Greek Fire

by James Boschert

  “He not only chose you but me and Niko, as well as a couple of other players who are in the top rank, so you will have our company at least,” Alexios said, his tone excited and apprehensive at the same time.

  Talon did not find it comforting in the least.

  “Talon, be aware that this is a great honor for the Emperor to have chosen us for a game in his presence. We will be playing on the tzykanisterion, the grounds within the Grand Palace. They are not as hard as the ones in the barracks but it will be a rough game, as Isaac, his brother, is one of the best players in the city.”

  “Thank you for telling me that good news,” Talon muttered.

  “And what about ponies? I do not have any of my own, and certainly nowhere to put them.”

  “That is the least of your worries, Talon. We have been given horses from the royal stables. You will have your pick, and I would suggest that you pick at least eight. You might need them all.”

  “What did we do to earn this…honor?”

  “What the Emperor wants is what he gets,” Alexios said. Talon could see that he was worried but also very excited.

  *****

  Talon had a sense of déjà-vu as he sat on one of the ponies he had chosen and lined up with the other players at the throw in.

  All around them were terraces covered with cropped grass that led up the slope to the palaces lined along the summit, much as there had been in the Hippodrome, but these were packed with noblemen and their wives, while the far end was crowded with servants, idle soldiers and eunuchs. The grounds extended from the base of the Great Palace complex almost to the edge of the seashore, bounded by the great city walls that enclosed not only the palaces but the city itself. On this day the walls were lined with spectators eager for a grandstand view of the game. The silken banners of the emperor, embroidered with the twin-headed eagle, fluttered proudly from every tower along the walls.

  The nobility were dressed in all their finery of rich colorful fabrics, diadems and huge hats. Bejeweled officials from the administration complexes vied with the ladies for colorful tunics and over dresses. This occasion was nothing like the vulgar spectacle of the chariot races, but as Alexios had said, “It is a game for kings and their nobles.”

  A light wind was blowing off the Marmara Sea bringing with it a sharp taste of salt, which Talon hoped would cool the players. It was now late August and the full heat of summer was waning. Talon was glad, as the city streets became smelly and suffocating when it was very hot, although there was usually a bit of a breeze to cool a heated forehead.

  He glanced at his team members and was reassured that Alexios and Niko were well mounted and relatively calm. He recalled the instructions of Niko when he had come to talk about the game.

  “Talon, this match is about keeping certain other players out of the game. We, Alexios and I, have decided that you might not be good enough to score as yet, but there is one thing you can do for our team that will be priceless.”

  Talon had felt a brief twinge of indignation but then scolded himself for being selfish and paid attention. Alexios and Niko then said he was to mark Isaac out of the game, if he could.

  “You stick to his stirrup like sheep’s shit to a cloak, Talon. If you can stay with him at all times and never let him pick the ball up we might have a chance. Will you do this?” Niko asked him. His expression was very earnest.

  Talon nodded assent.

  “Do not be disappointed, Talon. We have seen how you can ride, it is not a question of that. It is tactics, and Niko understands the game very well,” Alexios said in a consoling tone.

  “Who will stay with Pantoleon?” Talon asked the obvious question.

  “We have young Theo for that!” Alexios said with a grin. “He is very young and looks as frail as a stick, but he is as tough as leather and, like you, he is a very good rider, besides not being at all afraid of Panto. We want to neutralize the opposition before the game even starts. The strategy for a game like this is decided even before it is played,” he added with a grin, pretending to sound pompous.

  Talon looked across the short divide to the tall, strong looking man in his late forties whom he now knew to be Isaac Komnenos, the Emperor’s brother. The man was dressed in a close fitting tunic and tight knee-high boots. His short curly black hair was streaked with grey. There was nothing weak looking about this man. He sat into his sleek pony as though they were one, and his unwavering gaze never left the stands from where the soldier would be throwing in the ball. Talon took a deep breath and tightened his fingers on his stick. He was sure that the task ahead of him was not going to be easy.

