He spoke hurriedly:
"Think, Ajatasutra. Where did Antonina get the grenades? She didn't steal them from us. She had them made. That means she's been planning this for months. It means everything that fool Procopius told that fool Balban was duplicity. Not his—the gossiping idiot!—but hers. Antonina hasn't been holding orgies on her estate—she's been training an army and equipping them with gunpowder weapons."
Ajatasutra's frown deepened. "But she couldn't have the knowledge—"
He got no further. Theodora's cawing laugh cut him short. The assassin, seeing the triumph in her face, suddenly knew that Narses was right.
He lowered the dagger. Lowered it, but did not sheathe the weapon. "There's still a chance," he said. "From what I saw, she doesn't have much of an army. Balban still has the kshatriya, and the mob."
Narses shook his head.
"No chance at all, Ajatasutra. Not with Belisarius here."
The eunuch shook his head again. The gesture had a grim finality to it.
"No chance," he repeated. "Not with Belisarius here. He's already shattered the Army of Bithynia. Even if Balban manages to defeat Antonina in the Hippodrome, he'll still have to face Belisarius. With what? A few hundred kshatriya? Faction thugs?"
Narses gestured scornfully at the bodies of John's bucellarii. "Or do you think these lap dogs are capable of facing Belisarius—and his cataphracts?"
Ajatasutra stared at the three corpses. Not for long, however.
"Think, Ajatasutra. Where did Antonina get the grenades? She didn't steal them from us. She had them made. That means she's been planning this for months. It means everything that fool Procopius told that fool Balban was duplicity. Not his—the gossiping idiot!—but hers. Antonina hasn't been holding orgies on her estate—she's been training an army and equipping them with gunpowder weapons."
Ajatasutra's frown deepened. "But she couldn't have the knowledge—"
He got no further. Theodora's cawing laugh cut him short. The assassin, seeing the triumph in her face, suddenly knew that Narses was right.
He lowered the dagger. Lowered it, but did not sheathe the weapon. "There's still a chance," he said. "From what I saw, she doesn't have much of an army. Balban still has the kshatriya, and the mob."
Narses shook his head.
"No chance at all, Ajatasutra. Not with Belisarius here."
The eunuch shook his head again. The gesture had a grim finality to it.
"No chance," he repeated. "Not with Belisarius here. He's already shattered the Army of Bithynia. Even if Balban manages to defeat Antonina in the Hippodrome, he'll still have to face Belisarius. With what? A few hundred kshatriya? Faction thugs?"
Narses gestured scornfully at the bodies of John's bucellarii. "Or do you think these lap dogs are capable of facing Belisarius—and his cataphracts?"
Ajatasutra stared at the three corpses. Not for long, however.