The Byzantine Wager

Chapter 86 - The Fall of the Knight of Stars

Chapter 86

The Fall of the Knight of Stars

Skleros Seth had inherited his position from his father, Skleros Thoth, who had been the court astrologer to the emperors of old: Alexios I, John the Beautiful, and Manuel. His grandfather, Skleros Ptah, had navigated even more turbulent times under a series of Emperors.

Of course, there was no official 'Court Astrologer' position with a stipend from the treasury. How could the church condone, or the Emperor permit, such superstitious and heretical behavior?

But foolish was the leader who neglected to consult auguries before a battle. Roman generals of old had always looked to the flights of eagles and vultures - even to the pecking of chickens - for divine signs.

It was Skleros Thoth who had divined the - oh so true - Blood Prophecy on that night long ago for Andronicus' father. The prophecy that had started Issac's failed dreams of a coup and Andronicus' life as a rebel's son. To this day, Skleros Seth owed his position to his father's ominous, uncanny castings.

His father had told him their ancestors had once been oracles among the Egyptians - priests of the cat and jackal-headed gods. (Now, of course, cleansed of such foulness and conscious followers of our Lord and Savior.) They were the keepers of Chaldean wisdom - the intricate numerology of the Babylonians, his father claimed.

Egypt? Babylon? Skleros Seth had not ventured further from Constantinople than Nicea on the Emperor's recent campaign.

His father taught him the movements of planets, theurgy (high magic), goetia (low magic), and about the power in the world.

Rivers of fire flowed from the tops of mountains with killing smoke and ash - only to have the river of fire turn to stone when it reached the sea. Fire. Air. Water. Stone.

He tried to understand.

Thunder and lightning also came from God. Seafarers told of seeing the fire of St. Elmo - although the Rus sailors called it the light of St. Peter and the Arab traders said it was a fire djinni named 'Efritti' - dancing on the masts of ships.

God's stars, the astrons, also danced.

He watched, studied, and attempted to learn.

Skleros Seth could foretell when and where a planet would appear. A speck appeared in the sky to the left of a tower, but he knew the same speck would re-emerge an evening later by the spire of a church - exactly where he said it would. Exactly when he said it would.

He could predict the movement of the heavens, but unlike his father and grandfather, he could not read the portents. He saw nothing.

Observing birds, he saw them doing... what birds did. Their flights were meaningless.

Entrails. The slimy guts of slaughtered sheep spelled nothing.

The Lekanomantic water scrying tiles could spell, but they bubbled up gibberish.

Whatever 'magic' his father and grandfather had - he lacked.

So, to avoid looking foolish, he made it up as he went along.

People seemed happier when he told them what they wanted to hear.

When Emperor Manuel fell ill after his daughter's wedding, he had taken heart in the clear predictions of good fortune which Skleros Seth divined.

"A swift return to good health and fourteen more years of rule."

"Plus, what did I see last night? Venus rising in Virgo. Perhaps a new love affair, Basileus. You will be fit again. And a successful campaign against the Sultan. And Antioch will finally swear firm fealty."