Assassins of Kantara

by James Boschert

  Turning on her heel, Theodora led the way out of the house. The late afternoon sun had illuminated the Bosphorus and the land on the other side in a golden light, but she paid little attention to the momentary beauty.

  They left almost immediately, with Exazenos leading his small squad of horsemen and the palanquin following as fast as the four men could carry it.

  Her heart wouldn’t stop its nervous pounding all the way as she endured the trip back to the Blachernae Palace. Instinctively she feared that something terrible was going to happen, despite the reassuring behavior of Exazenos, who had touched her on the arm just before he sprung onto his horse with the lithe ease of a practiced athlete. Of course they didn’t have any chance of conversation along the Messe or the wide avenues that led to the palace.

  When they arrived, he was there to open the door and to escort her to his quarters.

  “Do you wish for any refreshment, my Lady?” he asked, as he divested himself of his travel cloak, then helped her to do the same.

  “No, I am fine,” she said. Her mouth was dry, but she didn’t want anything but to be able to leave as soon as possible.

  “Please be seated. I must first tell you something important, and then we can proceed,” he told her. Turning to his man he said, “Bring me some wine and a cup of water for the Lady.” Gabros nodded and disappeared, to very quickly return with a tray carrying a silver cup full of a familiar smelling wine and another containing cool water.

  “You should drink something,” Exazenos said in a calm tone. “You probably need it.”

  Theodora had to agree with him. Her throat was parched, and the cool water helped calm her nerves.

  He sipped his wine and looked across the low table at her. “I shall tell you something which you must keep to yourself, my Lady,” he said finally.

  Theodora gave a tiny shrug. She was accustomed to keeping medical confidences. “What is it that you have to tell me?” she asked.

  “Your brother, do you know where he is?”

  Theodora jerked upright.

  “No!” She had gone pale. “Do you know?”

  “Oh, yes. I can help him... and you.” Exazenos spoke in a low tone.

  Theodora clasped her hands together on her lap almost as though she were praying.

  “Where is he? Is he then alive?” she asked, almost choking. She had tears in her eyes now, and her nails were digging into her palms as she tried to control her expression.

  Exazenos sat back in his chair and regarded her speculatively. She was aware that Gabros was standing in the shadows, also watching her reaction. A cold feeling settled over her. Why did she suddenly feel like a mouse trapped between two cats?

  “Oh yes, he is alive, and I can preserve his life,” Exazenos replied. “But first you must know this: the emperor in his infinite wisdom has decided to execute all the prisoners in the dungeons, regardless of who they are.”

  Theodora thought she was going to be sick. “Why?” she whispered.

  “Because he is mad, and now his paranoia is dominating his thinking. You do know that Thessalonica is about to fall? The next target for William of Sicily will be Constantinople, and His Majesty wants to... um, clean house, as it were. He is quite mad you know.”

  “But, but Alexios never was a traitor! Why should he be... ?” she cried. “Surely the emperor knows that?” A lump in her throat almost choked her and the lead weight in her stomach was getting so heavy she thought she might fall off the chair. With a huge effort she drew herself up and said, “What can you do then to help my brother?”

  Exazenos leaned forward, and with his forefinger traced a rough pattern in the few drops of wine that had fallen on the silver tray. “Well, you see, I have the power to save his life and even yours; but that will depend very much upon what you can do for me.” He didn’t look up immediately. He was waiting for the words to settle in. Then he looked up straight into her bewildered eyes. “You do understand what I mean?” he asked her.

  For the first time he detected a flare of fear and almost smiled. He had been waiting for that. “Your brother can be set free and even your family estates returned, but... there is a price.”

  Theodora sat on the edge of the chair, her back as stiff as a ramrod. “So this is why you brought me here,” she breathed. Her hands were still in her lap but were now white with the grip she had on herself.

  Exazenos grimaced a smile. “I could not help myself, Theodora. You are a very intelligent and beautiful woman. It came as some surprise to me to see the estate again and its condition. Wonderful view, that was always there, but to find you there after all this time....” He stopped. He had nearly told her. Not just yet.

