"Surely," Gaius responded with an easy air, "any direct attack upon the person of the Emperor would only draw the full power of the thing upon us. But, I say in all deference to your familial love, there is no way the curse can be broken without the Emperor- he who is the very keystone of this thing! — being removed from that position. An arched bridge can carry an enormous burden- a hundred wagons or more- when fully intact. But remove the one stone at its heart? Then it is torn apart by its own weight!"

Maxian was silent for a moment, his eyes locked with the older man's.

Finally, Gaius looked away and raised his hands in surrender. "So be it, my Lord Prince. We will undertake whatever plan you have devised to circumvent this problem. Please, enlighten us!"

"Wait," Krista said quietly, drawing all eyes to her. She had sat through countless sessions among these men, but rarely spoke herself. That she did so now gained her their undivided attention. A knot of tension began to grow in her stomach. "I have a question."

"What is it?" Maxian seemed relieved that the nascent argument had been interrupted. But there was irritation and wariness in his expression, too.

Krista suppressed a raised eyebrow at the look on his face. So the pretty girl might have a mind and you're surprised? Even disappointed?

"If, my lord, there is an: an image of how the Empire is supposed to be, something like the time of the Principate, then why are there two Empires today?" She smiled slyly sideways at Gaius Julius. "Surely the Divine Augustus would have been displeased with such a division:"

Gaius ignored her barb and stared up at the ceiling. Beyond him, however, Alexandros chuckled in delight to see the discomfiture evident in the set of the old Roman's shoulders. Maxian turned a little to Abdmachus and indicated the old Persian with one hand. "I had the same thought when first Abdmachus and I discussed this. Abd'?"

The Persian roused himself, his head rotating slowly first to look to the Prince and then back again to view the others. Krista crushed an instinct to flinch away from the cold, dead eyes and expressionless face and remained seated, smiling pleasantly at the old man.

"The Empire has sustained terrible shocks over the past four hundred years. Barbarian invasions have threatened to overwhelm the frontiers. Intrigue and jealousy have threatened to tear it apart from within. The economy was driven into collapse by unwise fiscal policies and its own failure to evolve." The Persian's voice was toneless and even as a measuring bob.

"Yet through all this, through plague and war, the Empire has been sustained by the power of the Oath. Legions that might have mutinied over back pay soldiered on. Men who aspired to murder capable emperors died themselves. The army, even overmatched by a hundred times, fought on grimly. Men who could have taken their honesta misso after six years of service stayed in the Legions for ten or twenty years. Their sons and grandsons willingly followed them into that same service."

At that, Gaius Julius and Alexandros both perked up, though Krista did not know why.

"There is strength in a wholeness- the Oath proves this as no other test or example could. Why then two Empires, side by side?" Abdmachus' flat eyes slid from face to face, his old, lined face immobile save for the movement of his lips.

"There are two Empires because the Divine Diocletian had no choice but to take firm action while he was master of the world. In the year 1037 ab urbe condita the man once named Diocles made himself ruler of an empire threatened on all sides by turmoil and invasion. He was a wise man, he who named himself Diocletian upon his assumption of the Purple. He knew that a single man could no longer rule the whole vast sweep of the Empire. All men know this, that the wise Diocletian divided the Empire into East and West."

The old Persian stopped, seemingly lost in thought. Maxian, after waiting a moment, spoke: "But remember, my friends, that Diocletian was Emperor of the whole of the Empire. He appointed a junior Caesar and Augustus to rule by his side and entrusted the loyal Maximian with the eastern half of the Empire. The core of the Empire, upon which the Oath lies most heavy, remained under Diocletian's direct control. So was the Oath satisfied- it is not a wise thing, this curse- and as long as Rome remains and the Empire remains, it can countenance in its blind way the passage of provinces into and out of the Empire. And then, with the loyal Maximian ruling the East, the division of the Empire was in name only."

"Then what happened?" Gaius Julius was at last paying full attention. "It is clear there are two entirely separate Empires now, each naming itself Rome."

"The mighty rebel Constantine happened," Maxian said in a wry voice. "After the death of Diocletian the Empire remained divided for administrative purposes. Two separate Augustii could more effectively govern the vast state that had arisen and deal with the constant troubles that assailed it. For a time, this worked well, but in the East, where the General Constantius had succeeded loyal Maximian, trouble was brewing. While the West remained under the firm hand of Galerius, the adopted son of Diocletian, in the Asian provinces the son of Constantius was plotting to outdo his father." The Prince paused and drank from a brass wine cup set on the table.

"The elder Constantius lived only a year as Augustus. His son- a man of enormous energy, conviction, and military ability- was acclaimed as Emperor in the East by the Legions in Thrace and Macedonia. Galerius, the Western Emperor, protested this appointment, but Constantine was already moving against him."

"There was war," Abdmachus said, suddenly speaking. "Roman strove openly against Roman for the first time in four hundred years. How could this be? Because the Eastern Empire had already passed from under the aegis of the Oath. Though to a thing with mind and forethought the loss of half of the Empire- the richer and more populous half by far! — would seem a thing of dreadful aspect, to the Oath it knew only that Rome still maintained and that the Emperor on the throne still upheld the acts and usages of his father."

"Galerius sent his armies against Constantine," Maxian continued, " and attempted to overthrow the usurper, but the Eastern Legions threw back the West, soundly defeating them in a great battle at Thessalonika. The next year Galerius died of a terrible wasting disease. To my mind, looking back over the centuries, I think the curse removed him from the field of play. It may have been that Galerius was considering peace with the Eastern rebels. The evercrafty Constantine offered peace and proclaimed himself 'senior' Augustus. In Rome, Galerius' old friend and subordinate Licinus was proclaimed Emperor, but he was of no mood to be subordinate to a younger man.

"The war continued, but it was Constantine who felt the sting of defeat next. Despite outnumbering Licinus' army by three to one, his invasion of Italy was a disaster, and his fleet was scattered by a great storm off Tarentum. Thereafter there was an uneasy peace: other troubles and threats rose up to command the attention of the Emperors, and in time the two Empires came to live side by side."

"But," Alexandros said with a lilt in his voice, "the Eastern Empire was no longer under the sway of the Oath. True?"

"In part," Maxian replied, "vestiges of it remain- they still call themselves Romans and try to maintain the ancient traditions and honors. But you can see the change that centuries have wrought- their language is Greek now, and they no longer rule themselves as Rome did."

"But," Alexandros said again, his eyes bright, "they have placed themselves beyond the Oath by this?"

"Yes," Maxian said wearily, missing the look that passed between Gaius and Alexandros. "But the West is still its slave."