  The two teams lined up alongside each other, each player almost knee to knee with his opposite number, facing the royal tent and a man standing on a platform holding a ball in his hand. Talon eased his pony a little closer to the right side of Isaac and prepared to play. Ponies were tense and already snarling at one another, as horses do when excited and crowded against one another. One tried to kick and got a good thrashing for his temerity from his rider. Riders talked to their mounts, calming them, or exchanged insults at close quarters. Pantoleon was one of those who liked to taunt the opposition. He was just ahead of Talon and Talon could hear almost every word he said to the passive Theodoulos, who ignored the taunts. By contrast the Emperor’s brother was silent and focused, barely even glancing at Talon.

  A trumpet sounded, sharp and clear, and the soldier on the terrace overlooking the huge field threw the ball into play. It came directly over the heads of the front players who stood in their saddles and tried to catch it with their sticks as it flew by, but it landed right in front of Isaac. He immediately spurred his animal to pick up the ball and take it away. Talon decided that this was the moment to rap his stick sharply on its end with his own just before Isaac captured the ball, causing him to miss. Isaac’s forward momentum was too great to stop and try to regain possession of the ball, and besides Talon had rammed his pony into the rear end of Isaac’s, jolting him out of the immediate play. Isaac grunted and whirled in the saddle to see who had done this and his eyes landed on Talon. His surprised glare became threatening.

  But there was no time to pause, as others had gathered up the ball and one man had broken free. It was Pantoleon, who had had better luck against Theodoulos, evading him easily and scooping up the ball.

  Now he raced off with Theodoulos frantically chasing after him in a vain attempt to stop him. It was fortunate that another of their team had anticipated this and slammed his pony almost at right angles into that of Pantoleon. Both ponies staggered and nearly went down, and but for some good horsemanship might have, but once again the ball was free. Alexios galloped up, leaning well forward, his stick scraping the ground as he tried to scoop up the ball before another from Isaac’s team smacked his stick out of the way. Both riders rode hard into one another, elbowing and trying to stop and turn all at the same time. Talon swiveled his head to find Isaac and nearly lost him. That man was not dwelling on the last issue but was concentrating on taking the ball off Niko, who had succeeded in picking it up. Isaac slammed his pony into the side of Niko’s, causing the pony to stagger sideways, while Isaac smacked Niko hard with the haft of his stick on the upper arm. It was a very sharp blow and was meant to disable the rider and force him to let the ball go.

  It had the desired effect; Niko gave a howl of pain, his arm fell to his side, and the ball was again free. Isaac swept his net towards the ball, which was now bouncing on the slightly uneven ground ahead of the riders.

  Talon was almost alongside; Isaac ignored him as they galloped flat out down the field. Men were shouting from behind, although Talon couldn’t make out what they were saying. He did remember what Niko had said though, and once again he rapped Isaac, but this time he struck him on the back of his hand. Isaac snarled with the unexpected pain and again lost the ball.

  They galloped on, both looking back over their shoulders as they tried to bring their racing ponies around. There was a lot of dust in t
he air by now thrown up by the galloping animals, so Talon had a difficult time seeing just where the ball was when suddenly out from the melee came Alexios with the ball tucked into the small net of his stick.

  “Go up, go up!” he shouted as he spotted Talon ahead of him. Talon needed no persuasion. He brought his pony back under control, spun it on its haunches and drove it forward to stay well ahead. He was about twenty yards ahead of Alexios when the ball whirred by his head and bounced on the ground in front of him. He heard a shout from behind from Alexios but could not make out the words from the noise of the pounding hooves and his own concentrated attempts to follow the line of the ball. It was not hard for him to scoop it up and then carry it forward. He saw the goal posts coming up and decided to have a try at them.

  It meant that he had to swing the stick behind him to get momentum, but just as he did he felt a hard rap on his stick and lost the ball. Others had anticipated him.

  Niko, however, had been watching and he swooped in and caught the ball at an impossible angle and was off before anyone could catch him. This time the ball was swung back and hurled at the goal posts. It soared high over the goals to a delighted roar from the crowd. The spectators on the stands and the walls were waving their hands in the air and shouting encouragement.

