Fall of Empires

Chapter 25

What a tale this would one day make, Theophanes thought to himself as he supped his wine at the emperor's table. One day back at home in peace he would regale folks with the story of how he and Isaac had ridden through a storm of arrows to find themselves as guests of Heraclius. He thought that he might leave out the several days of captivity in the stockade and instead have the emperor greet them with open arms and praise their courage. No doubt Isaac would add much colour to the account.

'So tell me of the general Shahrbaraz,' Heraclius demanded. 'You got to know him well it seems.'

'He treated us well,' Theophanes replied. 'We were treated more as guests than prisoners, we shared his table and he allowed us to remain with him even when in council.'

'Remarkable,' interjected the emperor's brother. 'And yet he let you go freely, in spite of all you know.'

Theophanes shrugged. 'He grew fond of us I suppose.'

'He must have done indeed,' Heraclius declared. 'By rights when Antioch rose against the Persians he should have had your heads and yet he did not.'

Heraclius took in the open-mouthed expressions of his two young guests and understood at once that the news of their city's violent uprising against the Persian occupation and subsequent submission to the Persian king had not reached their ears.
'Interesting,' he spoke again after a moment's pause. 'The general did not speak to you of your city's rebellion?'

'He said nothing of it,' Isaac responded. 'Tell us please what you know.'

'We have heard very little. The last dispatch from the capital reached us some months ago. It seems that the Persians in Antioch were rather careless in their garrison duties and the citizens rose against them and burnt the imperial barracks with them in it. There was a widespread slaughter of the Jews who I believe were mainly responsible for allowing the Persians into the city in the first place.'

Theophanes frowned and was about to speak but Heraclius raised a hand to forestall him.

'I know nothing I am afraid of the fate of any other citizens so I cannot allay your fears for your families. We do know that Antioch is once more under Persian control and that it seems to have surrendered peacefully to an army of the Great King without great bloodshed, which is in itself unusual. I can only assume that he lacked the troops to mount an assault. Khusrow is not noted for his mercy.

Theophanes' mind was in turmoil. Shahrbaraz must have known something of this. Why had he not told them about the rebellion? What of his father? What of Anna? His heart was in his throat with terrible dread at their unknown fate. As the architects of the city's surrender how could their fathers have been spared by the mob that had retaken the city? He could only fear the worst. Isaac's head was in his hands. He must be drawing the same conclusion.
The emperor sought to summon some words of comfort.

'We are withdrawing to the Euxine coast for the winter. There we may readily receive news and supplies from Constantinople and we may learn more of your city.'

Isaac spoke at last. 'My father was a true Roman, Basileus, though he loved his city most of all. If he has paid with his life for the choices he made to keep his city safe then he would be glad that it has been spared.'

Heraclius nodded thoughtfully as Isaac continued.

'My father would have pledged his loyalty to a worthy emperor such as you and I am my father's son. I will serve with you until Antioch is Roman once more.'

Theophanes wondered at the change that had come over Isaac. He felt no such compulsion to serve. He wished fervently only that he had never set out on this road, that his father had not thought to intervene in the affairs of kings and emperors and had instead kept his head down as a small man should. He cursed them all and cursed himself for ever leaving Anna's side. He would have given everything, even his last breath, just to know that she was safe. All eyes were on him now however and what else could he do but follow his friend's lead, albeit with a little less zeal and conviction.