Greek Fire

by James Boschert

  The guards stood aside to allow the formerly hooded man to enter the room. He was limping badly; there was blood all over his thigh and it dripped onto the floor. He looked as though someone had smashed his lips and nose with something hard.

  The senator gasped. “What in God’s good name happened to you?” he asked finally after taking in the damage to his retainer.

  “We had a visitor, Sir.”

  “It would seem so,” the senator said with a dry tone. “Have the guards secured the grounds? Where are the dogs? Why have they not taken care of this intruder?”

  “We…we have all the guards out on the grounds with the dogs, senator,” one of the eunuchs stammered.

  “Well, what are you waiting for? Find whoever it was!”

  “You, Choumnos, tell me exactly what happened.” The senator’s voice was now very calm.

  Choumnos, who would have preferred to have his wounds dressed, staggered.

  “Sit down man, sit down. You there, get some dressing and see to his cut; I do not want to see his blood all over my furniture!” the senator barked at the frightened servant standing by the door. The man fled.

  Choumnos thankfully almost fell onto one of the couches where he dripped more blood onto the leather surface. The senator regarded the man and the mess he was making on the divan with distaste.

  “I thought I heard a sound, just a feeling, but it turns out I was right. I had left little traps lying about for the unwary and any unwanted visitors, you can never be too careful. I heard the sound of someone entering the room next door through the window and I suspected he was trying to find out what was going on in here, Sir.” The man winced at the pain in his leg and then composed himself with an effort. “I went there to find out and he attacked me.”

  “I can see that,” the senator said. “Do you think he heard anything?”

  He was not in the least bit interested in whether Choumnos was going to live but whether the intruder had heard anything significant.

  “I…do not think so, Senator. I got into the room very quickly and had the impression that whoever it was had only just arrived. It was very quick…he is as fast as a snake and very good; I did not get a look at his face.” Choumnos looked as though he was professionally impressed, but then he brought his attention back to the senator. “But I winged him, I am sure of it.”

  “Then perhaps there will be a trail to follow,” the senator said.

  “There might be, but we will have to move fast as he has probably escaped over the wall by now.”

  “You sound pretty sure of that,” Basileios said, speaking for the first time.

  “He was good, Sir.”

  “Hmm, not so good that you did not detect his presence.”

  At that moment one of the guards rushed in and bowed to the men in the room.

  “What is it? Have you found the intruder?” the senator demanded.

  “No, Sir, but the dogs are agitated at one place near the wall. There is some blood there.”

  “Where is Psellos?” the senator addressed Choumnos.

  “I am here, Sir,” replied a man dressed very much like Choumnos, in a long plain tunic with his hood thrown back. His hand was on his sword as he bowed to the two men. He was the man who had been the messenger for Caravello.

  “You two, find this man. I do not care who he is or where he is from. Enlist the aid of your murky friends in the city if need be. There will be gold in payment. He is probably one of the Chamberlain’s spies, but you will find him and kill him. I want his head—as soon as possible. Go!”

  By this time the servant had returned with bandages and lint for Choumnos. He approached the couch but the senator waved him off.

  “Get out of here, all of you. Fix him up somewhere else; I do not want him bleeding all over my furniture. Find that intruder,” he snarled as he turned away.

  He waited until they had all gone then turned to his guest. “As you can see, there are spies everywhere, and I am sure this is the work of the Emperor’s Chamberlain. You had best leave for the time being, but do not leave the city. You will of course inform Prince Andronikos?”

  “That should not be a problem.”

  “He has already jeopardized his position with his philandering,” the Senator said, the irritation heavy in his voice. “That girl from the family Kalothesos is a liability; he should never have involved himself with her at this crucial stage, it is insane. She is a Lady in Waiting to the Empress, for God’s sake. What if she talks? It is dangerous enough that the prince is in the city. If the Emperor’s spies find out, he will be blinded and the rest of us will be headless, and that only after we have suffered at the hands of the Emperors imaginative torturers.”

