Constan ignored his tone, though inwardly he raged, “Very good. See that the Kentarches here, and the Dekanoses are assigned rooms befitting their stations. Their ladies will be staying with them tonight.”
Zinvor stiffened to attention and said, “At once sir.”
Constan smiled, “Good, when ye finish with that, ye may retire for the night. I want ye well rested for tomorrow. After I introduce myself to the men, we will be going on a little stroll in the countryside. The men have been on garrison duty and I want to ensure that they can march with a full kit of gear. Everyone save Amata is dismissed.”
Everyone except Amata shuffled out of the room. Zinvor being last, pulled the door shut behind him. Constan turned to Amata and said, “Now what about us?”
Amata moved around the desk toward Constan as tears began to trickle down her cheeks. He stood to meet her and they embraced. She began to sob openly as he held her close. In between sobs she said, “I thought.” She paused for another sob, “I thought I was going to lose you. When the Emperor’s men plucked you right from my bed.” Her voice trailed off and the room fell silent.
Constan brushed away a lock of her dirty blond hair and placed a finger under her chin. She looked up into the gaze of his single eye as he said, “I’m a bit harder to kill than that love. God didn’t bring us back together, only to immediately tear the scab from the wound in ye heart. He brought us back for a purpose.”
Amata’s gaze turned to steely resolve as she said, “Then why did he not bring us together at the end of the war? Before I lost my parents and became.” Her body shuddered as she spat out the words, “Before I became a whore.”
“I know not why love. Only that there must be some reason that he made the path for us so long and difficult. There can be no doubt that this is meant to be.” Constan said.
“How can you still love me? After I.” Amata’s words were again interrupted by a sob, “After I gave myself to so many men.”
“Lass, do ye not think that I have lain with many a whore since I saw you on in Constantinople those many years ago?” Constan asked.
“Yes but.” Amata was silenced as Constan placed his right index finger on her lips.
“Shhhh, there is no buts. I love thee Amata and I refuse to be separated from thee ever again. Can you find it in ye heart to forgive a foolish man that ye once loved and love him again?”
She smiled up at him in response. The light from the nearby braziers reflected brightly off of her large teeth as she moved her head up close to his and kissed him. They stood for many moments locked in a passionate embrace. Finally needing to take a breath, they broke their contact. Amata smiled at Constan again and said, “I never stopped loving you.”
“Then would ye give me the honor of becoming my wife on the ‘morrow?” Constan asked.
“Yes.” She said as they kissed once again.
Chapter 52
Morning, October 11th 636, Antioch, Syria Province, Byzantium
The 5th Babylon
The sound of cornu blared throughout the fort as the eastern horizon started to show a hint of dark gray. The men came stumbling from their rooms in the keep, their bleary eyes dull and full of the dreams that should be continuing. That is if they chose a different line of work, one that had the opportunity to sleep to a more natural hour.
The men’s states ranged from bewildered to befuddled as they raggedly formed up on the parade field. As their minds began to rouse many of their faces shifted from an expression of bewilderment to one of shock. It had been a long time since they were awakened to formation by the sounds of the cornu at such an ungodly hour.
Constan, flanked by Hovig and the 5th Parthica survivors including the females, gazed down upon the scene from the Tourmarches’ balcony in the keep. The once silent morning air was pierced by the voices of Kentarches and Dekanoses as they yelled at their men to form up.
“They look pretty ragged.” Athos observed.
Constan nodded in agreement, “Aye.”
“They’re good men. They’ve just grown soft on garrison duty. They’ll toughen back up quick enough.” Hovig said.
The group fell silent and watched as it took several more minutes for the men of the 5th Babylon to fall into formation. Finally, after about twice the amount of time that it should have taken, thirty squares of Skutatoi stood in orderly attention before Constan, “Good morning, 5th Babylon. I’m Tourmarches Constan. I have been assigned to lead you by Emperor Heraclius. He has every confidence in you and has given us a special task to perform. A task vital to the survival of the Empire.” Constan paused dramatically before continuing, “The retrieval of the True Cross of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The holiest of all artifacts lies within the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem. Sadly, the church, along with the rest of the province of Palestinia, lies within the clutches of the damned.”
