Assassins of Kantara

by James Boschert

  “It is worse than that,” Dimitri warned. “Isaac has had himself crowned Emperor of Cyprus. That means he now has absolute power here and has decided to make a complete break with his great-uncle, Emperor Andronicus Komnenos in Constantinople.”

  Reza was unimpressed. “I thought he had done that already,” he remarked, as he observed the fishermen working on their boats in the bay. The sky was overcast, and a light but cold wind ruffled the surface of the sea, which began to take on a slate gray color. “Looks like we might have a storm coming,” he remarked.

  “What it means is that he is going to visit his cities, Reza, and Paphos is one of the most important,” Dimitri responded. “This is a port frequented by merchants from Palestine and Constantinople. We can expect him to show up here quite soon. I hope Talon completes his business at that castle and gets back before then.”

  They paid their visit to Boethius, who confirmed what Dimitri had said, and then they returned to their rented villa. Both were in a thoughtful mood.

  “You know he is a very worried man.” Dimitri stated as they walked along the half deserted waterfront.

  “Who? Boethius? How so?” asked Reza. Because of his lack of Greek he had been unable to follow much of the conversation.

  “He says the emperor is at Limassol and will be marching with his army to Paphos right after he has visited Kourinn. That is only four days away. If he were in a hurry he could be here within three days.”

  “Do you think he might have heard that Talon is here?” Reza asked.

  “I think it is possible. Boethius said there are spies everywhere ready to ingratiate themselves with Isaac. A new, wealthy looking merchant would be reported.”

  “That gives us two days to prepare,” Reza stated. “I don’t want to be here when he arrives. You should alert Captain Guy and tell him to get his crew together.”

  Dusk was falling and candles were being lit in a few windows of houses nearby; all seemed quiet and peaceful, but Reza, who was tuned to this kind of thing, could almost feel the tension building in the city.

  Dimitri hurried off to carry out the order.

  That night Reza spoke with the women and asked them to prepare to leave. Both Rav’an and Jannat knew Reza well enough to know that he was very worried.

  “But where will we go, Reza?” Jannat demanded, concern in her tone.

  “I think we can head northeast and find Talon along the coast. Right now that is our only good option. To stay is to court disaster,” he replied.

  When he had left to check on the ships, Jannat came over to Rav’an and wept.

  “What was Talon thinking when he brought us here, Sister?” She wiped her eyes with her sleeve. “We are both pregnant, and all I hear from Reza is how dangerous it is here on this island. We should have gone back to China. I miss that place.”

  Rav’an held her close. “I agree it is worrying, my Jannat, but I am sure Talon did not expect this, or he would never have brought us here in the first place. We probably should have gone to China, despite that being a perilous journey. I agree with you, but we are here now and we must have faith in our men. They are trying their best to find us a home for our children, and I do not call my husband the Fox for nothing.” She said the words, but her throat was dry and she was frightened. Nothing seemed to have gone Talon’s way since they arrived in the land of the Frans, and now this cursed island had turned dangerous in the extreme, quite the opposite of what he had expected.

  The next morning Rav’an rose early with Jannat, and they completed the preparations for a hasty departure. Fortunately they had not settled in completely, and much of their baggage was still stored on the ship. Their actions were circumspect, as they didn’t want to alarm the hired help, who might also be spying on them. Dimitri had come back to the villa with Guy and had been adamant.

  “We leave tonight. Trust no one, Madam, no one at all of these people. For sure they are spying on us, because they need to survive too. God help them and their daughters.”

  “Is it as bad as that?” Rav’an had asked him, her tone incredulous.

  “I believe it to be worse, my Lady. Much worse, if the merchant is to be believed. The stories I have heard from the locals would chill your blood.”

  That day went by quickly as they launched themselves into their tasks.

  The sky was streaked with high level clouds and a wind started up that tossed trash into the air and tugged at pedestrians’ clothing. The sea became choppy, with white crests on the waves beyond the harbor sea walls. Reza stared apprehensively out to sea. If they had to leave today it might prove difficult, he thought to himself.