  Alexios rode alongside Talon as they cantered back to the middle for the throw in. “Well done, Talon. You blocked Isaac twice. He is not used to that, so keep it up. Niko and I will try to get some more goals.”

  “I doubt they are going to let us get away with this for very long,” Talon nodded at the scowling opposition who were already lined up.

  “No, but we will give them a bloody nose in the meantime,” Alexios grinned at him.

  Talon joined the line, but just as he did so Isaac leaned forward and glared at him. “You, Frank. Do not try that again, or else!” he snarled.

  The ball interrupted any other comment, but this time it landed well forward of them. They jostled for position as the ball was pushed one way or the other but eventually someone got a net over it and hauled it up out of sight, followed by a lot of shouting as one of Isaac’s team raced away with it. He did not get far before one of Alexios’ team caught up with him, but before he was almost knocked off his mount he managed to hurl the ball high into the air towards their goal

  Pantoleon, with Theodoulos in hot pursuit, galloped hard up to the bouncing ball and swept it up into his net and headed for the opposition’s goal. This time he screamed at one of his own team who was galloping flat out toward the goal posts. In one swift motion Pantoleon hurled the ball with great force at his teammate, who caught it in midair and tossed it almost nonchalantly underhand into the space between the goals. The move was greeted with roars of approval from the spectators, as it had been a well executed piece of horsemanship and team play.

  Once again they headed back into the middle. “Stay with Isaac, Talon. Theo should not have let that happen,” Niko said, as he cantered by with an annoyed expression on his dusty face. He began to speak rapidly and urgently to his young chagrined teammate.

  Now Talon had to watch every move made by Isaac, who was aware of what was going on and played Talon, sometimes beginning to race away, dodging and stopping and then galloping hard for opportunities that presented themselves. Talon had to ride hard and well to stay with him but still managed again and again to thwart his efforts at gaining control of the ball. Talon knew full well that should Isaac gain the ball a goal was almost certain.

  Theodoulos, having been chastised severely by Niko, paid more attention to Pantoleon, and even as he was sticking to Isaac, Talon could see that it was having some effect. Pantoleon was impatient and it began to tell. After interrupting yet another maneuver Theodoulos was forced to back off in a hurry as Pantoleon finally lost his temper. He rode directly at Theodoulos, slamming into his pony and thrashing at him with his stick, which Theodoulos blocked with his own. Pantoleon was clearly enraged and wanted nothing more than to hurt the boy.

  But Niko and Alexios had been waiting for this. They stopped playing and charged into the fray. Alexios put his pony between Pantoleon and Theodoulos shouting, “Stop that, Panto! You cannot attack a player who does not have the ball!”

  “Tell the skinny little bastard to stay away from me then!” Pantoleon raged.

  “What? You can’t manage to evade him? Are you so poor a player that even a boy can upset you?” Niko teased, goading Pantoleon even more. His face was mottled with anger and he was clearly on the edge of doing something dangerous.

  Talon thought he might even attack Niko, which of course was exactly what Niko wanted, as it would show Pantoleon up as a bad player and might even get him thrown off the field. Isaac rode up then accompanied by his shadow, Talon, and coldly told them all to shut up and play the game. He glowered at Alexios and Niko.

  “I know what you are up to. The gloves are off now and you will be thrashed. You can look forward to that.”

  He took his team back to the center of the field, calling over to the Emperor’s box for a rest period.

  As their team rode slowly back to their horse lines, Niko was chuckling.

  “Well done Theo, well done! He is as mad as a hornet now, and when Pantoleon is this upset he can’t concentrate on the game at all! You too, Talon! I am quite amazed at how well you stuck to Isaac. You really took me seriously, eh? Like sheep shit to a cloak, ha ha! Be careful, Theo, but don’t stop what you are doing.”

  Theodoulos laughed with delight. He was definitely not afraid of Pantoleon. “But I am not a boy, Niko!” he replied, sounding indignant.

