Betrothed to the Barbarian

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Thetis fluttered about, swiftly slipping amethyst rings on to her fingers, pushing a heavy enamelled bracelet on to her wrist, finding earrings to match the rings. ‘The Chamberlain Lord Basil will be there, my lady,’ Thetis said. ‘And there will be other generals besides Duke Nikolaos, I am sure.’

‘No doubt.’ Theodora looked down as Sophia lifted her feet, one after the other, to push on her silk slippers. ‘In her letter, the Empress says she is sending a couple of her ladies to wish me well.’

‘That is kind of her,’ Sophia said.

Theodora took a violet and gold fringed shawl and draped it about her shoulders. Her stomach was churning. ‘Please attend me, both of you.’

Heart pounding, head high, she led them through the double doors. Pearls swung from her diadem; amethyst earrings gently tapped the side of her neck.

Ladies had emerged from all corners of the women’s quarters to see her, the marble hallway was lined with them. Indeed, half the population of the Palace seemed to be crushed into the stairwell. Theodora had known what to expect, but she had led a quieter life in Rascia and it was something of a burden to feel the pressure of so many eyes. It had been the same this morning when she had paraded about the City. It had been exhausting. With a flash of insight it came to her that the real reason for her exhaustion was not that she had stepped back into her life as an Imperial princess, it was that she was hiding so many secrets. Secrets are exhausting and I have too many of them.

‘Congratulations, my lady.’