The eyes of the men went wide at Constan’s words, but to their credit they continued standing at attention in silence. At least this lot seems to be well disciplined. Constan thought to himself.
Constan continued his introduction, “I wish I had a month to drill ye, before we marched to the ships that await us in Seleuciam, but alas I have but a single day to get ye ready. Therefore, we are taking a little route march out in the countryside this morning. Ye will be bearing your full kit and yoke. During the march, we will drill on falling out of column of sixes formation into battle line and back again.”
Constan paused for a moment and placed both of his hands on the stone railing of the balcony. He leaned forward toward the men and continued, “I’m not going to blow any sunshine up ye arses. Palestinia province is a land lost to the damned. We can expect to be attacked with little warning, so ye must be ready to change formations quickly and flawlessly. Report to the kitchen to break your fast and then don your kit and yoke and be assembled back in formation in an hour. I’m not one for long and flowery speeches so let’s get on with it. Dismissed!”
The men saluted Constan, broke formation, and formed a line at the entrance of the kitchen. As they shuffled through the entry way into the warm stone structure, they were given a wooden bowl. At the next station a cook dropped a ladle full of wheat porridge into the bowl. They were then handed a piece of bread to soak up the juice, and a cup of sour wine on the way out the door opposite the entry.
Constan walked into his office followed by the rest of the people on the balcony. He turned to Athea and Liana and asked, “Can ye find a nearby church and a priest for me today?” His eye glanced nervously at the closed door to his bed chamber before he continued, “I would like to marry Amata upon our return this afternoon.”
Athea and Liana both took a step forward in unison and hugged Constan. He sheepishly placed an arm around each of the ladies. Taking a step back Athea said, “That’s wonderful news. Athos told me about the story you told of Amata. It’s incredible that God saw fit to bring you two back together after so many years. I’m happy for you both.”
Liana smiled, revealing the slight overbite of her top teeth, “It’s like a fairytale come to life.”
Constan gave them a warm smile, “Aye, ‘tis indeed. For the first time in a long time my heart sings again.”
“I didn’t smell wine on your breath when we embraced.” Athea said.
“Aye, I took my first drink of the day cut with water.” Constan replied.
Baltazar with an incredulous expression on his face said, “You never drink your wine anyway but straight.”
“Indeed, lad. For the first time in a long time me heart doesn’t pain me. I don’t need to be drunk to numb me sorrows.” Constan replied.
“We’ll find you a beautiful church for your wedding.” Liana said.
Constan removed a pair of gold nomismas from his purse and pressed one each into Athea and Liana’s palm, “I have every faith in ye ladies. Once ye’ve found us a good church, see if ye can find Amata something nice to wear in the agora.”
Athea smiled, “Worry
not. We will make her beautiful for you tonight.”
Constan returned the smile warmly, “I’m sure ye won’t disappoint. Ye two are dismissed.”
Athea and Liana stiffened to attention and saluted. Constan turned his attention to the men in the room, “Hovig, can ye please ensure that ye and myself are issued a kit and yoke as well? We need to set a good example.”
Hovig frowned, “I will see to it at once, Tourmarches.”
Constan nodded at the man, “Very good, dismissed.”
Hovig came to attention and saluted before moving to leave Constan’s office. Before he did so he cast Constan a quick glance. His expression was one of barely concealed rage, “Droungarios, I do not know what ye old Tourmarches tolerated in terms of your attitude, but let me tell it straight to ye. Whatever thoughts in ye mind are leading to such feelings, ye had better fix, with haste. If I feel that ye are undermining me authority in any fashion while we are on campaign ye will taste the blade of me Spatha. Are we clear?”
Droungarios Hovig stiffened to attention, turned to Constan, and saluted. “Very clear, sir.”
