John Masters

by The Rock

  The servant led me into the castle. Torrox was greater than anything I had seen in Britain, though small compared to the mighty works I later saw in Rome. It was of two stories, all of stone, of which there is an abundance of all kinds in that land, made in the form of a hollow square, with only one gate. The roof was not of straw, as in Britain, but of tiles. Many servants, men-at-arms, and women resided there, perhaps to the number of two hundred souls. The village lay down river and contained about fifty houses. The servant showed me to a small cell on the second floor, facing southwest and furnished with a bench, table, and pallet. Through the arrow slit I could see that great gray Pillar of Hercules which, though three leagues distant, seemed to frown down directly upon all that country. The servant gave me to eat and brought fine robes, which may have belonged to the drowned clerk, then led me to the great hall and introduced me to the nobleman, dispensing justice there. I started, for this Count Theodomir was the twin of Count Anseric—they were indeed twins, twenty-five years old, and at first glance I thought it was Anseric returned; but this Theodomir was grave and calm, his skin pure and his gaze straight, whereas Anseric's skin was red and mottled, his eyes bloodshot and always moving, his lips loose.

  Count Theodomir's Latin was better than mine, and he welcomed me warmly. "I hear there is much correspondence to be dealt with," I said.

  "Yes," he said, adding somberly, "Though it is the Holy Spirit we need from you, Brother Aethelred, more than we need your learned pen.... Come to me at any time, ask what you will. You will be heard."

  "Or come to me," a woman's voice said behind me. "You will be even better received. Unless you are of brother Anseric's faith." Count Theodomir's face went cold and tight, and he said, "My wife, the Lady Hildoara. This is Brother Aethelred, from Wessex."

  "A monk," she said, eyeing me as though I were an animal at market, "but more of a man between the legs than you, I'll be bound."

  He snapped at her in their tongue and turned away. She shouted rudely after him. I suspected that all was not well between them.

  A month passed. I prepared and answered correspondence for Count Anseric, who was usually drunk but showed himself most generous toward me, for though I was but a penniless monk, he lavished small gifts upon me, embraced and kissed me, and stroked my beard in wonder at its fairness. Of Count Theodomir I saw little, for he was always out upon the king's business in that province. His wife, the Lady Hildoara, spent many hours each day closeted with servants, captains, knights, and passing travelers upon her Lord's business and once even sent for me. When I entered, she was lying naked on her couch, so I knew she had forgotten her summons and slipped out quietly to save her shame. For the rest, I passed two hours each day with the priest of the church, learning the Visigothic tongue. Of the language I learned something, of the state of the kingdom and country much more.

  All Hispania was rent by fear and hatred. Many believed that King Roderic had murdered the previous king, Wittica, and some now planned to slay him in his turn. The mountains were full of outlaws, the roads of brigands. In Africa a new and terrible army of men called Moors, who denied Christ, had come from the east, wading in blood, and possessed themselves even of the Pillar of Hercules upon that side; and no man knew what they intended to do but each looked fearfully over his shoulder, for the strait between the two pillars is very narrow.

  As if these perils were not enough, in every court and palace of the Visigoths flourished all manner of abomination. No vice was too obscure or too bestial, the priest told me, but that it was practiced by one and by many, not in secret and alone but together and in public. I asked the priest to describe these abominations to me, but he said I should ask Count Anseric and the Lady Hildoara; and yet, he said, our people—for he too was a Visigoth—have made good laws and can live close to God's will, if they wish.

  At the castle the state of the kingdom was laid before me in little, as though in a picture—for Count Theodomir lived like a saint, and his brother Count Anseric, my master, like a swine.

  On a day in the middle of April Count Theodomir left on a long journey to carry reports of the province to King Roderic, who was in the farthest north. That night the castle was filled with carousing and revelry. The next day Count Anseric sent for me, and I thought perhaps I should speak to him of my wish to continue my journey to Rome, for Torrox had begun to oppress me, more heavily now that Count Theodomir would be absent for many weeks.

  But when I came to Count Anseric's chamber, he said, "We make a sea voyage tonight. Bring parchment and pen. Tell no one."

  The count himself came to my cell soon after dark, and we rode with two grooms to that ruined town on the bay below the Pillar of Hercules which men called the Rock. There a vessel waited, we went aboard, the sailors cast off, and the rowers settled to their oars. The moon was high, and the face of the Rock shone very white on the left hand. Then Count Anseric said, "We go to Septa. We will talk to Count man, the governor, and others about helping our king make order here in Hispania. What we agree, you write in Latin, we sign. You understand?"

  My task was plain enough and very usual, for only we of the Church can write, and until swords are drawn, our help is necessary for every act of policy. Many had spoken of this Count Ilian in Torrox. It was said that King Roderic had violated his daughter Florinda while the maid was at court; but the count had forgiven the king his sin and only taken his wife and daughter away from the court that no more temptation might befall. So forgiving and Christian a nobleman I much looked forward to meeting.

