Stories Thread

[_Tristan_]

An offer
Constantinople, 1110

(Done with YourLordandConqueror's approval)

Late into the night, Methodios slowly closed the door to the bedroom where his wife Zoe lay in their bed, with their little girl Hypatia sleeping next to her in her crib. Thinking of the kindness of life to have given him such angels, Methodios silently made his way to his study. Sitting down behind his desk, he went back to studying the maps of the Mediterranean sea.

He remembered how Zoe had taken the news when he told her he would go “Crusading” to Egypt, how she had been afraid of him losing his life on this distant soil. It had taken days of talking to her for Methodios to convince her that it was what he had to do. She finally saw the urge behind Methodios’ motives for leaving and accepted to let him go.

Now, the men had been recruited and the fleet had been commissioned. In a few days, they would set sail on this “Holy Mission”.

Methodios didn’t care one whit for the fact that the mission was presented as Holy by the Patriarch. All he saw was men and women in grave danger of death at the hands of the Caliph, bent on venting his fury on unsuspecting Christians, most of them merchants, craftsmen and farmers, with no means to defend themselves. Defending these people is what drove Methodios to join in the Crusade. And searching the depths of his soul, he knew there was another : a longing for the battles and the feeling of life lived at its fullest that they brought.

Absorbed in the maps and accounts of sailors of the sea routes to Egypt, Methodios was not immediately aware of a subtle change in the room. But gradually, his senses honed by years of living a soldier’s life, he began to feel that the light breeze that came from the open window was less than what it was minutes before. Slowly reaching for the dagger that rested on a corner of a map, he started from his chair, overturning it and in a single pace was at the window and grappling the dark silhouette of the man standing on the threshold of the balcony.

The man moved fast and managed to free himself but Methodios moved faster still and anticipating his opponent’s next move, tripped him and dropped upon him on the floor, pinning his arms with his knees. The man writhed but Methodios’ dagger to his throat stopped him.

“Now, what have we here ? A robber ? A spy ? An assassin ? State your business and fast before I kill you…” Methodios said, inching his blade closer to the man’s throat, drawing a drop of blood.

“Methodios… Please… Stop… I’ll explain…” the man said within gasps.

“Then do it fast… I do not have a reputation for patience…” Methodios warned, surprised at hearing the man calling him by his name.

With a shake of the head, the man pushed away the cowl that had obscured his features until then. Shock made Methodios release his grip on the man and take a step back.

“Aleksander ?” Methodios said in an unbelieving whisper.

Rubbing his wrists, the man slowly stood up. Large of build, with long dark hair, the man still retained some of the youthful innocence that Methodios remembered though it seemed clouded by the knowledge of the world.

“Yes… Methodios… It has been many years since you promised to take me on your next mission, remember ?” Aleksander said, with a somewhat sheepish smile. “Sorry to have intruded like this but my life is at risk and I must take all steps necessary…”

“Your life at risk ? Coming into my house like this, it surely is… I could have killed you there…” Methodios said, chidingly “But I thought you were dead… Your father, your brother…”

“Yes… I wish I was… Dead with them… But Destiny had something in store for me…”

Methodios relaxed a bit but kept his dagger at hand. Sitting back behind his desk, he motioned Aleksander to sit in the chair in front of the desk.

Once sat, Aleksander started telling Methodios of how he had been away from the army camp, training with his bow when the Turks attacked. Rooted by fear, he had been unable to join in the fighting alongside his father and brother. When the battle had finished, he slowly made his way through the camp and found the bodies of his father and brother. Stricken by grief and shame, he had remained there until Turk soldiers found him and carried him away in chains with some survivors of the massacre.

Aleksander then recounted how he was sold as a slave in a Turkish market but escaped some years later and almost managed to come back to the Empire, only to fall from exhaustion and heat-stroke as he neared Cannakale. The people who found him thought him dead and laid him in a shallow grave by the roadside. On awakening from his stupor, he found himself buried alive and went half mad from it. Gathering the last of his wits, he succeeded in clawing his way out of it. He was found by members of the local underground and taken in.

