Stories Thread

[TheFlax]

((Written in collaboration with Deguerra))

Byzantine Intrigues

Constantinople, 1081

Anna looked at her portable sundial, it was nearing the tenth hour, she would be late. She cursed inwardly Kalameteros who had dragged her across the city, to meet of all place, at the Golden Gates. Nevertheless, his offer had been too tempting to refuse, maybe a bit too much. Part of her expected some sort of trap, or at least that the Strator would use his advantage over a woman, be it a princess, alone in the streets at a late hour.

She would be the one with the advantage, she had been bred to always have the advantage, as her grandmother had taught her. She had sought Alexandros, Aleksandr in the tongue of his people, the man responsible for the security of the women's quarters in the Imperial Palace and had asked him a favor, the coins she had given him had sealed the deal. She had simply said she wanted to watch the sun set from the walls of the city. An odd request, but with the emperor busy, there was no one left to deny her.

Towering above Anna were his part of the bargain, four varangians who spoke only a few words of greek, enough to receive basic orders. A feet and more taller than her, these Rus carried their crude instruments of war with pride, large axes and in some case long blades. Their blazing red tunica, complemented with a dull colored chlamys, coupled with their unusual height contrasted vividly with the petite woman in light green and blue robe they flanked. Their hard faces, some carrying a few scars, had long unkept beards ranging from blond to a reddish hue which were surpassed in lenght by their straight hair of a similar color.

Arriving at the Golden Gate late by a few minutes, Anna had no doubt the impetious Strator would wait for her. She relished the thought of seeing his reaction at her unexpected escort.

Looking around, Anna saw nobody in sight but the guardsmen at the gate. She stood and waited with her escort, but nobody came. The occasional late pedestrian hurriedly scampered by in the distance, but at this late hour no respectable citizen would be seen walking the streets, much less leaving the city, so the area around the gate remained eerily quiet. Just as Anna was getting ready to return to the palace, a lone figure detached itself from the group of guardsmen underneath the gate.

The man that approached was no ordinary guard. His fine tunic and embroidered cloak named him an officer. His face was hard to make out in the shadows, but he was relatively young for any rank and had the dark hair complexion of a Greek. Eying the newcomer warily, Anna's Varangians formed a small semi-circle in front of her, but did not impede the man as he walked briskly towards the Princess.

Keeping a respectful distance the man spoke: "My Lady, I have been asked to give you the following message. Ioannis does not think it is safe to meet here and would have you follow me to a more appropriate place." He eyed the men to his side and licked his lips. "He did not mention an escort, but...as I do not think they will part from your side, they can come."

If this had suprised Anna, none present could tell, as her expression remained neutral. Nevertheless she boilded with rage, mostly at herself for being so smug. As if in chess, Ioannis had made a better opening move. In the end, it did not matter, she would be the one to call «checkmate», this was only a minor setback.

Aknowledging the officer, she spoke curtly.

"Lead on then."

As she followed him, her Rus escort fanned out around her, ever alert for the slightest sight of treachery. If anything went wrong, she was sure the young officer would be the first to die.

With no great hurry in his step, the officer started walking back into the city. North and east he led the, in the direction of the old city, but not along the main road, instead choosing smaller side alleys that kept them hidden from the few guards that patrolled at this hour.

At the Forum of the Bous, the offer took a sharp turn, and soon another. By now Anna was a little unsure of where they were, and what direction they headed in, until all of a sudden the magnificent Forum of Thedosius sprawled ahead of them, in the descending sun. Even at this time of the evening there were still people about here, but in contrast to his previous secrecy the young guard led them straight across it, entering a small park that branched off to the west. Anna knew this area reasonably well, it was one of the prettier parts of the city. The park was a small expanse of green, with trees and bushes lining the little paths. Above it, still visible in the evening sky, towered the Aqueduct of Valens.

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Verina settled herself in a hedgerow under the great Aqueduct, her gray woolen cloak aiding her concealment in the underbrush. She had arrived sometime earlier before the meet, waiting to see if Ioannis Kalameteros would show himself. She thought herself quite clever in setting this up, if it was a trap she could flee before anyone would ever know she was here. Time passed incredibly slowly in moments like this one and part of her simply wanted to run away, back to the Palace. Greed and ambition overcame her fear, she would show this equally ambitious young noble she was not some weakling.

Suddenly everything went wrong. Anna appeared out of nowhere, even if she had not recognised her clothes, she could have told by the stuck up pose in which the young woman walked. Verina paled when she noticed an soldier, or an officer, and four tall and muscular men who dwarfed anyone in their presence. Varangians! Anna must have been expecting trouble... Anna must have been expecting to find her here!

Verina panicked and cursed the uncanny intelligence of her mistress. She scrurried out from her hiding place and ran to the Palace, hoping she would get there before Anna.

Ioannis Kalameteros cursed as he watched the events rapidly unfolding before him from his own hiding place. He had positioned himself a small way away from the main path, between a statue and one of the mighty stone pillars of the aqueduct, where the shadows were darkest, his concealment further enhanced by a dark cloak.

Shortly before the eleventh hour, he had seen a woman arrive, in plain but good dress and study the area a bit, before hiding herself in a bush not far from his own hiding place. He had been perplexed. A woman? He cursed himself now for his foolishness. Why not a woman, after all. In fact, a woman made a great deal more sense than a man. His mouth spouting words that would have made an innkeeper blush, he launched himself out of the shadows and after the fleeing woman.
She was no fool. She did not run straight towards wherever it was that she was going, but darted into a side alley here, around a corner there, until Ioannis was quite unsure he knew where they were. But he was gaining. She was agile, true, and running with the fear of the almighty in her, but her dress was not made for running. Slowly but surely he was gaining.

