‘My lord,’ repeated the Empress quietly, ‘he was crowned. Garbed in porphyry before the people. Willingly or no. That makes two Emperors in this room. In this city. Two . . . living Emperors.’ Even Symeonis fell silent then, Bonosus remembered. The Chancellor’s eunuchs killed the old man that same night. In the morning his naked, dishonoured body was displayed for all to see, hanging