  “What... what do you want of me?” she whispered.

  He raised his eyebrows and leaned forward again. “Why, I want you for my wife, Theodora. You must understand that from the first moment I saw you I was smitten. I can protect you, your family, and set your brother free. There is not much time, however. His Majesty is determined upon this last mad idea of his. I fear it will be carried out before too long.”

  Theodora cleared her throat. “How do I know you are telling me the truth?” she said slowly.

  “That your brother is alive? That is easily done. I can have Gabros take you to him right now.”

  “Here? Here in this palace?” she cried, astonished.

  “Yes, right here,” he responded. “Come, Gabros will take you to him.”

  She stood up shakily. He reached out to steady her, but she snatched her arm away. There was no expression on her face, but he could sense the disgust and mentally shrugged. She would soon be cured of that attitude, he promised himself.

  Gabros led the way, followed by Theodora.

  The walk, along echoing corridors and down steps that took them to the level where the dungeons were located, was an ordeal for her, but she quieted her pounding heart and tried desperately to stay calm. She was barely aware of the stink of fear and death that lingered in the corridors. Alexios was alive! It had been two years since he had vanished, soon after their father had died at the executioner’s hand. Strangled, rumor had said.

  They were walking along a dark tunnel, poorly lit by flaring torches in sconces, when Gabros turned to his right and unlocked a thick wood door. He pushed it open and stood back, then motioned her to enter. Fearing that this might be where she would be imprisoned Theodora hesitated, but he nodded reassuringly and said, “I shall come for you in a few minutes.”

  She couldn’t at first clearly make out the dark patch in the far corner of the stone cell, but when it sat up and looked at her she gasped with shock. Barely hearing the door shut behind her, she stared at the creature who had once been her brother. She didn’t realize that she was weeping as she moved towards the emaciated figure who stood up shakily to greet her.

  “Alexios!”

  “Theo? Is that you? Oh dear God, it is you,” he whispered. She fell into his arms, ignoring the stink of his unwashed body and the slime-covered, filthy rags. They clung to one another for a full minute while she wept into his shoulder and he stroked her hair, whispering endearments.

  Eventually she stood back from him to further examine him. Her horror must have shown in her expression because he shrugged and said, “They don’t treat a person very well in this place, I’m afraid. I would have changed had I known you were coming.” He tried to grin.

  She gasped a choking laugh. Alexios still maintained his sense of humor despite his condition. His face was obscured by a long dirty beard that had gone gray well before its time. There were scabs on his cheeks and his hair was matted with something that looked suspiciously like dried blood.

  “Oh God, but what have they done to you, Alex?” she wailed.

  He glanced at the door and drew her closer to him with his claw -like hands. “Shhh, who brought you here?” he asked in a whisper. He spoke in Latin to her.

  “A man called Exazenos. He said he could protect you, set you free and... ” she responded
in the same language.

  Alexios stopped her with a gesture. “Do you not know who he really is?” he ground out between his broken teeth.

  “I, I know he is very powerful and can help,” she responded. She was not going to tell Alexios what devil’s bargain she was about to strike with the man.

  Alexios reached up and took her by her shoulders. His eyes, which were wild enough already, took on a new intensity. “Oh, my Theo. What have you done?” he almost choked with emotion. “That man who sent you here is Pantoleon, remember him? We all thought he had died at Myriokephalon. He didn’t die, and now he is the chief spy and executioner for the emperor. The Devil curse them both!”

  Theodora took a step back in shock. “You cannot mean that, Alex!” she whispered back. He nodded emphatically. “It is he, and he has a huge hatred for our entire family. He intends to destroy us all. My dearest little sister, you must escape somehow. I know what he is doing. The vile creature wants you, and I am his bargaining piece for your willing agreement. He knows that if he holds me as hostage you would do it... for me.” His shoulders slumped and he looked down. “I would rather die by my own hand than permit him to lay hands on you, my Theo.”