  “I agree. If that was a spy for the Emperor it might already be too late. I trust you to find him before he can pass along anything he might have learned, Senator.” There was no mistaking the threat in Basileios’ tone. It was odd to hear that level of menace in the eunuch’s high voice. “Also, I must be kept informed of what the Arab fleet is doing. We have mercenaries waiting on the mainland to come over as soon as the Byzantine fleet has left to deal with the threat at Abydos.”

  “Very well. I do not think it will take long for us to find this man; he is wounded. Nevertheless we should probably not meet until things have cooled down. The plan is in motion as soon as the Genoese sails. After that the bones are thrown.”

  The senator called for one of his servants, and when the man arrived he told him to find Eugenia Kalothesos and bring her to him.

  __________

  Listen to soul’s council, I said,

  You in your pain, for this is destiny:

  At appointed times the days are against us.

  Moshe Beb Nahman

  Chapter 18

  Family Affairs

  Talon stopped to draw breath several hundred paces from the villa and considered his options. He could hear the pandemonium at the estate he had just left, although it is clamor was now diminished by distance and the houses and trees in between.

  Here in the darkness of a side street the night was very quiet, even the insects and frogs seemed to have gone to bed in the predawn hours. He was very sure that the dogs would be sent after him despite the fact that the city patrols were in the area. He had to keep moving. Max would by now be very worried and wondering what had happened. He put his hand to his side and felt the sting of the cut and the wetness of blood.

  It did not have the numbing pain of a deep wound. He knew he had to bind it up thoroughly so that there would be no blood dripping on the ground. It was likely he had left some on the wall he had climbed. Ripping the hem of his tunic in a wide bandage he wrapped it around his waist and made sure that the bleeding was contained. Some blood had trickled down his leg so he had to wipe what he could feel, hoping he did not leave traces on the road. Then he heard loud barking and it sounded as though it was getting closer. It was time to move.

  He decided that he had to get off the streets as fast as he could and hope that Max would trust to his instincts and find him in the morning. Max could figure out how to avoid the patrols and get back to the inn. He might spend a sleepless night, but he would most probably come to the villa to investigate in the morning. Talon set off at a lope towards the villa Kalothesos.

  It was not hard to find his way. He decided to run up one or two of the adjoining streets in an attempt to confuse the dogs, but steadily made his way back to the villa of the Kalothesos. The sound of the dogs receded, for which he was thankful, and he was soon at the wall that surrounded the villa. Again he climbed into someone else’s property without permission; he was quite sure that if the dogs did trace him to the gates the sentries would give him away, either intentionally or unintentionally. They did not strike him as being particularly bright and he did not want to take that chance. There was a brief shock for him at the top of the wall: a cat was sitting on the wall watching him. It hissed and arched its back while he jerked backwards and almost fell, but then
it vanished into the garden below and he released his breath in a long quiet whoosh.

  The shrubs of the garden were good cover for him and the guards here at the villa Kalothesos were a good deal less alert than they were at the other place, in fact he could have sworn they were asleep; it was easy for him to climb into the house through a half open window and slip down a corridor to his own room.

  He walked silently into his room but with sudden alarm he realized that once again he was not alone. All his internal alarms went off and his dagger was out in a split second as he crouched just inside the door, scanning the room desperately trying to see where this new danger came from. He waited. Something stirred on the bed, and in two paces Talon pounced and had his dagger at the figure’s throat before it could more than sit up.

  There was a terrified squeak, the figure froze, then fell back onto the cushions with a faint gurgle. Talon followed it down and hissed, “Do not move.” The figure shook its head in mute obedience and he eased the knife off the its throat.

  “Don’t hurt me!” a voice gasped in a terrified whisper.

  “What are you doing here?” he whispered back, thinking it might be Eugenia.