  God afflicted me with vomiting the rest of the journey across the strait to Septa, which we reached in the last hour before dawn. A man in a white cloak, which concealed his face, awaited us on the shore, and led us quickly through the city to a great villa set behind a high wall. A strange music, as of plucked lutes, filled the air even at that hour, and I heard water tinkling. I was shown to a large room full of cushions, where I soon fell asleep.

  The man who aroused me wore a gray robe and a black cloth wound many times around his head. He was dark of skin, but his hair was the color of dull copper, and his eyes were blue. He was near thirty years of age. He spoke to me in excellent Latin, calling me by my name, which much surprised me. He said, "I am David ha-Cohen, secretary to the general Abd-al-Malik. We meet in the center chamber at noon."

  He bowed and made to leave me, but I cried out, for a shrunken man, hairy and misshapen of face, ran in upon four legs from the garden, screeching and gibbering, David ha-Cohen laughed and said, "That is an ape. The owner of this palace keeps a dozen here, well fed." He waved his hand, and the beast ran out, chattering.

  Then he left me, and young boys waited upon me with spiced food, and sweetmeats in silver dishes, and wine, and iced sherbet. When all was done, one boy stayed, an affectionate lad who curled up against me as a son or brother might and showed me a wound upon his thigh, but I saw no wound and gently bade him go and play at balls outside as 1 must prepare myself for the conference.

  When I joined Count Anseric in the center chamber I saw that the boys had served him, too, for he was very red of face and sat down most heavily upon the cushions. In that place there were marble pillars, and many spread cushions, and a pool of clear water, and mosaic figures dancing under the water. Now came a tall, thin, gray man in a Visigothic tunic, like Count Anseric's but more splendid, and this was Count Ilian himself. His eyes were deep-sunk and envenomed, his mouth wide and thin. He did not look at all forgiving.

  We three Christians waited, not speaking, and suddenly a mighty blast of trumpets almost in our ears set us on our feet. The silk curtains shivered, and three Moors strode in, followed by David, the scribe. He in the center was a dark prince, with a forked beard and a cunning eye, dressed all in black, and he came on alone. Count Ilian muttered, "It is Musa-ibn-Nusayr, governor of Africa for the caliph."

  The governor spoke sharply, pushing his hand flat toward the floor. I dropped to my knees, for his meaning was clear, and Count Anseric with me.
Count Ilian hesitated, but at the governor's frown he too knelt. Then the governor smiled and embraced us all and introduced the other two Moors with him: Tarik, who was dark and wide and short and wore a green robe; and Abd-al-Malik, David's master, who was tall and young and fair and wore white and gold.

  Musa spoke a few sentences, then turned upon his heel and left, all bowing again. David translated. "The governor of Africa bids you make speed with your talk as he must leave in the morning. Let no foolish splitting of hairs delay agreement."

  The talking began. I had little to do, for David's Latin was better than mine, and beside Arabic he also spoke Visigothic. However, I listened diligently and learned that Count Ilian and Count Anseric meant to invite an army of five thousand Moors to help King Roderic make peace in Hispania. The counts would have to pretend to fight against the Moors at first, it was agreed, though I did not understand why. And if, as some said, the king was the prisoner of Arian heretics and other evil forces, then his army must be attacked, and Count Ulan would be regent until the king could be released. The wages of the Moors was soon agreed, this to be freedom to sack Asido and two other towns, together with ten thousand pieces of silver. This Tarik of the green robe was to be the general, with Abd-al-Malik under him. The counts swore to obey Tarik in all that pertained to waging war, and the Moors swore to return to Africa after they had been paid, whenever Count Ilian asked them.

  In Hispania the Moors would land in the shelter of that Rock where I was shipwrecked. For the journey across the narrow sea they had four big boats. Each boat held one hundred soldiers and should be able to cross the strait once coming and once going each day. So it should take two weeks to transport the army to Hispania if the weather remained fair.

  When we ended our talking, it was arranged that we should return to Torrox that very night, bearing with us Count Ilian and his family and also Abd-al-Malik, who would make arrangements on the very place for the arrival of the army.

  Then the lords went away, and David and I worked together to prepare the agreement in four copies. When all was done, and we had read each aloud, that none might differ from another, we took the parchments to our masters, and our work was done.

  I returned to my chamber and David with me. He lowered himself to the cushions, sitting cross-legged in a manner I never learned to follow, for it made my knees ache, also it is ill-suited to the damp floors of Wessex. David said we had some hours to pass, and since he had heard I did not care for other entertainment, we would do well to converse together. Time spent in acquiring knowledge is never wasted, he said. He asked me many questions about Torrox and about Count Theodomir—he seemed relieved when I told him I had seen the count leave with my own eyes—and about the Jews. When I said I had never met a Jew, he answered shortly, "You are talking to one. Did you expect us to have horns and a tail?"

  I apologized for my ignorance, and he said, "Aethelred, I don't know why, but I like you. Listen to me. You are in danger. Now, slip out through yonder arch. Across the street there is a blue door. It is the synagogue. Enter there, cover your head, and pass the time in meditation until tomorrow, when I shall come for you. Count Anseric will think that you have run off with one of the boys. He will not worry, as long as you stay in Africa."

  I said, "I do not understand."

