Greetings, dear Aunt Matasuntha.
I have amazing news for you! Not only has the whale kept his promise but he did it so well that even the empress has been deceived! Now she’s in a foul mood although I gather that some of her dark humor is because her favorite mime is missing. Bertrada (my nursemaid, you’ll recall) says the mime did something really terrible but wouldn’t say what and when I get near to people they stop talking so I don’t know what she means, but I shall find out and tell you when I do.
Theodora has been here three days now. We’ve had lots and lots of entertainments to honor Gadaric and myself but with all the bustle everyone has been cross and hardly had time to talk to us at all. Even Zeno’s cook got bad-tempered and wouldn’t let us stay in the kitchen. Usually he doesn’t mind if we watch him at work. We like to visit because he gives us fruit or sweet dates or something nice like that and tells us wild tales about when he was young. Perhaps it was because the kitchen has been very crowded with all the boxes and baskets of food for the banquet.
I took a peek in some of the baskets as the porters brought them in and before the cook chased us out. One had a lovely pair of plump ducks in it. Their feathers were so pretty I felt sorry they would be eaten. The birds, I mean, not the feathers. There were two or three baskets full of nuts but Gadaric reminded me we’re not allowed to eat them and I didn’t want to get sick so I took some peaches instead. They were very nice and juicy. Most of the food for the banquet was different sorts of fishy stuff. Then the cook saw us poking about and said we had to leave. But I suppose cooking for the empress must be very hard. What if she doesn’t like your sauce or says the wine is vinegary and orders your head chopped off?
Anyhow, after that we went for a walk in the garden with Bertrada. The gardeners were all rushing about trimming bushes and bringing in flowers and greenery to decorate the villa. It was so frantic it made my head ache. But even in the garden we kept getting in the way, so we went and found Poppaea and went down to the seashore. I was hoping we’d see Porphyrio but we didn’t.
Zeno told us that a whale has been spied now and then for many years and that he’s called Porphyrio because he’s the same purple gray as the marble. I wouldn’t name a whale after a piece of rock, would you? We’ve seen Porphyrio a few times and he’s more gray than purple, it reminds me of the color of a storm cloud. Zeno says Porphyrio has been attacking ships for years and years. The sailors don’t like him, it seems, which goes to show how foolish some people are. But Zeno is very kind even if he is often mistaken, although I suppose he would have to be kind since it was Theodora herself who said we all had to spend the summer with him by the sea. She’s been to visit more than once and right now two of her ladies-in-waiting are helping Bertrada, if you can imagine that. They are very great ladies themselves although not royalty. I told Poppaea that some day I will make her my lady-in-waiting, just as her mother serves Theodora, but she didn’t seem very happy about the idea.
The empress is not very pretty. She’s quite short as well but she’s got lots of beautiful clothes and jewels and attendants. Also soldiers to guard her, of course. And some men in very fine robes, all from court, are here as well. Just imagine that, all those high-born people coming to see us!
I wanted to go to the banquet, only Bertrada said it was too late for us to stay up. That wasn’t the only reason, though, because I overheard her talking to Godomar—our tutor, you know, and a gloomier person than Godomar you never saw—and he told her the entertainments would not be suitable for young people. We were going to be shown how the mechanical whale works after the guests had gone back to the city but I haven’t seen it yet. Everyone is going about with long faces. Bertrada cries all the time. At the banquet Theodora raised her voice to the Lord Chamberlain—at least Godomar says that’s who the man is. I could tell by the way Godomar talked about him that he doesn’t like him, but I don’t know why. I’ve only seen the Lord Chamberlain briefly. He’s called John. He’s almost as tall as Godomar. He’s thin and moves very quietly.
Anyhow, to get back to what I was saying, the banquet was very noisy and I kept waking up. Bertrada came in and went out again and then came back crying and told me Gadaric has gone away. If only she knew! You see, Porphyrio promised us we’d be taken to a safe place and when I asked him how he could do that so we wouldn’t be missed, he said he knew how but that it was a secret and we would see in time. So when they took me to see Gadaric to say good-bye I knew it wasn’t him, for that clever Porphyrio really has smuggled him away and left behind a figure like the ones Hero builds all the time. It’s so clever it’s fooled everyone, even the empress! Godomar was shocked because I laughed when I saw it but I couldn’t say why because I’d promised not to tell. But I know you will keep this secret, dear aunt.
I am sitting by the window as I write and I can see the Lord Chamberlain and another man, I think he is the palace physician, talking in the garden. I wish I could hear what they are saying.