afterwards, john left and became a travelling performer with a theatrical group. on crete, he falls in love with cornelia, a gymnast (bk 3). both john and cornelia consummate their relationship, but near the border with the sassanian empire, john is abducted, castrated, and then sold off to the imperial government as a eunuch. he first works under the master of the plate, leukos (who is murdered by a corrupt innkeeper in bk 1), but wins his freedom and eventually rises to the rank of imperial chamberlain after investigation into the death of a byzantine magnate named hypatius (bk 4).