  “I…I was waiting for you to come. Where have you been? It is almost dawn.” Something about the voice made him stop and peer hard at the figure on the bed. The voice was a woman’s but not the one he had expected; the perfume, light as it was, did not fit.

  “Who is it? Stay there!” he ordered in a harsh whisper.

  He hastened over to the small table in the corner and struck a flint onto the wick of one of the lamps. It took slowly but soon there was a bright glow in the room that cast many shadows and he could see who it was. Instinctively he kept his wounded side turned away from view.

  Theodora was sitting up in the bed holding the sheets up to her chin. Her hair was in disarray and she looked frightened and vulnerable. Her face was very pale and she was beginning to shake with reaction to his behavior.

  With an astonished grunt at the sight of her Talon held the lamp on high and walked toward her. Her wide eyes regarded him fearfully.

  “What in the Saints’ good names are you doing here?” He realized his tone was none too friendly.

  His heart rate was slowing as he recovered from his own surprise, but now he needed some answers.

  Theodora looked sheepish. “You frightened me!” she accused him.

  “What are you doing in my bedroom, Theodora?” he insisted, more gently this time.

  “I…I wanted to be with you,” she stammered, but then she looked back at him with defiance. “I love you, Talon. I am not a child.” Her tone was defensive.

  The sheet shifted and he realized that her clothing was on the floor and she was naked in the bed.

  “Yes you are, Theodora, you are only fourteen and you should not even be in this room. What if anyone heard you or saw you coming in here?”

  “Fourteen is old enough for love. My sister knew a man when she was sixteen.” Theodora was fast getting over her fright and was prepared to argue the point.

  Talon was pulled up short by the memory of his encounter with her sister. He shook his head. “Sixteen is not fourteen.”

  “Queens get married to kings when they are twelve, Talon,” she reminded him, her tone acid.

  He almost laughed.

  “That is not the point, Theodora. You should not be in this room. You must go. Immediately.”

  She stared back at him, defiance in her eyes coupled with hurt, but then they widened and she gasped.

  “Talon, you are hurt! What happened to you?”

  He sat down on the edge of the bed suddenly tired. “It is nothing that I cannot deal with. You must go, please go.”

  “No! Not until I have seen to your wound,” she exclaimed. She let the sheets drop and clambered out of the bed quite naked and reached for her tunic. Talon turned away quickly to allow her some privacy.

  She slipped her tunic over her head and was just pulling it down over her knees when he turned back. She bent over to him and stared at his side, which was red and wet.

  “You must let me help you with this, Talon. I can help,” she almost pleaded, her hand reaching out tentatively to touch his side.

  Talon was tired and wanted to be left alone, but he relented as she began to take off the rag he had wrapped around his waist.

  “There is clean water by the window. There should be a towel there too,” he muttered.

  Theodora was of a sudden all business.

  She brought the basin full of water to the bedside and helped him to take off his tunic, leaving his torso bare. Her eyes wandered over his body and widened as they took in the old scars and the new wound. He liked the fact that she did not seem unduly bothered by the sight of blood.

  “It is not serious, it just needs to be cleaned and bound. But you must hurry,” he said. A cock had crowed out by the barns heralding the dawn and he heard stirrings in the yard. The household would be rising to start the day any minute now.

  She nodded and quickly wet one end of the towel, then wiped the sides of the long thin cut that ran from his last rib on the right side a hand span down to his belly. He winced but held his tongue as she concentrated on the wound. Soon she had it cleaned and ready for a bandage.

  “How did this happen, Talon? You should have stitches for that,” she added as she carefully wrung out the rinsed cloth and began to dry the area around the wound. He glanced down at the thin cut. “I was walking back to the villa when I was set upon by street robbers. One of them did this before I could get away.”

  “At this time of night? It is almost dawn, Talon.” She sounded skeptical.

  He did not say anything. Instead he helped her tear up another towel with his dagger and wrap it around his lower chest. Theodora was kneeling on the floor wiping up some spilt water when he got up.

