Stories Thread

[00jebus]

co-op with the flax


Constantinople 1111

Lisas was sitting comfortably in his favourite tavern, enjoying the atmosphere of a few glasses of local wine, when he received his weekly report letter from his messenger from the Magnaura, reading it shocked him and he left for the capital at once, how could Iconium have been razed without him knowing about it?, what had the Turks done that made Hypathos kill most of its inhabitants

Anna had taken her leave of the Magnaura until they had further need of her and had retreated to the exit of the building in order to get some fresh air. Without care or consideration, she blocked the entrance to the Magnaura as she absently brushed away some of the dirt on her tunica.

Just as Lisas turned into the Magnaura, flecks of dirt filled his eyes but the message to stop hadn't reached his legs yet. He bounded into the Princess, knocking both to the floor.

Lisas lifted his hands to his face, clawing the dirt out of his eyes, before pushing himself up, muttering "that better not be a priest" before seeing it was her Majesty.
He extended a hand, offering to pull her up too, breathlessly stammering "Oh my god, your highness, I am so sorry, I didn't look where I was going... I heard a terrible rumour and had to know if it’s true, I'm just... prattling" he finished with a sigh.

"Wonderful" he thought to himself "first time meeting my lord's sister, no, any female royal, and I nearly knock her out!" Lisas, who could never help but think of the worst case, also wondered who was capable of the worst punishment if he had knocked her out, Anna's husband, brother, father, or the two burly bodyguards looking down on him like he was a clumsy idiot.

Anna declined the offered and slowly rose by herself. She winced slightly, in pain, as she finally gathered herself and addressed the offending Senator.

"Yes, this is a peculiar day, and for that, I absolve you of any offence. I pray, in the future, you will pay more heed as to where your feet lead you."

Slightly relieved, "Thank you, your Highness, I'm normally much more graceful, er, peculiar for you too? I hope we haven't heard the same rumour."

"It is no rumour." Anna's soft voice turned cold. "I witnessed first hand the atrocities perpetrated in Iconium and confronted Hypatios Machonios on the issue, I believe he is proud of his deeds." Her disgust is obvious at the mention of the name.

*Lisas' face fell, he thought he pulled it off very well, princesses, he though, would be well informed, so why not use this golden oppertunity to find out what really happened? thinking quickly, he said* "Thats, a lot worse than what I heard, I heard two senators were killed taking the city so it was sacked, God, atrocities, he's proud of? What actually happened there?"

"No Senators were killed, my husband is wounded but should recover, if Hypatios does not kill him in the meanwhile." She narrowed her eyes. "You want to know what happened? Hypatios Machonios butchered Iconium because it gives him pleasure and because he thinks himself above the laws set in the Magnaura. None were spared the sword; be it men, women and children; be it Muslims or Christians; be it commoners or nobles. Hypatios presided over the slaughter on the throne of the dead Sultan, covered in the blood of his victims. The scribe in the Magnaura has transcribed my testimony if you wish greater details."

"That," he searched for a few choice words, but decided against using them in front of the emperor's daughter, "that's disgusting, well, your Highness, I have to go, I wish I could say its been a pleasure meeting you, but not even a pathological liar would attempt that."

Anna simply nodded and moved out of the Senator's way.

Lisas bowed and made for the bathroom, deciding to take a minute compose himself before rushing to a decision about this.