Aries Fire Read Online Free Page B

onto the tile floor.
    “Ssorry,” she said.
    She bent over and picked up the pottery shards, afraid to look at her mistress.
    Seira swiftly pulled the letter out of her sack and tore into it.
    “Leave that, Rina. Tell me how you came by this.”  She wildly scanned the letter for familiar names.
    “I overheard your grandfather speaking in haste, and quite angrily too, with his courier.  I thought nothing of it until I heard him say that it was of utmost importance, the importance of your mistress’ life that is, that this letter be copied in Latin and dispatched immediately. To where, I know not.  This crumpled page fell unnoticed onto the floor.” 
    Marina stopped suddenly, either to catch her breath or to wait for further instruction.
    Seira remained fixed on the words.
    “But who sent this to my grandfather? Or is it his unsent letter?” she uttered then read it aloud.
    “‘To the well-beloved lords, brothers, and fellow-bishops, Cyril, Demetrius, Theodosius, Saturninus, Alan, Paul, Helianus, gathered together at the dedication festival of Lid, Timethaus sends greetings in the Lord…’”
    “I don’t think Grandfather wrote this,” she murmured aloud and continued to read. “I don’t understand it.  It says here that the Origenests are to be shunned along with the Jews, Pelagiasts, Neo-Platonists, and heretics of the like. What does this have to do with me or Theon?”
    “Don’t you follow the teachings of Plato?” asked Marina.
    “Well, yes, but,” Seira was suddenly stunned by this simple woman’s coherence. 
    Perhaps this letter was the reason she was being rushed off to Athens. So far the letter made no direct threat toward Seira or her grandfather.
    “Who are the Origeners?”  Marina asked.
    “Not Origeners, Origenists,” she sighed.  “They’re a religious faction. They believe that Jesus was just a man. They believe that God, not man, is the way to the truth.  But why clump Neo-Platonist and Jews together with the Pelagiasts and Origenists?”  Then she looked at her maid. Seira realized that Marina could not answer that question.
    “Origenists believe that the stars are conscious of their own movements and demons predict the future by them.” Seira began to pace.  “I plan to put that lie to rest. My knowledge of the stars will make me respected by every politician,” she postulated.
    Marina sat quietly and appeared engaged in Seira’s commentary. “The Origenists,” Seira continued, “also believe that magic is not evil and that nothing in heaven or on earth is perfect.  Well, on some points we do agree,” she said as she fanned the letter to her face. “And my mother was murdered for her beliefs.  At least her beliefs were worth dying for.” 
    Seira suddenly felt an enormous pain crush her heart.  She quickly buried her feelings by talking. “I can’t be bothered by religious, political debris.  Yet, my life might very well depend upon the right answer to escape treachery.”
    Her attention turned to the letter again and she read aloud. “’Three persons are accused of grave crimes, one being treason, against the most Holy, Pope Innocent. One of these is the woman—who was wrongly placed on the list of traitors by Isidorus.’” 
    Seira’s look shot to Marina, who sat fixed on the bed blankets.  The maid’s eyes widened, not with understanding of the words, but solely for her reactionary nature.
    “Isidorus?  Could they mean my mother’s husband?  What does he have to do with this?”  She crept to the terrace and glanced below and saw only Lem by the chariot. She almost expected Isidorus to be hiding in the shadows. Seira ran over to Marina and gripped her by the shoulders.  “Could this unknown woman referred to in this letter be my mother?” She composed herself. The implications were beyond comprehension. “Marina, take my bags down and wait with Lem.  I’ll be down in a cobra’s strike.”
    Marina hurried toward the door, stopped,