  “Do you know anything about Greek Fire?” he asked casually.

  “All I know is that it is a secret weapon that our navy uses in battle. It burns ships,” she said with a puzzled look on her face. Talon’s face was inscrutable.

  “You must leave now, Theodora. If anyone finds you here then we will both be punished, and you probably worse than I.”

  Without a word she stood and slipped her hand up along his chest, then seeing his unrelenting frown she nodded and hung her head. “I just wanted…” She did not finish.

  He took her chin in his hand and lifted her head so that she had to look into his eyes.

  You are a lovely girl…I mean woman, Theodora, but this is not the time, nor the place,” he said, trying to comfort her, as there were now tears in her eyes and one rolled down her cheek. He wiped it with a gentle thumb then took her head and shook it gently.

  “I shall see you tomorrow, Talon? You will not…go away?” As she asked her eyelids fluttered. He had difficulty keeping himself from grinning. Instead he tried to look even more severe.

  “I shall be here tomorrow. God bless now, you must go.”

  She stood on tiptoe and kissed him on the lips. “Good night and God Bless, Talon,” she whispered, some of her old irreverence coming back.

  He smiled and watched as she glided through the door her hips swaying more than they needed to. “Dear God,” he thought to himself, “this whole family is nothing but trouble!”

  *****

  He catnapped for a couple of hours, then woke up with the sun shining into the room. His thoughts about the events in the villa gave him no peace; besides, he needed to see Max as soon as possible. He got out of bed feeling stiff and sore, washed, and then checked the wound. It had not bled very much but he replaced the dressing with another and bundled the bloody cloths up into another towel. Dressed in a clean tunic he walked along the corridor to the dining room. To his relief no one was there except a servant who provided him with some bread, honey yoghurt, and a pear which had come from the orchard. He ate hungrily, washing it down with clear water. He wondered how he could look the Lady Joannina in the e
ye after what had transpired the previous night. Breakfast over he was on the verge of going down to the inn when Max was announced by the servant, who showed him in then left.

  “Where on this God given earth did you disappear to, Talon? I waited…” Max said, his tone just a little loud.

  Talon put his finger to his lips signaling silence and then took a chunk of bread and cheese and placed them on a platter. He picked it up, handed a jug of wine to Max, then walked out of the room into the gardens. Glancing about he did not see anyone, not even the senator, who was normally an early riser and could sometimes be found puttering about in the vineyard. Max followed quietly, visibly trying to contain his impatience. Talon found a stone bench under some olive trees far enough from the house to provide some privacy and sat down, motioning Max to do the same. He indicated the bread and cheese.

  “I had no choice, Max,” he said quietly. “We have stumbled upon something and I nearly did not make it back at all. God protected me last night, of that I am sure.”

  “What is this all about, Talon?” Max took a bite of bread and popped a piece of cheese into his mouth. “I came back to the harbor and saw that all was quiet, but not a sign of you. I waited; it must have been three hours at least; it was very late when I finally decided that you were not coming back. I decided that you would be either at the inn or here, and so, I am here. What happened?”

  Talon told him in short sentences what had transpired the night before. He showed Max his bandaged ribs and the little bundle of rags; if Max not been convinced before, they served to convince him now.

  Max exhaled a long breath. “So you got into the house but someone was there waiting. I know you, Talon. You can walk into a bedroom past the guards without them ever knowing, but this time someone—perhaps someone as good as you—nearly took you down! Did you at least hear anything from the other room before you had to leave?”

  “I thought I heard the word Rhodes, and I am sure I heard the words Greek Fire, but more than that I cannot be sure. Max, there is something going on but I do not know what. That villa belongs to a very wealthy man, Senator Spartenos. I went there when Pantoleon was alive and met Niko there. The senator can afford to hire skilled killers to guard it. What is our Genoese captain doing visiting a place like that, and in the dead of night, I wonder?”