Scent Notes: Many strong cups of black tea, burnt sugar, a library of old books.

It was a busy day in Constantinople. The Emperor was set to make a speech on the state of the empire to all of the surrounding kingdom. Constantine knew that Minervina, his mistress, was taking a luxurious bath to ready herself for the occasion. He knew his wife, Fausta, was also bathing. He liked his women clean; well, as clean as possible for the time period, let’s be honest. What he didn’t realize was that his wife and his mistress also liked their women clean, and that they preferred to bathe--among other things--together.

Minervina and Fausta were fairly discrete with their relationship, for the most part; they had trusted servants who knew that they were close, and this wasn’t entirely abnormal behavior for the time. What was abnormal, though brilliant, was their strategy to secretly rule the whole empire, together. Constantine confided in each woman separately, thinking that his secrets, thoughts, hopes, and dreams were secure. He didn’t realize that Minervina and Fausta were, uh, friendly, and talked everything over together, and steered Constantine’s decisions with their advice and ideas, which the two women would thoroughly discuss over many cups of black tea before gently discussing their notions with the Emperor. They pretended not to have a thought in their heads, or that an idea had just suddenly occurred to their small, inferior female brain, when in actuality the two women had spent many long hours poring over old parchment and correspondence in order to figure out what best political action to take to advance the empire.

He never did find out that his lovers were also lovers, and the two women secretly ruled the empire behind his back for years. Clever girls.

Scent Notes: Many strong cups of black tea, burnt sugar, a library of old books.