Giorgios raised his hand timidly. “Sir the…the Admiral asked the captain directly if he had seen the fleet, and when he said no, the Admiral sent him away.”
Alexios shook his head. “This threat is too serious for anyone to simply dismiss, and if I know Talon it is no fanciful mistake. Besides, you two are here to bear witness. You saw the fleet, did you not? You were there!”
Giorgios looked at Henry and spoke for both of them. “Yes, we were there, Master, and if Talon had not spoken Arabic we would not be here today.”
They talked long into the night as to what should be done. It was late when Theodora went to her bed yawning and Joannina finally persuaded her two menfolk that it was time to leave for bed.
“There is little we can do for Sir Talon tonight, but in the morning we should do all we can,” she stated. “John will see to your accommodation, Giorgios,” she told him.
But after a short conversation with Henry he replied, “My Lady, the rain has stopped for the moment and Henry is concerned about the ship. If you do not mind, we will go back there tonight. There is still much to do.”
Alexios had not yet left so he added, “You have done well, both of you. I shall send a messenger to Makarios in the morning to come and see you at the harbor.
*****
A dark figure slipped over the wall into the compound of the family Kalothesos. It made its way very cautiously up the walls of the house and then moved like a shadow along the loggia until it came to a lamp-lit room. Psellos had done so several times in the recent weeks. Following Theodora through the streets of Constantinople and to the study halls of the Great Palace had not lead to the discovery of anyone who seemed like the mysterious intruder, although there had been wounded men enough at the hospital she visited occasionally.
This was the time he liked best. On several of his visits he had been able to come and observe the girl. She was getting ready for bed and he could see clearly into the room. She was at her toilette and sat half undressed on a stool, brushing her unruly mane of hair.
Psellos experienced his usual rush of desire as he watched the adolescent girl and almost forgot that he was exposed should someone come along. He slipped out of the dim light coming from the window shutters and into the darker shadows. Just as he went into hiding, a guard walked by down along the garden path below the loggia. Psellos remained in the shadows while the guard, unaware of the danger, walked on.
The lamp had been turned out and the rest of the house was very quiet. Psellos was not ready to leave yet. He wanted to be a little closer to the girl and he smiled to himself as he considered his abilities and the risk of detection. He chose to see this as a kind of test that he could throw in the face of Choumnos one day.
It was easy to slip his knife under the latch of the shutters and very slowly ease one of them open sufficiently for him to glide over the window ledge and into the darkened room. He crouched in the darkness out of the dim light of the open window and listened. His orders had been to neither hurt nor trouble the girl or the family. His orders did not say that he could not come close to her, however.
He heard the deep breathing of the girl on the bed off to his left and moved as silently as a specter to stand over her. He inhaled the scent of the young girl and lingered near, close enough to reach out and touch her. The urge to simply take and ravish her was almost overpowering, but he knew he would not survive Choumnos’ retaliation, so he contented himself with her scent and listening to her breathing, his heart pounding with desire. One day the senator would give her to him, he thought, and then his imaginations would become reality.
He got up to leave, but something might have warned the sleeping girl that there was a presence in the room, for she stirred and moved to turn over and then began to wake up. She sat up in the bed so abruptly that Psellos was almost caught as he slipped out of the window. He hurried out of the garden as fast as he could go.
*****
Back in her room Theodora woke up wondering sleepily what might have disturbed her, but then noticed that the thick drapes at the window were moving. She lay frozen in the bed, wondering. She could have sworn her maid had closed the shutters before she went to bed. Now, however, she could hear rain beginning to spatter on the tiles above the loggia and a chill wind was blowing into the room. She forced herself to climb out of bed, walked with great trepidation toward the window, then peered outside. Although she was half asleep she caught a slight movement in the garden. She stared hard out at the night and noticed a dark shadow at the edge of the garden moving away to quickly disappear into the night. Her hand went to her mouth and she stifled a scream.
She shuddered violently and made haste to close the shutter and make it fast before climbing back into bed, where she spent the next hour feeling cold and fearful of what she had seen. She was very afraid. Talon was in jail for no apparent reason, and someone might have just paid her a night visit. There were invisible enemies who wanted to do harm to them, but who? She could not sleep so finally she got up and went to join her sister in her bedroom for the rest of the night. Eugenia did not mind, although she was tired and mildly irritated that Theo would not tell her why she was shivering so much. Instead she took her little sister in her arms and comforted her.
__________
But never from thy golden bow
May I beneath the shaft expire!
Whose creeping venom, sure and slow,
Awakes an all-consuming fire:
Ye racking doubts! ye jealous fears!
With others wage internal war;
Repentance, source of future tears,
From me be ever distant far!
Euripides
Chapter 24
Treason
Senator Spartenos was working late that same evening. He was seated in his library writing notes by the clear light of some expensive oil lamps when Markos tapped gently on the door jam.
“What is it?” the senator asked.
“A messenger has arrived, Master.”