Constan stared at Hovig for several moments before saying, “Good. I’m glad we understand each other. Get out of my sight.”
At the end of the hour, Constan, wearing a full kit, including chainmail armor, his Spatha, an axe on his back, and a shield, stood before his assembled Tourma. The yoke supporting his pack rested heavily against his shoulders. I’m getting too bloody old to be setting an example like this. He thought to himself.
Using his knowledge from many years of campaigning against the Persians, he had placed strips of cloth underneath the straps of his pack and between his feet and sandals to ease the burden of the pack’s weight. Looking down at the men assembled before him, he took a deep breath and said, “Welcome back men, of the 5th Babylon. Today we will be marching out of the Ferrea gate that you so ably guarded during your assignment here in Antioch. From there we will march east through the mountains down the Emessa road until the Sun reaches its.”
Constan paused for a moment to see if the men would break discipline and react. When he was satisfied that they were not going to break he continued, “We will then conduct formation drills until I am satisfied that ye will survive a damned attack. Should ye please me today, we will return and you can have until midnight to do whatever strikes your fancy. Spend time with ye family, getting drunk until ye collapse in a pool of your own vomit, or find a sheath for ye sword if ye know what I mean. Whatever it is that ye would like to do one last time before we depart.”
Constan paused for a moment and the men laughed at his light hearted joke, “Just ensure that ye will be able to stumble into formation on the morrow when the cornu beckon ye. Otherwise I’ll carve ye balls off and have them sewn into a hat.”
Before Constan could continue a voice yelled, “Too late, sir, my wife is wearing them as a necklace.”
The three thousand men before Constan erupted into laugher. Constan immediately fired back in his loudest voice, “Well then in your case, laddie, I’ll cut ye manhood off and fasten it to the top of my hat of balls. It will make a fine tassel!”
Dozens of men groaned at the mere thought of the threat. Hundreds more of the men of the 5th Babylon, as men are often want to do whenever anyone’s manhood is threatened, unconsciously dropped their left hands and verified that everything was as it should be in their nether regions. Constan saw the lapse in discipline and bellowed, “Stand at attention, damn ye. The next man I see break attention will be the first to lose his balls!”
The men that had deviated from the position of attention snapped back into it and the men that had held their discipline and maintained the stance stood a little taller. “Good. Today’s training will include all of the officers as well. No one will get to ride a horse while ye sweat under the weight of the pack. That includes meself and the men of my former unit, the 5th Parthica. Now form column of sixes and prepare to leave the fort!”
As soon as Constan fell silent the Kentarches of the 5th Babylon began to bark commands, which were quickly echoed by the Dekanoses. As the men formed into column of sixes, Constan and the rest 5th Parthica survivors, save Athea and Liana, made their way to the head of the formation. They formed up behind Constan who turned to them and said, “For today you will start marching with me. During the march, Droungarios Hovig will assign you throughout the day to individual Kentarchias as we march. You will walk amongst them and talk about your experiences with the damned. Tell them what the damned are like, how they prefer to attack, and what the best strategies are to use to defeat them. Understood?”
Athos, Baltazar, and Nasir, all responded in unison, “Understood, sir!” Maarika gave him a slight nod.
“Good lads!” Constan’s eye nervously fell to Maarika as his face turned crimson and he hastily added, “And lasses.”
Constan then looked to see that all was in order before bellowing, “5th Babylon, forward!”
As Constan gave the command, with much creaking and groaning of iron hinges, the gates of the fort were opened before them. The first left step of the men did not come down onto the ground in unison. Enraged at the lack of coordination from their men, Kentarches began yelling to correct their failure. Within ten steps, the soles of three thousand sets of sandals struck the cobblestones in unison.
As they departed Fort Arx and turned northward, people began to spill out of the dwellings along their route. With sleep-filled eyes, they observed something the citizens of Antioch hadn’t seen in a long time. A Thematic Tourma of the Roman Army marching in perfect unison.