There, unable to face his mother and brother Iakovos with the shame of what happened during the battle, he merged himself in the underground. He saw how the poor suffered whoever ruled in Constantinople and an idea wormed itself in his head : to unify and use the underground as a tool in the service of the Empire. Slowly, he went up the ranks of the local underground and then took over other gangs until he had the basis for his “Organization”, intent on protecting the empire from whoever threatened it, be it the Emperor himself.

“I have heard of your Organization, Aleksander… I am still unable to believe that you can be in league with such people ? Why have you threatened the Princess’ life and her daughter’s, for God’s sake ? That’s pure villainy…”

“Methodios… I had nothing to do with that… I assure you…” Aleksander pleaded “You must understand… There are forces at work here over which I have no more control…” Aleksander hung his head in his hand.

“I ask nothing but to believe you, Alex… But I’ll need more to believe you…”

“Most of the Organization has been wrenched from my hands like a toy from a babe, Methodios… Now, its members seek my death… All because of misplaced trust…”

Aleksander then told Methodios of how he met Symeon and struck a friendship with the man, of how Symeon slowly wormed his way through the Organization, little by little gaining control, until Aleksander found himself in a minority and with his life at risk for opposing Symeon’s plans for the Organization.

“Methodios, you must believe me… Symeon is a religious fanatic… He has taken over the Organization with only one thing in his mind : spreading the Orthodox faith around the Mediterranean and beyond, whatever the costs in human lives and whatever the means to achieve those ends…”

“And why come to me at this time, Alex ? For protection ? You have it… You can stay here as long as you want… My house is yours…”

“No… If I remained here, you’ll be in danger… Your wife and kid’s life would be put at risk, and that I cannot allow… But I heard you joined the Crusade… I am here to persuade you not to go…”

“Not to go ? And what of all those poor souls condemned to death on a whim by the Caliph ? I can’t stand by idly and wait for them to die… I have to do something… That’s why I’m going…”

“But don’t you see Methodios that you’re playing in Symeon’s hands by going to Egypt ? He’s in league with the Patriarch…” Aleksander said, a concerned look upon his face.

“you’re making that up, aren’t you ?” Methodios said, disbelieving what he just heard.

“No… Though it would be almost impossible to prove… On my honour, Methodios… I speak the truth… The Crusade is only a ploy for the Patriarch to gain power and turn the Empire into some kind of theocracy… Please, do not play his game… Remain here…”

“There is another option, Alex… What if someone were to beat the Crusaders to the finish and refused to recognize the Patriarch’s authority but professed their loyalty to the Emperor… That would throw the plan out of kilter, don’t you agree ?”

“Yes, I suppose it could” Aleksander said, considering. “Would you do it ?”

“I have no love for the Patriarch and I have no love for the God of Christians, though I should perhaps not be telling this… I didn’t join the Crusade as a Holy Soldier but simply to procure help to those beleaguered people in Egypt, the fact that they are Christians is of no matter to me… I know of some people who are in accordance with me though for different reasons… Right now, you stand alone in your fight Aleksander but join us and we could become powerful… Egypt could be our stepping stone… Once we have Egypt, we can start a House and I’m sure our numbers will grow… Then we will be able to defy Symeon and the Patriarch and expose their plans… What say you ?”

“It could work, Methodios… But I’ll have to remain in the shadows… For now, my credibility has suffered through the actions of Symeon… If I came to the light, I would be arrested and thrown in jail…”

“Then maybe you could act as our liaison with the Organization and our contact with the other Houses... And what of Iakovos ? Shall I tell him I saw you ?”

“No, please… Don’t…” Aleksander recoiled as if burned “I’m not ready yet to confront him… I must redeem myself first…” Standing up and walking to the balcony, Alksander added “I must go, Methodios but we’ll meet again before you leave… There is much to do if we want our plan to work…” Putting his cowl over his head, Aleksander takes tow steps on the balcony then vaults over the railing.

Methodios walked to the balcony to see the lone figure of the man crossing the garden and climbing the wall to the street.

“Goodbye… My friend…”

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