  He slowly looked up at Theodora, who wore a horrified expression on her pale, tear-stained face. She said nothing for a long moment, simply looking at him with her mouth half open and tears running down her face. Then she gave a violent shake of her head. “No , no you are wrong, Alex. Its…its not like that.”

  “Don’t lie to me!” he almost shouted. “Not now, and not about this, or you condemn me to a living hell,” he retorted. “I know full well what he means to do with you. He told me himself.” Alexios’s gesture indicated his scabs and the matted hair. “I tried to kill him, but of course his minions prevented that.

  She nodded in mute acceptance. So he had divined why she was here; despite his awful condition her brother still had a clear mind. “What else can I do? He will save your life if, if I go to him.” She almost choked on the words.

  He shook his head. “No! You must leave the city, somehow. Even down here in the bowels of the earth in this fearsome place we hear things. Thessalonica is falling and then the Normans will come for Andronikos and exact a fearsome revenge upon all who live here.”

  “But he said he would protect us and release you,” she sobbed.

  “You cannot possibly believe that! He is the emperor’s informant and executioner! He is a sadistic and cruel man with buckets of blood on his hands! Whatever he was before, Pantoleon is now a monster as insane as the emperor himself, and as soon as he thinks he has you I shall die anyway.” He took her hands in his. “You must escape, Theo! Leave this city, and my soul will at least go to my God content that you are safe from this insanity.”

  “I cannot do that,” she whispered through her tears. “Oh, Alex, is there no hope?”

  He shook his head vehemently.“No, my dearest sister! There is no hope. Not for me. I want you to swear that you will leave as soon as possible. There is not much time for either you or this city. Swear it!” he demanded of her, raising his voice.

  They both glanced a the closed door, which rattled as someone began to unlock it.

  “Swear it! Swear to God you will flee,” Alexios whispered fiercely, gripping her hands in a vice-like hold.

  She nodded and sobbed, “I swear. I swear to God.” He relaxed his grip, and for the first time smiled. “I love you, my beautiful sister. Go with God. You have made me very, very happy. Give Mother my eternal love, and young Damian. You must protect them first.”

  He could say no more, for the door swung open and Gabros strode in. “Come,” was all he said, and beckoned Theodora to leave.

  She embraced Alexios, and then through the wet of his tears and disregarding the filth on his face, she kissed him on his lips. “Goodbye, my wonderful brother. Go to God in peace,” she whispered. She felt him slip her loose belt off her waist from under her cloak and hide it under his rags. One more lingering look and it was time.

  Then she turned, and without a backward glance she hurried out of the opening. She heard the door slam, and to her ears it sounded like the crash of doom for her brother. She knew she would never see him again. Head lowered, she allowed herself to be escorted up the many stairs and along the corridors until Gabros brought her back to the room she had left only twenty minutes before.

  Pantoleon stood up from his chair and gave her his by now familiar grimace. He observed her tear-stained face and knew she had met her brother.

  “So you have finally seen him. Not in the best of condition, but your brother is a wild prisoner and keeps getting into trouble, hence his condition.”

  Theodora drew herself up. “You know perfectly well that is a lie.” She had had time to do some thinking as she followed Gabros through the labyrinth. “Is it true that you are Pantoleon?” she demanded outright.

  He stared at her for a long moment, then nodded. “Yes, it is I. Your brother told you, no doubt. What else did he tell you?”

  That unless I come to you of my free will you will have him executed. But if I do come to you, you will set him free?”

  Theodora had been a teacher and physician for long enough now to know from a person’s expression or the way their eyes moved whether they were lying or not.

  The information she gleaned from her patients depended upon this kind of perception. She stared directly at Pantoleon and knew without a shadow of a doubt that he lied when he said, “His freedom is contingent upon that, yes. I shall free him when you accept my offer.”

  The leaden feeling came back with a slam. Theodora dragged her eyes away from his and looked down. “I agree to your terms, but I will need some time to prepare. My mother and family must be made aware of the change in my circumstances. I need some time,” she insisted.

  Pantoleon seemed on the verge of refusing, but then he nodded reluctantly and said, “Very well, I shall give you a few days, but then I shall send for you. Be prepared. The emperor’s orders of execution will not wait.”