  The same thought occurred to Guy, for he hauled in his cables and turned the ship about so that its bow was pointing directly towards the harbor mouth, then he changed his mind and docked it alongside the quayside again. It was not hard to maneuver; there were very few other ships in the harbor. There had been five, but three had disappeared in the early hours; perhaps their captains had sensed trouble.

  — glanced up at the sky and, swaying to the uneasy motion of the ship, said, “At least the wind is not directly from seaward. I can sail out in this weather, but if it changes a few points we will have to rely on the rowers, Reza.”

  “Do what you must, Guy. I shall attend to the household.” They were almost shouting by this time, the wind was blowing so hard.

  “Where are those damned provisions I ordered?” Gay growled in frustration as he stamped about the deck, glancing repeatedly up at the sky.

  —’s much needed water and provisions finally arrived late in the afternoon on a train of slow moving donkeys driven by sullen drovers. Rumors were flying in all directions in the town, and the drovers were anxious to deliver their goods and get away quickly.

  Late that evening, back at the villa, Reza could see people fleeing into the hills behind the city. They were abandoning their homes! Trains of donkeys, driven by desperate people huddled in their cloaks, climbed the slopes of the foothills behind the town and disappeared from sight.

  “They are leaving like rats from a ship,” he told Rav’an. “I think that we should, too.”

  His misgivings were confirmed when Dimitri came rushing into the villa and called out urgently. “Reza, Madam! We must leave immediately!”

  Reza ran down the steps to join him. “What is happening, Dimitri? I thought we had a couple of days before the King arrived.”

  “I did too, but he has sent his cavalry ahead and they will be arriving within a matter of hours. We must leave now!”

  “That makes good sense,” Reza muttered to himself. “He wants to secure the town so that no one can leave.”

  He called up in Farsi. “We leave this instant, Jannat. Find Rostam and Salem, and hurry; there is no time left.”

  Jannat woke Rostam, who had gone to bed earlier. He stirred grumpily. “What is the matter, Auntie? I’m tired.”

  “You will be able to sleep on the ship. We must go. Come, my dearest, do not waste time. Salam is downstairs with your mother.”

  “Where is Panther? I can’t go without him!”

  Jannat gave an exclamation of exasperation. “Reza says there is no time, Rostam. We must go!”

  Rostam found the kitten curled up on a mat near his bed and seized it. The kitten woke, mewling and hungry, but Rostam had become aware of the tension in the air. “My bow!” he exclaimed and grabbed it up with the small quiver of arrows, then rushed with Jannat down the stairs, clutching the kitten and his prized possessions.

  The house was quiet. Rav’an was waiting outside with an impatient Reza. “Come on, Rostam, for God’s sake! We have to hurry!” she snapped with real urgency in her tone.

  “What is happening?” Jannat asked in a frightened tone, as they hastened through the silent streets.

  “Dimitri heard that the cavalry were almost at the gates of the city. They will seal the city the moment they arrive, and they will try to stop anyone leaving from the harbor. We must get to the ship and
escape,” Rav’an gasped as she hurried along. She could feel the baby inside her move as though protesting this frantic activity and prayed that nothing would go wrong because of it. Oh, why had they come to his benighted island so full of danger? It was no place to raise a child. Sensing her distress, Reza took her arm to help her.

  Before long they came to the quayside and saw the ship drawn up alongside, armed sailors standing nearby. Guy was taking no chances. Crewmen on deck were ready with poles to push them off; others were clustered in the waist, armed with bows and spears.

  Reza glanced around the waters of the inner harbor and noticed that the two other ships had already gone. The little group almost ran the hundred paces left to the boat and had just reached the ship where outstretched hands were ready to pull them aboard when they all heard a cry at the other end of the quay.

  “Save us! In God’s name, save us!”