As the head of the 5th Babylon column reached the eastward facing Ferrea Gate, it opened to reveal the light of the rising sun. Constan smiled and said over his shoulder, “Still got the timing down.”
Hovig asked confused, “Sir?”
Athos replied, “It was a tradition of the 5th Parthica to time our marches so that when we opened the eastern gate to depart the city, that the sun would be breaking the horizon.”
“What was the significance of that?” Hovig asked.
“With perfect timing it would seem as if the Skutatoi were disappearing into a heavenly light as they marched through the gate. Timing is critical as the effect doesn’t work if the Sun crests the top of the city walls.” Athos replied.
“I see. What a wonderful tradition. Glory be to God!” Hovig said.
Everyone within earshot repeated the phrase, “Glory be to God!”
The call rippled across the 5th Babylon like wildfire and within a minute of Hovig’s first call the rest of the unit took up the call and repeatedly yelled, “Glory be to God!”
Their voices echoed off the stone structures and the nearby mountains and woke everyone on the eastern half of the city. Shutters that had been closed against the October morning chill, were opened to see what the commotion was about. Within minutes, many of the residents of the eastern half of the city had taken up the call. A few minutes later the rest of the city had joined in the call and the words, “Glory be to God!” Echoed off the mountains from tens of thousands of voices.
Emperor Heraclius groaned as he awoke. His head pounded in displeasure from the wine that he had consumed the previous evening mourning his daughter. Reaching over to his nightstand he found the goblet of wine that always awaited him when he woke. He took a sip of the liquid and swished it around in his mouth to alleviate the foul taste and moisten his dry tongue. From beyond the palace through the window shutters he thought he heard voices. Faintly at first, but with ever increasing fervor.
He rang his bell and summoned a servant. As the servant opened the door and prostrated himself, Heraclius asked, “What’s that noise I’m hearing? It sounds like many voices, but I can’t quite make it out.”
The servant replied, “It’s coming from the city, my Emperor. Let me open your window shutters and you can hear it.”
Emperor Heraclius nodded, “Very well.”
The servant walked over to the line
of eastward facing shuttered windows in the Emperor’s sleeping chamber and propped the first one open. As he did so, the Emperor was able to clearly hear the words, “Glory be to God!”
The Emperor smiled and asked, “It sounds like the entire city has taken up the call. What’s got them so riled up at this hour?”
The servant, who was working on setting the pole in place to hold the second window shutter open said, “It’s the 5th Babylon, sire. They marched out of the city at first light yelling Glory be to God.”
The Emperor smiled and then downed the rest of his goblet of wine in one gulp. He turned to another servant waiting in the doorway, “More.” He set the goblet down on his nightstand and walked toward the open window. Off in the distance, he could see the line of the 5th Babylon snaking into the first curve in the Emessa road around Mount Silpius and smiled in satisfaction. Good luck on your march, Constan and Athos. The fate of the Empire may very well rest in your hands.
The 5th Babylon continued their march for several hours. During the course of the march, whenever the road opened up into a large clearing amongst the mountains, Constan ordered them to fall into battle line and back into column of sixes. At first the transition of the lines was ragged. As the day progressed the transition became increasingly smoother. The 5th Babylon’s transition between the two formations improved and execution time began to drop.
As the morning unfolded, Athos, Baltazar, and Nasir went from Kentarchia to Kentarchia explaining what they knew of the damned to the men and answering their questions. The trio found that the men’s heads had been filled with mostly rumors and very little fact. The more outrageous ones included the damned’s ability to control the weather. For instance, during their first attack at Yarmuk they summoned a sand storm, and for their attacks at both Bethlehem and Damascus a thunderstorm.
Another rumor was that the damned could use their weather control powers to summon the wind and actually fly into battle. Perhaps the most disturbing rumor of all was of a damned demoness that could gaze upon a man and instantly turn him into one of the undead. She was known as Fonda.
Byzantium Infected Box Set Page 79