  He grimaced again and said, “I am so glad that you have agreed to this, Theodora. You won’t regret it, I promise you.” He took her hand and leaned over to kiss it. It was all she could do not to tear it away from him and slap his disfigured face with all her strength. Her self control was now paramount if she was to leave this place alive.

  The ride back with the escort was a numbed blur of tears and silent sobs. When they arrived back at the gates of the villa she stumbled along the path to the house and let herself into the darkness, trying not to make any noise. Her mother, however, had not gone to bed and heard her.

  “You are back, my Darling. Where have you been?” Her tone was both concerned and somewhat plaintive, as though she felt her daughter had let her down.

  In the dim light of a single candle she couldn’t at first make out her daughter’s features, but as Theodora slowly approached, walking like a living corpse, she gasped, “My God, Theo! You look like you have seen a ghost!”

  “I have seen a ghost, Mama,” she croaked.

  Theodora stumbled and almost fell against her mother’s chair. She knelt and placed her head on her mother’s knees and wept great racking sobs that shook her slim frame and left her mother temporarily speechless. Joannina knew that it would be pointless saying anything until the storm of weeping had subsided, so she merely stroked her daughter’s head and murmured words of comfort. “There, there, my Darling, cry it out, whatever it is. We can talk when you are ready.”

  Theodora finally came to a shuddering halt, and after a pause she lifted her head to look at her mother, who was shocked by what she saw. The tear-ravaged face and lines of grief frightened her.

  “Oh, my Theo, what is it that is causing so much pain?” she asked, fear beginning to take hold of her heart.

  “It is Alex, Mama. I have seen him.”

  Joannina jerked upright. “Alexios, our Alex?” she asked, bewildered and fearful.

  “Our Alex, Mama,�
�� Theodora told her.

  “My precious one, where? Dear God protect him, but he is alive?” Joannina sounded as though she was begging.

  “Yes, Mother, but barely, and I know he is to die.”

  It was almost dawn by the time she finished telling her mother of what had happened. Remarkably, Joannina seemed resigned to the awful choice put before them.

  “From everything that you have said, Pantoleon is determined to be avenged on our entire family, to destroy us utterly, my daughter,” she said, looking out at the dim light coming in through the windows. To Theodora she seemed to have aged ten years within a night.

  “Yes, he is, Mama. I have no doubt of that now.”

  “Then, my Theo, you must do as Alex told you. You must flee. Damian is the future, and he must live. Your brother always did have a clear mind.” She took her daughter’s hands in her thin, cold ones and gripped them firmly.

  “You were very young when your sister died.”

  “Mama, I was there when it happened. I can remember it clearly.” Theodora hadn’t meant to sound sharp and instantly was contrite. “I’m sorry, Mama; I didn’t mean to snap.”

  Joannina gave her a wan smile.“I know you were there when it happened, my love, but you never fully understood why it happened. I should tell you.”

  Theodora nodded. “Go on, Mama.”

  “Pantoleon’s father, the senator Spartenos, was a traitor, and unfortunately our Eugenia became tangled up with a plot to assassinate Emperor Manuel.” Joannina held up her hand to still Theodora’s indignant reaction to the suggestion that her sister was a traitor.

  “She was innocent of treason, my love. However, the senator was anything but, and he was the man who had her killed. Our Frank, Talon, was there when it happened and he took care of the assassin, as you know; but then he went on to confront the senator. All this, you must understand, came after the disaster of Myriokephalon, which triggered the revolt in the first place.”

  She sighed. “Whether Talon, our strange young Frank, had avenged our daughter or not, the revolt would have been discovered and the senator would have surely been denounced anyway. But Talon, Alexios thinks, took matters into his own hands and avenged Eugenia’s death. The senator and his wife died under very mysterious circumstances. You might remember seeing the fire. I suspect that Pantoleon came back from wherever he had been to find that his family had perished in disgrace and their property confiscated. Without doubt he blames us for that, hence his fearsome revenge.” Her mother looked up at Theodora with anguish in her eyes.