.”
    â€œI appreciate your confidence. I’ll knock you down for the insult another day.”
    â€œWhat happened, Thomas?”
    â€œI had some business at the Hippodrome. When I got there the senator was already dead, or at least it looked to be the case. I was just bending down to be certain when John appeared out of nowhere and pushed me aside. ‘Go’ he said. ‘Run.’ I took his advice and just as he raced off in the other direction, Felix and his excubitors appeared. ”
    â€œThen what?”
    â€œAs it was getting dark, I continued on to Isis’ establishment and—”
    â€œYou went to work?”
    Thomas shifted on his stool. “I had to, didn’t I? I owe Isis money to repay that loan she gave me. And I’m trying to save as much as I can so that Europa and I can—”
    â€œBut you left John in the Hippodrome with a corpse and excubitors pouring in! How do you think it must have looked?”
    â€œWell, you can hardly go out the door without stumbling over a dead body right now,” Thomas pointed out. “Besides, John is well thought of by Justinian, so I thought he’d have no difficulty persuading the emperor that neither of us had anything to do with it.”
    â€œIf you’d shown your face here after your work was over, you’d have found out a lot sooner that the situation is much graver than you could possibly think. And where have you been all day anyhow?”
    â€œOh, here and there.”
    Anatolius got up and looked out the window. The cobbled square below was deserted. Beyond the barracks at the far edge of the open space, the palace grounds spread out their eclectic collection of administrative buildings, churches, and houses set amid groves, hidden gardens, and ponds. With the coming of night windows here and there glowed like