A man dressed for the outside walked in. A hood hid most of his head and face, the cloak he wore was soaked, and his boots muddy. He simply handed the senator an oilpaper-wrapped package.
“I shall wait outside for a reply—should there be one,” he murmured and left the room.
Senator Spartenos opened the letter and swiftly read the contents. He shook his head as he read.
I understand that the fleet is closing with Abydos as planned. I have intercepted an unusual messenger. He is a Frank, who speaks Greek moderately well, but claims to be a Knight of the Temple. He informed me that the Arab fleet was sailing into the Marmara Sea with the intent to come to this city. Our agreement was otherwise; I do not yet suspect treachery. However you must investigate. I do not think the messenger has spoken to anyone else, and I now have him in a safe place. Another man, one Captain Petrous, accompanied his ship but he has not seen the fleet, although he believes the Frank. He is at large and my people are looking for him.
There was no name to the missive, but Spartenos knew full well from whom it had come. The Vice Admiral Tarchaneiotes had done well. The news of the Arab attack on Abydos must be suppressed for a few more days. He needed that time to finalize his preparations.
The Frank again! This was the same man who had tried to get into his house, he was now sure of it. Who would have thought a Templar would be a capable night fighter. But now he had been thrown into a dungeon by no less a man than his ally the Vice Admiral. He was very glad of this, but the uncertainty of the Arab intentions worried him. Had they betrayed him? Were they now going to make a bid for the larger prize? They had promised a diversion, nothing more. If they came to Constantinople his men would be unable to move, for the city would come alive with military personnel.
He drew out a quill from the cluster stuck into a silver holder and dipped it into the ink.
Please inform me when the Captain is apprehended. It would be wise to dispose of him, and the impostor in the dungeon should be de
alt with in the same manner. I want no possibility of anything being heard by the wrong ears at the wrong time.
He called for Markos and sent for the messenger, who took the note and disappeared into the night.
*****
As the first rays of light lit the eastern sky Eugenia ordered her litter and left the villa. The rain had stopped, the morning was fresh with the smell of wet roads, and the drops of water hanging off the already golden leaves presented a lovely picture. But Eugenia had no mind for the beauty of the morning. She had barely slept the previous night, and now she was desperate to reach the hiding place of the prince. She had to warn him that disaster was pending and he must flee.
If Talon was telling the truth, if the Arab fleet was about to attack Constantinople and people learned of it, the alarms would be going off all over the city. The gates would be locked and the ports sealed, and he would be trapped. She did not know if all was in readiness for his attempt on the palace.
Her thoughts turned to the events which had brought her this far. Prince Andronikos had made it clear that while he liked his women she was special, and he had promised her much. She believed him to be sincere. He had even hinted at the possibility of a throne, should he achieve the downfall of his detested uncle. His ambition ran high, and she was determined to try for the same heights with him.
Her lips tightened as Eugenia thought about her present position. She would not be relegated to the role of Lady in Waiting to an empress forever. While the Empress Maria was kind, she was not going to help her marry a person of any great substance. She had not been born to the purple and hence would receive no help in that direction. It irked her that her mother thought her position sufficient and had counseled patience. The right man would come to court one day and then she would be set for life, her mother had assured her with a condescending pat on the hand.
Instead she had to fend off pawing and lecherous whispers from men in the shadows of lower standing, who thought she should give her body to them for nothing. Other than the prince, there was only one person she had bedded. That man had been the Frank, and that was only out of curiosity. She had liked him and had enjoyed their brief liaison, but he was now a serious threat to her future and to that of the prince. She calmly thought of his death in a prison somewhere. The senator, once he knew of the situation, would see to that, and she was sure he did know. His intelligence system was wide-spread.
No one in the house would find it unusual that she had left so early. Ladies in Waiting were often called upon to rise early and carry out many preparations in the way of costumes and other toiletries long before the empress rose. But now, as she sat in the swaying litter carried by the brawny bearers up the Second Hill and then along the Mese, which was just waking up, she considered for the first time the ramifications of failure, and wondered if she had not made a mistake.
The bearers hurried along the slightly northern route toward the Palace of Blachernae, but just before the Palace of Porphyrogennitos she called out to them to stop and let her out. She paid them handsomely and watched them head back up the road. Once they were out of sight and she was alone, she made for a small church called the Savior de Chora that was located on another road well off the royal avenue.
Eugenia walked along a path behind the church and was admitted to a small walled compound that was heavily guarded by men who she knew to be Cilicians, men loyal to the prince. They recognized her and quickly led her to the house and then to the upstairs rooms, where she was admitted by another set of guards who were even more heavily armed. The eunuch in the suite of rooms was surprised by her appearance.
“My Lady Eugenia. Is everything all right?”
“I must see the Prince at once,” she said in a low voice. He looked at her and could see that she was agitated.
“I shall notify the Him at once,” he said. “Please wait here, My Lady.”
Eugenia sat on a bench in the room and looked around at the very modest surroundings. The Prince was not living in the manner that he was used to, she reflected, but within a short week he would be in the palace—and she would be by his side.
