“What is it, dearest?” he asked.
“I almost betrayed you by believing Father was sincere, when he seized control here,” she admitted.
“I knew you had no part in his plan,” Constantine assured her. “What changed your mind about him?”
“I just discovered that he plans to assassinate you and seize control again.”
“How do you know this?”
“My maid learned of the plot from her lover. He’s my father’s manservant.”
“Did he give her any details?”
Once we go to Treves
“The attempt is set for tonight. Father knows that once we go to Treves, it will be hard for him to join up with Maxentius, so he has to kill you before we leave.”
“Are you sure of your source?”
“Absolutely. My maid and her lover have both been promised their freedom if he succeeds in killing you, but she thought they could make a better bargain by revealing the plot to me.”
“They shall both be suitably rewarded,” Constantine promised. “Now get back to your room, so I can arrange a welcome for my assassin.”
“Please don’t kill him,” she begged. “He’s just an old man eaten with vanity and ambition.”
“He shall not die at my hands,” Constantine promised her, but said no more.
The arrangements were quickly made. A eunuch, warned to remain awake because of the expected attack, was assigned to Constantine’s bed. Because he could not be sure just how many people Maximian had been able to bribe in connection with the assassination attempt, Constantine took only Dacius into his confidence. The two took up a post in Fausta’s bedchamber adjoining Constantine’s, with the door barely cracked so they could hear sounds from the adjoining rooms.
It was after midnight when they heard the outer door from the chamber into the corridor open, proving Constantine’s wisdom in not revealing his knowledge of the assassination attempt to any of the regular palace guards. For Maximian could not have gained access to the bedchamber without having bribed the guard stationed outside the entrance to the imperial apartment at all times. The intruder carried no light, obviously having familiarized himself with the room to a point where he could make his way to the bed unseen.
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