Then he rounded a corner after her and she was gone. Ioannis came to a stop, panting. He peered down the street, but there was nobody to be seen. A small alley to the side revealed nothing but darkness.

Still catching his breath he walked to the nearest wall and leaned against it, his thoughts racing. Who had she been? Would she make another attempt at contacting him?
Just as he was about to leave, a shape came bounding out of the small alley and ran straight into him still standing in the shadows. As both fell to the floor, he recognised her face. Before she had another chance to run, he seized her with one arm and pressed her against the wall, clamping her mouth shut with the other hand. She kicked ans struggled, landing a painful blow on his shin, but he held on for all he was worth. After what seemed an age she stopped, her eyes peering at him over his gloved hand with a look of fear and defiance.

He tried to make his voice as calm as possible: "I am Ioannis Kalameteros. You wanted to meet me."

She ceased her struggles the instant he gave his name, relief evident in her frightened eyes.

He took his hand away from her mouth but held her firmly pressed against the wall. "Good." He sighed. "I am sorry if I scared you, but I had to make sure it was not a trap." He gave a weak smile. "I am not so sure now it would not have been better just to risk it. That is quite a kick you have there. In any case, I believe you wanted to talk to me. Now if you promise me not to run, I will let you go." Slowly, he loosed his grip on her.

"Yes... yes my lord."

Taking a wary step back, Ioannis pulled a small bottle from his robe and took a long swig. Hesitating briefly, he offered it to the woman. "Do you have a name?"

As she is released, Verina reajusted her veil before indicating she did not wish any liquor. Hesitation gripped her at the mention of a name, but quickly she thought of another servant she did not like much. "Eudoxia is my name, lord. If I may be so bold, I take it you are interested in my offer?"

Unable and unwilling to bite back his sarcasm, Ioannis gave the woman a flat stare: "On the contrary, I hide in the shadows and preform cross-city sprints on a nightly basis, because I find it keeps my skin healthy." Were all servants this thick?

Ignoring the comment, Verina continued. "I cannot tarry late at this hour and all I can tell you is that I know most of the princesses secrets; be it the nature of her suitors and her relation to each of them or who she is in contact with and what information they give her. My price will be fifteen follis per piece of information and a garantee that when the princess discovers this, and she will, I will have a safe haven."

Ioannis leaned back and though for a brief moment before speaking: "I will give you thirty follis on the guarantee that this information goes to me and only me." Leaning in close to her face he continues "As for a safe haven, what makes you think you can trust me with that? Once the Princess finds out, what use are you to me?"

Her meek facade quickly shifted to a cold and calculating expression. "Consider this, lord" Placing a great deal of weight on the word. "She will want to know to whom I was speaking." She pretended an exagerated moan for an instant. "Oh, how long will I endure the torture they will put me through..."

Ioannis stepped back and laughed with something almost approaching warmth. "You are a worthy opponent Eudoxia, the Princess should be wary. Although you may not want to connect yourself to me, even under torture. I don't think the Princess likes me much." Giving a cheeky grin, he quickly became serious again. "So my condition is accepted. Thirty follis. Only to me?"

"It is, lord." She gave him a bow. "May I retire from your presence?"

He chuckled again. "I do not believe our current surroundings call for such formalities." He let his eyes wander meaningfully along the darkened alley. "In any case I am not much of a man for formalities. How will you contact me? And how will I contact you and pay you?"

"I will contact you the same way I did for this encounter and you will pay me when I give you the information, in person."

"Good. I like personal meetings. If I need to contact you, you will be told. I will not do so unless it is absolutely necessary. If you are found out, make your way to my House and identify yourself as Eudoxia. If that is impossible, there is an officer in the palace guard called Stephanos Koressio. Tell him who you are and he will bring you to me. I think that is all. Goodbye Eudoxia"

She gave him a curt bow and left, hastily making her way back to the Imperial Palace.

Ioannis breathed a sigh of relief. A remarkable woman in her own right. This had been a most interesting night.

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Having passed the Aqueduct, they finally halted and Anna let out an audible sight. Her features conveyed a profond annoyance at the situation, even through her veil. Eyeing the officer with disdain, she interpelled him.

"I have had enough of this silly game, have you thouroughly wasted my time or will Ioannis Kalameteros will finally grace me with his presence?"

As the officer turned around, Anna noticed the tight expression of anxiety in his face, and the way his eyes shift constantly, trying to peer into the shadows beyond the path, darting from place to place.

"Please my Lady, do not use names" he spoke, his voice almost a whisper. "This is no game. He should have been here my Lady. He said if he was not here then he was either being followed or dead. He said if he was not here I was to take you back to the palace and not leave your side until you had entered it. We should not remain standing my Lady, the streets are dangerous at night, even for guards." He lowered his voice again "Especially for us. Please let us go."

Anna did not care anymore if she lost her composure or not, she openly glared at the officer and her tone was fast passing from irritation to outrage.

"He will wish he were dead after this affront! And you! Be lucky you are entirely too forgettable for me to report you in all this. Now, get back to your post before I take further notice of you!"

Infuriated, she left for the Imperial Palace with her protectors in tow, vowing Ioannis would pay dearly for this.

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Verina found Anna pacing in her quarters, so furious she barely acknowledged her confidant. By that time, both women had changed their clothes and Verina looked the part of a bored servant. Moving closer to the younger woman, she used a soothing voice.

"What is wrong Anna? You look utterly distraught."

Anna nearly exploded. "Its that bastard..." she struggled with the name, nearly choking on it. "Kalameteros. He played me, now I owe a favor to Alexandros, and for what? For nothing! He made me waste my time, placed me in possible danger, abused...."

Verina had stopped listening and it took all of her self-control not to smile. That's it my dear, the harder you fall, the higher I will rise...