“You do not know him. Whatever there is, he wants, and when he gets it he hungers for more.”
“When he discovers this knowledge of mine will take ten years to learn if he is an apt pupil, and fifteen if he is less than apt, his interest will wane.
“Such knowledge is born from pain, hunger, and discipline of mind and body. The pain and hunger he might stand, but the discipline? Never!”
“Can you see the future, Kerbouchard?”
“Who would wish to? Our lives hold a veil between anticipation and horror. Anticipation is the carrot suspended before the jackass to keep him moving forward. Horror is what he would see if he took his eyes off the carrot.”
“You are gloomy.” Of course, but it was not my way. Was it some feeling brought by Andronicus? Or Bardas? “He is loved by the people. They wish him to be emperor.”
“The mob always wishes to make its hero the emperor, but no sooner is he emperor than they have another hero they wish in his place.
“If ever you become a hero to the mob, Phillip, remember this: Every man who cheers you carries in his belt the knife of an assassin.”
45
Alone in the room Phillip provided, I sat over a bundle of paper to begin earning my living. The purse Andronicus had given was ample, but I put no trust in gifts. The favors of great men or women are like blushes on the cheeks of a courtesan—rare, nice to see, but not to be relied upon.
My possession of esoteric knowledge placed me in a position that, if handled with discretion, might move me into a position of importance. Andronicus might someday become emperor, and even now his power was second only to that of Manuel.
At this time I chose to make a copy of The Qabus Nama, a very excellent book by the Prince of Gurgan. No other book taught so much about the practical business of living, and during the long trek across Europe I had read and reread its pages. Yet when I began, I chose one of the later chapters in which the Prince discusses the service of kings.
Scarcely had I begun when I remembered a thought I immediately wrote down. No doubt my present situation brought it to mind. If at any time your Prince should pretend your position with him is sure, begin from that moment to feel unsure.
There was a further thought that he who argues with a king dies before his destined time. These were thoughts to remember, and while I knew not the character of Manuel, beyond that he was a man who loved war and the chase, I placed no trust in Andronicus, nor Bardas.
Throughout the night I copied from memory the pages of the book so often read, but as I had been trained from infancy in total recall, this presented no obstacle. I had only to write a line or a thought from a book, and its contents returned to mind.
When I had written until my lids were heavy, I went to the window and, throwing it open, looked out upon the night and the city. Over the glistening domes, beyond the dark and reflecting waters of the Golden Horn, I looked toward Asia.
Hidden in darkness beyond the mouth of the Horn, lay the Bosphorus and my destiny. Not only my father awaited me there, but something more.
Was it intuition? Was it ancient Druidic awareness? Or some atavistic memory calling me back? We Celts had come, long ago, from Central Asia, or so it was told in the old songs. Was there within me some urge to return along the track of migrating peoples? Was something lost back there? Was I returning even as some fish return to the streams of their birth to spawn?
And my father? How would he be, that father of mine, the hero of my childhood? Old? Gray? Stooped? Would his fine strength be wasted away? Crippled? Blinded? Might Andronicus open the gates of Alamut for me? Or Manuel? From all I heard no man could do this, but what was one slave? Perhaps …
At last I slept.
Cold dawn awakened me. Birds sang, water bubbled in the interior fountains, and I returned to my table once more. This was the hour when the mind was fresh, the hour of first and greatest clarity. My thoughts flowed easily as water from a spring, and I wrote, wrote, wrote.
Phillip came, followed by a slave bringing food. “I heard you moving about.” He picked up some pages. “May I?”
He read, nodding a bit. “This is fine stuff,” he said then. “Will you ask Andronicus to sponsor it?”
“Not Andronicus,” I said, “Manuel.”
“The Emperor? But how will you see him?”
“I shall simply ask. Many things are not done simply because they are not attempted.”
“How will Andronicus look upon this?”
“With doubt. But I am no retainer of his, nor of Manuel’s. Andronicus will trust me no less, for he does not trust me now, and he may value me the more.”
“You play with risk.”
“I say what I have said before. I have a fast horse.” Smiling, I put my papers together and stacked them under a marble paperweight at one corner of the table. “Come, let us look upon the town.”
It was time to discover two things: the location of Safia’s informant and, if possible, what had happened to Suzanne.
“It is a danger, Phillip, to live always in one city, for undue emphasis is placed upon the importance of those who live there. Often when compared to others, their shadows grow less.
“I have observed,” I added, “that the steps of a man sound heavier when he is alone in the hall.”
The street to which we found our way was a narrow avenue off the great central street, the Mese. It was a street of shops not far from the Baths of Zeuxippus.
The shop I entered was small, displaying goods from many nations, and the man who came to meet us was a Persian. “Something?” His eyes lingered on me, for Phillip was so obviously what he was.
“Do you sell the goods of Córdoba? There is a leather of a certain quality. It has been used at the Great Mosque for binding books. The leather was suggested by a lady.”
The leather he displayed was excellent, and Phillip was looking at some cloaks across the room. “A valley”—I spoke softly—”in the Elburz Mountains, and a slave in the Fortress of Alamut.”
“The slave’s name?”
“Kerbouchard … as mine is.”
He glanced at Phillip, who was out of hearing. “Forget the slave. He tried to escape and by now may be dead.”
“I shall go to the valley.”
“It is your life.” The Persian shrugged, then he said, “It has been reported that you are a physician.”
“I am.”
“You are spoken of as a bold and daring man.”
“I have been fortunate.”
“Such men are valuable. Come again when you are alone.”
We turned toward the Baths, and glancing back, I saw a man emerge from the shop and hurry away. Safia I trusted, but what did I know of this Persian?
Day after day in the quiet of my room or beside the fountain in the garden, I worked at my writing, preparing first a copy of The Qabus Nama, and following it The Art of War, by Sun Tzu.
Each day we went to an armorer who maintained a room for exercising with weapons, and there I worked myself into condition again, rehearsing the tumbling to recover my old agility and working with weights to make the sword light in my hand. Several of the Emperor’s Varangian Guard came there for the same purpose. These were Vikings, hired for the purpose of protecting the Emperor; all were noted for their loyalty and incorruptibility.
One of these, Odric by name, often practiced with me with swords. He was a stalwart, powerful man, skilled with all manner of weapons, and at first he bested me. But as my strength returned and my old skills came back, I often bested him—yet not as often as I might have done as I needed his help.
One day, while resting after a hard bout I explained what I was doing, copying the ancient book on the art of war and the lessons it taught. He had many questions, and what I hoped for happened. He mentioned me to Manuel. The Emperor was a fine soldier, extraordinarily strong and active, intrigued by all that concerned war and fighting. He suggested Odric bring me to him.
We entered by the postern gate, passing into a secluded garden where trees offered shade, where jasmine, rose, and lilies grew. The Emperor was seated on a bench overlooking the harbor.
His hair was gray, but he was a handsome man, his features blunt and less classically handsome than those of Andronicus. He arose quickly and turned to greet me. The laugh lines in his seamed brown face deepened.