  Reza pushed Jannat onto the gangplank and made sure Rostam was safe aboard with Rav’an, then looked back along the quay. “Go below, Rav’an,” he ordered. “It is not safe on deck.”

  Hurrying towards them was a group of three, two adults and one child. In the gloom it was hard to see, but he was sure he recognized the voice of Boethius Eirenikos, the merchant. The man’s voice was desperate with terror. “Please take us with you!” he pleaded as he hurried towards the ship, clutching a small box in his arms and carrying a large sack over his shoulder. The woman also carried a bulky sack, and the small child was running between them, clutching at the skirts of the woman. “Dimitri! We will be killed if we stay. For the sake of my child I beg you!” His voice hit a high note in his agony of fear.

  Reza hesitated.

  “We have to leave at once!” Guy called from the steering deck. “Cast off!” he roared at the men in the bows and the stern.

  Rav’an had not yet gone below and had seen the fugitives, “We must take them, Reza! We cannot leave them behind to that monster.”

  Shaking his head, Reza called out, “Yosef! Come with me!” He began to lope towards the three running figures. What he had seen behind the family drove him on. The dark figures of men on horses, some carrying flaming torches, had appeared on the harbor front. They had not yet noticed the activity at the end of the quay, nor seen the three figures, but their discovery was only to be moments away.

  Reza unslung his bow as he ran and heard Yosef running along right behind him. They reached the merchant just as the horsemen caught sight of them and gave a collective whoop: they had found some victims in this nearly empty city. They began to gallop their horses along the harbor towards the turn of the quay, yelling and waving their torches.

  Reza swept the child up and with the other hand dragged at the woman. “Go to the ship!” he shouted. Yosef already had his bow ready. With one swift motion he raised the bow and loosed an arrow high into the air with a ‘twang’ from his bowstring. It disappeared into the night, but seconds later there was a yelp of surprise from a horseman, then shouts of rage as others realized what had happened. No one toppled off a horse, but someone had been hit.

  “Good shooting!” Reza gasped, as he threw the screaming child into the waiting arms of a burly seaman on deck and shoved the merchant and the woman roughly along the gangplank. “Yosef, get on board!” he shouted. “We can shoot at them from here.”

  Yosef needed no persuasion. He skipped onto the deck just as the crew hauled up the plank and ran with Reza up the ladder to the steering deck of the ship.

  — was already bellowing orders at the deck crew to haul up the sail; other men were poling the ship away from the quayside and the rowers were hauling at the oars.

  The rattle of hooves on the stonework added fresh urgency to everyone’s actions as the mounted men galloped furiously down the quayside. One rode in front of all the others, his spurs driving into his lathered mount, and he thrashed the racing animal’s rump with the flat of his sword. “Stop, in the name of the emperor!” he screamed. “Halt, or we will arrest you!”

  “Let them try, by God!” Guy muttered, but he passed the word for the men to take cover. “Be prepared to shoot at them if they want to start a fight,” he told them.

  Reza had disappeared below deck, leaving his men with bows at the ready. There was a shouted command from the quay and men began to dismount. “I can see men with bows preparing to shoot,” Nasuh said to Yosef.

  “Then shoot at them now. Aim first at that man, the one doing all the shouting.” Yosef pointed to the figure who seemed to be the leader. “All of you, aim at him and kill him. Perhaps that will cool their blood. Where is Reza when we need him?” he demanded, looking around the deck.

  The slow-moving vessel was still only twenty paces away from shore, which was much to close for comfort. There was almost a collective cringe from the crew as everyone saw the horsemen preparing to send arrows their way.

  Then Reza was back on deck, clutching a long tube. “Everyone get under cover!” he shouted, then he bent to use a flint and stone. A long stream of sparks flew and the fuse was ignited. Reza ducked behind the side of the ship just in time as a flurry of arrows came thudding into the sides and onto the deck around him—the sparks had made him the perfect target. One man cried out and was dragged hastily into better cover by his mates.