  Nikoporus leaned over and put his arm around Theodoulos’s thin shoulders. “I know that, Theo, but I wanted to provoke him.” He laughed. “You are doing a man’s job here!”

  “I think you might be getting under Isaac’s skin, Talon.” Alexios laughed. “Watch him, though. The Emperor’s brother isn’t a very nice man to cross. Watch your back. We will too.”

  They remonstrated with the others of their team but it seemed to Talon that these two players were quite content to have things going this way. They had unsettled the opposition and that counted for a lot when facing such a good team.

  They spent a little time with the new ponies. All of them were new to Talon, so he made haste to get onto his new pony’s back and run it in tight circles, testing its responsiveness. He could not complain. The royal stables had not stinted him for good animals. This one was supple and quick to respond to the back and leg. Talon sat deeper in the light saddle and wondered how the rest of the game would go.

  Once the game resumed it became evident that Isaac had decided to change tactics. From being a somewhat condescending opposition, confident they could win no matter what, the other team took the offensive. They went after Alexios and Niko and two others of their team, often without provocation, as in a melee it was hard to see who was striking at what. There were many angry yells from Talon’s teammates as a stick or an elbow found its mark.

  In one breath-stopping incident Nikos’ mount, having been struck from behind, stumbled forward and then at a flat out gallop nosed into the ground. Nikoporus as quick as a cat allowed himself to be tossed forward out of the saddle and then rolled once and bounded to his feet, stepping lightly out of the way of the thrashing hooves. The pony, however, was not about to get up so quickly. Slaves ran onto the field to assist the trembling and now limping animal off the field while Nikoporus leapt onto the new animal they had rushed out for him to use and resumed play, almost as though the incident had never happened. The crowd clapped enthusiastically at this display of horsemanship, to which he gave a cocky wave of his stick.

  Isaac’s team scored two goals in rapid succession despite Niko and his team’s valiant efforts to stop them. On one occasion Isaac, despite Talon’s best efforts, managed to obtain and then pass the goal, making a shot to one of his players who threw it into the goals. On another occasion, because of a simple mistake by Niko, one of the other team broke away a
nd carried the ball all the way to drop it contemptuously just over the line. The crowd, unaware of the tension that was building, roared its approval.

  As they walked their sweating and tired ponies back to the line at one of the intervals Talon was again joined by his friends. Both were the worse for wear: Alexios sported a swelling on his right cheek and his forearm was scraped raw. Niko had a black eye and there was a large bruise on his upper arm where Isaac had struck him yet again. He rubbed his ribs and flinched as he did so. Talon had not escaped the general mauling. His leg felt like it had been twisted half off at the hip and his shoulder ached.

  They were all beginning to feel the strain of the game. The constant turning and scrapping for the ball, the hard riding, which hurt both horse and rider because it was so violent, were beginning to take their toll. Everyone was panting and the ponies’ sides were heaving with the effort.

  “Not too long to go now,” Niko panted.

  “You two hang on, you are doing your jobs well,” Alexios gasped in between sucks of water from a leather skin he was holding.

  Talon poured water over his head to try and cool off. He, like the others, was panting and sweating copiously in the heat. The light breeze from the Marmara Sea was not making the slightest difference to those on the field.

  “If we can score just one more goal I will consider our honor satisfied,” Niko said, wiping the sweat off his face and casting a fierce look down field to where the other horse lines were located.

  “What do you mean, Niko? Bulls balls if I am going to just let those eunuchs win!” Theodoulos piped up. His voice cracked and the others laughed.

  “Better be not to let Isaac hear you say that!” Alexios laughed.

  It took some of the tension out and relaxed everyone. Immediately the mood changed from pessimistic to optimistic. Talon liked the change.

  The game resumed and once again it became a bitter fight for the ball and the elusive goals. Alexios managed to take a long pass from Niko off a capture from Pantoleon and scored a goal. The team was elated. As they cantered back to the center they heard the approving shouts from the crowd who had thought they were defeated and the game virtually over.