The eunuch came out of the bedroom and signaled silently that she could go in.
The Prince was still in bed, sitting propped up on cushions, eating some figs. Nearby lay a metal tray with some bread, olives, and grapes, which he had not yet touched.
“Eugenia, my beautiful dove!” he beamed. “I am so glad that you have come. Have you eaten breakfast?”
She shook her head and smiled at him. It was all she could do to keep herself under control and not rush into his arms. Instead, she moved deliberately to the edge of the bed and leaned over him to be kissed.
“I missed you badly last night,” he told her with a look in his eyes as he kissed her directly on the lips. The kiss lasted much longer than a simple greeting might and she could already feel her resolve slipping, but with a great effort of will she drew back and sat on the edge of the bed.
He looked a little surprised at this seeming lack of passion and lowered his eyes to look hungrily at her firm breasts instead.
“Your Highness,” she began.
He took her hand. “Eugenia, my love. You do not have to call me that while we are alone. It is Andre.”
“Andre, there is danger,” she stated simply.
He started and gave her a sharp look. “Danger? Where?”
“Yes, there is danger…for you, perhaps for all of us. Last night a messenger arrived at my house telling that a man, you might remember him, a Templar knight who played tzykanion in front of the emperor, had come back to the city and told the Vice Admiral that an Arab fleet was approaching the city. I do not think this was supposed to happen. He appears to have been arrested, but you must see, Andre, that if any of this gets out there will be panic and the city will shut down, and then you will be in grave danger.”
He was quiet for a long moment, staring at her, and then he got out of the bed and strode naked to the window. The shutters were closed but he opened them and looked down into the garden below.
“How sure of this information are you?” He turned to gaze at her. His eyes were very sharp and he looked at her in a manner that sent off a tiny alarm bell.
“The…the senator sent a messenger to tell me about it. I came immediately to tell you,” she lied. She realized with a cold shock that she had nearly incriminated her own family. The realization that she might be close to putting her family in jeopardy struck her like a blow and left her with a cold feeling in the pit of her stomach. She would have given her life for the prince, but that did not include the lives of her own family. He was an ambitious man, and if he suspected that her family knew his plans he might take action against them. She knew, even as she loved him, that his moods were unpredictable and that for some strange reason he disliked the aristocracy intensely. Surely, if he could escape then all might yet be well.
“Andre, I am not aware of who knows this, but it will not be long before others do, even if the Templar is in a jail. People talk.” She said this while admiring his strong body and wanting him just to take her in his arms.
“No one has talked as yet, and I have been in this city for over six weeks now,” he retorted.
“I fear this is different, Andre.”
He turned and walked toward her with a slow smile on his face. Observing his body as he approached she could not help but make the comparison between his almost unblemished muscular frame and that of the Templar with its scars and mute evidence of wars past.
“I do not think we need to fret, my darling. Our friends have it all under control. The Arabs will do as they are told. No one will believe the crewmen; they are foreigners after all, and their leader is in jail.”
He took her cold hands in both of his and then slipped her into his arms. She laid her head into the crook of his shoulder, too weak from tension and lack of sleep to argue. Perhaps he knew best, she thought, as he fumbled with the strings on the back of her tunic. She felt a r
ush of warmth as he kissed her just below her ear, and then his lips proceeded to move down her neck and breast. She let out a small moan and gave herself up to the pleasure at which he was so skilled.
*****
Talon spent an uncomfortable night in prison. The soldiers had marched him through the large thick door at one end of the courtyard and down some narrow stone steps to a long corridor. The soldier in front had taken a torch out of one of the alcoves and walked ahead to another small door set in the side of the damp wall. He pushed the door open and Talon was thrust into a dark hole by rough hands. He stumbled in the darkness, and before he could turn and demand an explanation the door slammed. He realized there was no use shouting. He felt his way about in the dark and discovered that the cell was very small, barely three paces long and two wide. He reached upward but could not find the ceiling. There was some kind of straw on the floor that stank of urine and other foul smells; otherwise there was nothing.
He squatted on the floor and contemplated his situation. What could have happened? He had simply warned the Byzantine Navy of a threat and had found himself in prison. The unpleasant thought of treachery flashed into his mind. Could it be that he had gone to the wrong person? Was the Byzantine navy involved in this? If so, there was a very grave danger to the city. Who could he trust, if not one of the most senior men in the navy? In the light of that, could he even trust Niko? He had hoped fervently that Captain Petrous would find Niko, but now he wondered if that might be a mistake. More than once Alexios had commented on the depth of feeling against Manuel for the lost battle of Myriokephalon, so Talon could not be sure if even Niko was on the side of the emperor. He had a deep sinking feeling in his stomach as he thought about what might happen. He took his knife out of the inside of his tunic and fingered its razor sharp blade. The soldiers had not thought to check him for other weapons in their haste to put him inside this hole.
Greek Fire Page 53