  Yosef called out a command and his men popped up from behind the transom and loosed their arrows in return, all aimed at one man. Even in the dark and with the movement of the ship beneath them, with the torches of the horsemen casting weird shadows, their aim was true. The leader of the cavalry toppled off his horse, clutching his chest with three arrows protruding from it. The yells of the men on shore changed to shouts of consternation.

  “Get your heads down!” Reza yelled to his men. He held in his hand the tube, which was now spluttering and hissing furiously, sending more sparks into the air. Men nearby cowered away from the terrifying sight and crossed themselves, their eyes wide with fear. With one fluid motion Reza hurled the object in a high arc towards the quay, where it fell into the massed ranks of the cavalry. The terrible, hissing object bounced and rolled. Abruptly there was a blinding flash, an enormous bang, and some small objects buzzed overhead like angry bees.

  The people on the ship were momentarily blinded and deafened, but when they recovered their vision they could see the carnage on the quayside, partially obscured by dense smoke. Men and horses were down in a struggling heap of bodies, either dead or wounded. None of the survivors seemed to have any further interest in the departing ship.

  “I wish no harm to the horses, but the men can go to hell,” Reza said to a stunned Guy, as he joined him on the steering deck. “I do not think they will be bothering us now, Captain, but I still think we should leave.”

  “I think so, too. God save us, Reza, but what did you do? That was like a bolt from hell.”

  “In a way it was exactly that. And it has taken some of them back to hell with it,” Reza laughed.

  He left Guy to take the ship out into the choppy seas.

  Always it is a great encouragement

  to Feel and realize

  That the ultimate truth

  Can never, never tolerate

  Human deception.

  —A Sri Chinmoy

  Chapter 14

  Checkmate

  Three days later at the castle of Kantara, a sentry came to fetch Palladius. This was soon after the slaves had been sent back down the ridge to their miserable camp in the valley. One had died and his body had been heaved over the edge of the ridge, to drop onto the rocks below on the North side. The others, having been deprived of food, were staggering with hunger and weariness as they left.

  “We have visitors, Sergeant,” the gawky young sentry told him.

  They strolled together across the barbican towards the closed gates, and Palladius climbed the steps to the tower to get a better view. A soldier standing watch on top of the tower pointed down the track. Moving towards them was a small train of travelers. The leader was mounted on a
horse, as was the person behind, but the majority were either on donkeys or on foot.

  To Palladius it looked as though a merchant might be coming to visit, and he wondered why. He could make out that the leader was dressed very much like a merchant; the man did not appear to be armored other than a sword by his side. Behind him rode a woman who looked as though she might be pregnant; then came several others who had the appearance of servants, a couple of other women, and some armed men taking up the rear.

  They came to a halt at the gate, at which point the rider looked around him, then up towards the battlements, where he saw Palladius staring down at him.

  “Hallo up there! We come in peace,” he said waving his hand behind him. “We are seeking shelter. Pray tell his Lordship Cyricus Doukas we have come from Paphos and bear tidings of His Majesty.”

  Palladius stared down at the group of people congregating at the gates. He counted them: twelve; most were dressed as servants in rough clothing.

  They looked harmless enough, but he would still need permission to let them in.

  “Wait there. I shall inform his Lordship of your arrival,” he called down to the travelers, then trotted down the steps to the court yard and headed for the bailey.

  Cyricus heard of the visitors just as he was about to start dinner. He lifted his shaggy, bearded head and glowered at Palladius, who bowed low and kept his head lowered. “He knows my name?” Cyricus asked.

  “He gave your name and said that he brought news from Paphos, Lord.”

  “God’s blood! I’m starving and I want to eat!” Cyricus grumbled. “Let them in and get someone to see to the servants, but bring the merchant and his woman to me.”

  “Stop complaining all the time, Cyr. News is scarce enough these days, with us being confined up here. It will be good to have a visitor, even one as lowly as a merchant,” Flavia said testily.

  “All you women want to do is to gossip about nothing,” Cyricus snarled.