  David walked up and down several minutes. Then he spoke slowly to me. "Aethelred, only seven people know of the agreement just made: the governor, the two Muslim generals, the two counts, we two secretaries. Of those, we four Moors are obeying the command of our caliph. None of us stands in any danger should the agreement be revealed. Think you the same is true of the counts? Think you that their king, Roderic, knows of the agreement?"

  I thought that David was trying to warn me, but though I was troubled, what could I do? I said, "Count Anseric sheltered me when I came in, near drowned, from the sea. I cannot desert him. As for the king, he is a prisoner of Arian heretics. The counts plan to free him from that thrall. It is so written."

  David struck his clenched fists upon his temples and cried aloud in his own tongue and then said, "What must be, must be.... How do you like the Lady Hildoara? The scent of her doings carries across the straits even against the wind."

  I told him of her summons to me and how I had saved her embarrassment, and he fell on the cushions and lay there a long time, struggling and gasping for breath. He rose at last, weeping, and said, "Farewell, Aethelred ... farewell." He embraced me and in a moment was gone.

  The rowers thrust our vessel from the shore after dark that night. Abd-al-Malik stood silent in the stern, wrapped in a cloak. Count Anseric fell asleep at the mast. Count Ilian's lady sat in the waist of the vessel, her arm around their daughter, Florinda, she whom the king was said to have defiled. The wind blew hot from Africa, and clouds hid stars and moon. Faint light seemed to come from under the water.

  I heard a tread behind me on the creaking deck and turned to see Count Ilian. He peered at me and said, "Ah, it is the Saxon...." He seemed then to speak to himself, as though forgetting that I was at his side. "What do they know, who have never left Europe? I have been to Damascus. I have spoken to the Caliph Walid. It is three thousand miles to Damascus, and all the way the banner of Islam waves over city and village, field and forest, desert and shore. And beyond Damascus, three thousand miles more. And all this in ninety years, since their Prophet launched them upon the world."

  "A mighty people," I said wonderingly. "And of a surety, if anyone can restore King Roderic to the peaceful possession of his throne and his rights, they can."

  The count muttered a prayer and left me. At dawn we landed by the ruined town and went at once to Torrox. Count Anseric announced a great feast, and all day the castle and village bustled with preparations. By the fourth hour after noon all was ready. Soon after, the feast began.

  It was as though I slid from the top of a mountain, where it was cool and clear, ever faster down a slope, the air growing thicker, the light more lurid. At first musicians played, men and women bowed and spoke politely one to another and ate daintily. Soon the platters of lamb and fowl and boar, of fish and mussel and oyster, passed more quickly, and more quickly emptied the wine flagons. From music it passed to singing, and from that to shouting. The Lady Hildoara's robe was ill-fastened, so that unknowingly she displayed her breasts to the Moor, Abd-al-Malik. All around, men began to fondle women. By the time darkness came, scores of the Visigoths were lying on the floor in their own vomit. Others pulled servant wenches to their laps, threw up their skirts, and shamelessly stroked and entered upon their privy parts like rutting animals. Count Anseric, Lady Hildoara, and Abd-al-Malik were not to be seen, and soon I left, too, for the sights of that place were an abomination. But in the courtyard I stumbled upon Count Anseric engaged in vile concourse with a stable boy. Running in horror away from them toward my cell, I opened a wrong door by mistake and found Abd-al-Malik and Lady Hildoara, naked, watching a great wolfhound that was mounted upon a servant girl.

  I ran out then, blind with terror, past the sentries, out of the courtyard, into the village, for God must surely be preparing his lightning against such people. A man stepped out of a dark doorway in front of me and held my arm. "It is the Saxon," he said. "God be praised!"

  I stared. "Lord Theodomir! The Lord be praised, indeed! What I have seen..."

  "I know," he said abruptly. "Their punishment will come. But you have been on a journey. I must know what passed. For the sake of our country, for our very Faith, Aethelred ... tell me!"

  I collected my wits. "You must ask your brother, Count Anseric," I said humbly. "I am sworn to secrecy."

  "They will kill me, fool!" he snapped. "Why do you think I creep around dark alleys under my own castle walls? In the name of our Saviour, tell me."

  My heart was ready to burst, for Count Theodomir was a saint among men. But I was his brother's servant. I could not break faith. I wrenched free, and before he could recover from his surprise, I was gone.

  I ran
out of the village, ran across moonlit fields, I knew not where. Then a white light shone in the sky, and I ran toward that, believing it was a sign from Christ, until, coming at last close to it, I saw it was the Rock. Then I slowed to a walk, and the sand under my feet changed to sharp stones, and the moon hid itself. Careless of what might befall, I crawled under a great rock and curled up, shivering like a fevered animal. Sick and sore afraid I was, for in my marrow I felt the coming wrath of God. Ever more bright in the night I saw God, towering in almighty anger in the clouds, brightness about Him, to destroy this world and all of us upon it. Then I prayed, gabbling words without sense, until at last, being very tired, I seemed to see a woman, long-haired and naked but with no lewdness, who cried for help; but I could not help her, and after a while she left me, or I fell asleep, I know not which.