Stories Thread

[TheFlax]

((Coop with PrivateerKev))

Constantinople, 1110

A light breeze blew through the streets of Constantinople. There was a lull in activity in the Senate as the nobles voted. It gave Makedonios a chance to get away for a private meeting. Walking with him down the street was his shieldbearer, Nick. In a relatively good mood, because of who had invited him to a meeting, Makedonios decided to strike up a conversation with the normally quiet man.

"Where are you from anyways?"

A shrug. "Greece, m'lord."

"Is Nick short for something?"

Another shrug. "It is short for Nichopolaphous. My mother simply called me Nicky."

"Does anyone call you Nicky now?"

A small rare smile creeps on his face. "None have done it twice."

"Ah, point taken. Your not much for conversation are you?"

Yet another shrug and no answer. Such was typical with conversations with Nick. Both men arrived at the estate. The Order held the deeds to many such pieces of property. And this one had been quietly made of use to a very special guest. Nick stood out front and kept watch while Makedonios went inside.

He found Anna seated and waiting for him. Her colorful long sleeved tunica of light pastels was ruffled from apparent extended use and her dark hair, usually loose in the presence of Makedonios, was held tightly in a bun by several pins on the back of her head. The warm smile with which she greeted him did little to conceal the weariness in her expression and her voice.

"Makedonios! It has truly been a long time since I've had the pleasure of your company. Come, sit." She indicated a seat across from her.

Makedonios smiled warmly and sat down across from her. While he looked better than the last few times she saw him, he still was not completely over his illness. An omnipresent napkin lay at hand for those periodic coughs.

"Your Highness, as always, it has been entirely too long. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

She avoided the question. "You look better, I am gladden to see you recovering from that horrible sickness. Tell me, how are the proceedings at the Magnaura going?"

"Thank you Your Highness. I am sure your prayers had something to do with it." After the pleasantries, Makedonios regarded her carefully. He had not spoken to her about politics in years and was unsure how much to tell her.

"Some things are going well. Some things are not going so well. There are various pieces of legislation that are important to me. Some have passed quite easily. Others are close to failing. But the big thing this session is the Megas election. I have made no effort to hide my opinions on the matter so you have undoubtedly heard of my thoughts concerning the Caesar."

Anna sighed in exasperation, making clear the source of her weariness. "Ah yes... My dear brother. He has a peculiar talent for alienating everyone, even those helping him. I can understand why you wouldn't want him as Megas and by all rights his victory should be unattainable..."

The Princess had never spoken ill of her brother to Makedonios before so he didn't know what to say. Of course, since his thoughts were already public knowledge, it wasn't as if he could possibly get in any more trouble for telling the Princess.

"Yes... It 'should' have been unattainable. Believe me, I tried to derail it. I offered your husband concessions so large they caused quite a stir from amongst my men. He very much wanted to make a deal but the Emperor twisted his arm rather hard and reminded him of the loyalty your husband owes for gaining your hand."

Anna nodded. "I know all about your proposal, Makedonios, but in the end, my father must be obeyed. As you say, that was the covenant in which my husband entered when he took me for his wife. My brother will need help, and yet he is either too arrogant or too paranoid to accept it."

Makedonios sighed. "Must your father be obeyed when he is wrong? Your brother is going to get good men killed. He won't support this Crusade. He can hardly run his own House and people think he's going to run the Empire for a term. He has an almost magical ability to alienate every single person he meets. The only reason he won this election is because the Emperor fears for his dynasty. And on this reason, the lives of at least six good nobles hang in balance. Three of them, my men." He shook his head in frustration.

"I understand your concern Makedonios, I truly do." Delicately Anna rubbed her left eye with her forefinger. "Yet, what would you have me do? I have tried reconciliation with my brother, I wish to help him, but he cares little for me."

His features softened a little. "Sorry Your Highness, I was only ranting. I appreciate that your willing to listen to it. As for what to do about the Caesar, he needs someone to make clear the dangers of 'eating alone'. It's an old saying. But basically, a good ruler makes sure his subjects are getting something out of the deal. This is something the Emperor very much understands."

"But the Caesar does not seem to understand this concept. He seems to believe that everything belongs to him and we should be happy to have any of it. The man once had the gall to order me to stop expanding. And not only that, but he twice ordered me to give up the only province the Order had at the time on the main land. His opposition to the Crusade is born out of this same trait of his. He can't stand the fact that it will go against his master plan for the Empire. To him, Anatolia is all that matters and the rest of the fronts need to wait until the whole thing is secure. He's even on record saying that very thing."

Makedonios pauses from his speaking to cough for a moment into his napkin. "But that is why I believe he needs to make sure he 'doesn't eat alone'. There is more than enough for everyone. If he was able to grasp that, and relax his urge to control every aspect of the Empire, then I think he might do ok after the Lord takes the Emperor."

Anna nodded once more. "I, and others, would grant him succor in assuring he can live up to the legacy of our father, but in every instance, those well meaning people are pushed away by his vitriolic personality."

She took a deep breath and gave another restless sigh. "Anyhow, all of this is moot while my father lives. In the mean time we must trust in the Basileus and do our duty." She paused before adding very quietly to herself "Or my duty at least."

Makedonios gave a small chuckle to take the edge off of his next comment. "Well we certainly have our work cut out for us."

His face turned more serious. "As for trusting the Emperor, it does bother me that this Magnaura session has essentially become a contest of wills between the two most powerful men in the Empire. The Emperor is not happy about the Patriarch's call for a Crusade so he backs his son to swing the balance back into his favor. The Patriarch doesn't like his will questioned on such a Holy Matter and backs a pro-Crusade candidate. Which only causes the Emperor to dig in and twist arms to make sure his candidate wins. Meanwhile the rest of us are very much caught in the middle."

"That we are." She shifted slightly in her seat, perhaps out of anxiety. "As for that Crusade, I gather from what you said that you will not be going yourself?"

Dissapointment can be heard in his voice. "No, I have responisbilities back in the Levant. Right after this session I will assault Adana to bring it into the fold. After that I will need to defend our southern borders from Fatamid raids when the war starts. They already have a scouting party outside Antioch. Plus, with so many people going, some need to stay behind. I have a feeling the whole Order would go if I would let them. The Crusade can only be successful if some stay behind to defend what we already have."

Makedonios lowers his head a little and sighs. "I do admit the pull to go forth on the Holy Mission is a strong one. But I'm not getting any younger. Plus I never really got over my sickness. It could be a disaster if it flared up while I was on Crusade."

Anna gave him an encouraging smile. "Take heart Makedonios, you are doing the right thing." She rose slowly. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'll have to end this discussion and return home, I fear my days of late are hectic at best."

He smiled in return. "The same can be said for you. You look like the Magnaura session has gotten to you as well. I'm sure everything will be ok. It was nice to see you again. I hope we can do this again sometime."