Fall of Empires

Chapter 2

The great red ball of the sun had already sunk low and turned the waters of the Orontes to blood  the time that Bardas had attended to the securing of his wares and made his way home. Theophanes felt a warm sense of relief as he listened to his father holding court amongst the tinkling fountains in the seclusion of the lantern-lit central courtyard, revelling in the attention that his homecoming had brought.

‘No competition to be had in Harran,’ Bardas related to his onetime patron and investor and now great friend and business partner Eusebius Psellus who was reclining nearby, nibbling dates and liberally swilling back wine as he mulled over the likely profits of the expedition. ‘I was the only merchant worth talking to,’ he continued. ‘They haggled hard but they had to accept that either they could take your good Roman wine off of my hands at my price, or I was going to take it elsewhere and their wretched goods could sit there and rot until this damned war is over.’

For Eusebius, Theophanes knew, all this talk of trade was a game. His wealth in land and property greatly outstripped his commercial interests and his investment in the activities of Bardas had begun as something of a hobby.

‘Truly, Bardas, you are a prince of merchants!’ Eusebius declared with a dramatic flourish of his hand, spilling his wine. ‘Although that son of yours drives a hard bargain. He wrung every last follis out of the Patriarch’s agent.’

Theophanes beamed as his father replied, ‘Yes the boy has done well. Perhaps I should retire eh?’

‘Ah, but what would you do with yourself then, old friend?’ Eusebius gestured for his cup to be refilled. ‘I wish Isaac would develop some sense of responsibility.’
Bardas raised a bushy eyebrow in response and Eusebius burst into laughter in acknowledgement of the poor example he was setting for his son as the slave withdrew. His heavy-jowled face was flushed from drinking and it was yet early in the evening.

Theophanes could not bring himself to judge Eusebius harshly. After all, who knew how many more nights like this they would be able to enjoy? It was best to be merry whilst they still could.

Draining his own cup, Theophanes playfully prodded Isaac who lounged beside him.
‘See how you shame your father with your idleness?’

‘It is not my fault,’ his friend protested. ‘My sister got all the sense, all I got was his love of wine.’

At mention of Anna, Theophanes gazed over to where she stood, exchanging words and smiles with the wives of their fathers’ influential friends. Whenever he watched Anna, Theophanes felt himself spellbound. She had a grace and a confidence that made him feel woefully inadequate and it seemed incomprehensible to him that she would soon be his. Although she was two years younger than he was, she sometimes made him feel like a silly child who understood nothing of the world. How could he ever be worthy of such a woman?

It had not always been this way. From the time that Theophanes and Anna had been children it had been an understanding between their fathers that the two of them would one day be married, uniting their houses, but when they were growing up together Anna had seemed more like a sister than a future bride. Theophanes had never imagined that he would feel the way about her that he did now.

It had happened suddenly one day, when they were laughing together, giggling hysterically at some private joke. Theophanes could no longer remember what had been so funny. No doubt it had been at Isaac’s expense. Gasping for breath they had looked into each other’s eyes and Theophanes had felt a powerful constriction in his chest as the girl who would be his bride had smiled back at him. At that instant something had changed forever between them. Neither of them had been able to find the words to express what had passed between them in that long shared moment but they had both felt it. Theophanes had taken both of Anna’s hands in his and they had sat together in silence for a long time. Since that day they had waited impatiently for their marriage. Their fathers, upon sensing the change between Theophanes and Anna that they had been waiting and hoping for, were now pressing ahead with arrangements for a wedding. Yet in spite of Anna’s evident happiness, Theophanes often wondered if her feelings could truly have the same fierce intensity as his own.