The Byzantine Wager

Chapter 81 - At the Usual Place

Chapter 81

At the Usual Place

The door man knew and expected them. This concerned Pons. Was their regular meet up being noticed by anyone else?

Upon entering the pleasure house of Pandarus, Pons found the odors less pungent than the streets but still pervasive. Competing cloying incenses - sandalwood and jasmine - fought to mask the underlying scent of spilled wine - which drew swarms of tiny flies. Sweat soured the air and as always an omnipresent fishy pungency. The perfumes of the ponces and prostitutes added to the bouquet. The sweetest scents the Queen of Cities could offer to seduce.

Pons regretted bringing Lord Guilhelm to this dim debauched place, mostly because it would disgrace Dame Judith were she to ever find out.

Cyn and Marius stepped in behind them.

"How come you never bring me here before?" The tall rider grinned.

"We did not have the money or cause. You just sit here in the common room, have a cup of wine, and keep watch." Pons instructed.

"With all these pretty naked girls? Keep watch? I like this better than keeping watch outside of a church with Cyn and the street cats. What am I watching for?"

"A man who is sniffing about despite having his nose cut off. He will be back in town by now and should you ever see him I will want to know directly. Cyn will be upstairs with us."

Pons had already told the Margrave how they had recruited the emperor's favorite concubine and maintained contact. Cyn led up the narrow stairs, the older men trailed.

"After we meet her, we might as well let Cyn spend some time with her. She is the best spy we have and works for nothing. Paid in love and hope."

The Margrave raised an eyebrow.

"Sure we have to pay for these visits - and this place is expensive - but we need to speak face to face. Using the girls at the fountain for daily reports is cheaper, but I can understand more when I question her directly."

"Yes. The most expensive brothel in Christendom is your meetup. The most sumptuous room as well?"

"There are three of us, four counting the girl - the regular rooms are merely closets."

Cyn opened the door to the room. With a squeal Mariapitkee threw herself into his arms and covered his face with kisses.

"You live. You live! The monster made me sit beside him and watch as all the mercenaries from Nicea were impaled. It was horrible."

"Not all. A couple of us escaped - thanks to your warning."

"Ahem," Pons interrupted. The warning from the widow Angelos had also helped. "Maria from the fountain said you need to see us urgently."

"Yes. The boy Emperor Alexios is going to be killed. I know it. And soon. Perhaps tonight, it may even be happening as we speak. You must rescue him."

* * *

Margrave Guilhelm, closed the door to the hallway and stood quietly in the rear. The most luxurious pleasure room at the city's most decadent den of sin was still a confined space.

The girl gushed and kissed Cyn, before she fell into animated conversation with Pons.

Guilhelm's Greek came from a half remembered childhood - a friar rapped his knuckles with a switch when his verbiage was incorrect. A year in the city and Pons, even in his fifties - when languages were said to come harder - was fluent.

The Margrave knew Pons had been the correct choice to send to the east to look into the death of Renier. He never considered that the mercenary captain would take the gold and vanish in the wind. Never. Guilhelm would have trusted Pons with a bag full of diamonds, rubies, and sapphires.

His greatest worry for the past year was - that upon reaching Constantinople - his men had been captured or killed.

Had the duo merely merely given his youngest a decent burial, he would have been beyond grateful and considered the price cheap.

To learn that they had allied with a sympathetic faction, taken to the field, lost yet survived - amazing.

That they now gathered information from the baths with John Ducas, and the bed with Lady Angelos - astonishing. (Unforgettable, Lady Euphrosyne had been a companion of this wife - at the loom or garden parties - during the months they visited for Renier's wedding. No one knew more gossip.)

To have a spy - in the Emperor's bed chamber? Too good to be true? Was the whore a charlatan, to which Pons was blind?

Guilhelm waited quietly by the door, following the rapid Greek exchange as best he could.

* * *

"What would you have us do? Knock on the gates and say, 'Good Evening, you do not know us, but I have it on good authority - from a pretty lady I met in a brothel - that the young Emperor's life is at risk. May we check to see if he is in good health?' Or, should we perhaps scale the walls, sneak into the palace, and barricade ourselves in a room with him - take on the Varangians and all comers?"

Mariapitkee sobbed in frustrated anguish.

"Why do you think he will be killed tonight?"

It was an elder in the back who spoke. Gently - with thick Greek. Tall and sturdy, a neatly trimmed white beard flowed down his chest. He was of an age with Andronikos, but he felt grandfatherly, dignified, even venerable.

Mariapitkee bowed and curtsied deeply to the newcomer.

"The guard has been changed. The handsome one who is loyal to the boy has been given leave. Andronikos' loathsome creature, the noseless one, was summoned. He himself dictated the boy's last will and testament." The tears wanted to come but she would not let them.

Mariapitkee was sure the gentleman was noble. She looked into his blue eyes. "And I spent the afternoon instructing Princess Anna on how to please him on their wedding night."

The moment hung heavy.

Eventually her lord's servant - was he? Her lord's servant? - spoke, "We cannot save Emperor Alexios, but Maria from the fountains - she said you mentioned a half-brother. Is this Alexios married to Andronikos' daughter ...or is he the cupbearer?"

"The cupbearer."

"Can you get word to him - he must get to the Eleutheran harbor - today. Disguised, unnoticed, carried by porters in a chest with hidden breathing holes, however he can arrange it. By the evening tide. Tell him he will be taken to safety. This Alexios we may be able to save."

"Yes, but... Who are you people?"

The men spoke a few words among themselves, shrugged and nodded in agreement.

The eldest spoke. "You should know who we are. I am the Margrave of Montferrat. My son Renier was married to Emperor Manuel's daughter. Andronikos had him murdered. We seek revenge. In exchange for your help we will purchase your freedom. The cupbearer will be sent to William, the Norman king of Sicily, to be his guest. William will bring an army and elevate him to the throne."

The four whispered for an hour.

Then she and Cincinnatus Baratia - what a mouthful his name was - were left alone, made love, and slept for an hour in one another's arms.

For a moment Mariapitkee felt hope.