Greek Fire Read online

  Greek Fire

  by

  James Boschert

  The Fourth Book of Talon

  Penmore Press

  www.Penmorepress.com

  Greek Fire by James Boschert

  Copyright © 2013 James Boschert

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotation embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  ISBN-13: 978-1-942756-02-6 (Paperback)

  ISBN :978-1-942756-03-3 (e-book)

  BISAC Subject Headings:

  FIC014000FICTION / Historical

  FIC032000FICTION / War & Military

  FIC031020FICTION / Thrillers / Historical

  Cover artist Oliver Frey: www.oliverfrevart.com

  Editing: Chris Paige

  Cover Illustration by Christine Horner

  Address all correspondence to:

  Penmore Press

  920 N Javalina Pl

  Tucson, AZ 85748

  [email protected]

  1.0

  Dedication

  To Danielle

  For her love of far away places, distant times and wild imaginings.

  Without whose help and patience this book could not have happened.

  Acknowledgements

  Journal of Sport History, Vol. 8, No. 3 (Winter, 1981)

  Sports of the Byzantine Empire

  Barbara Schrodt*

  Baba Tahir: “A Fool of God”

  Rumi:Poetry

  Wikipedia

  Judith Herrin : Byzantium The surprising life of a Medieval Empire

  Colin Wells: Sailing from Byzantium

  Tess Malos: The Greek Cookbook

  Anna Komnena: The Alexiad of Anna Komnena

  Rainer Maria Rilke: Poems

  John Julius Norwich: A Short History of Byzantium

  The Rubiyat of Omar Khayyam

  Rudyard Kipling

  The advice and council of Chris Paige

  Map of Constantinople

  Names Byzantium

  Royal Family

  Manuel I Komnenos:.................Emperor of Byzantium

  Isaac Komnenos:........................Brother to Manuel I

  Porphyrogennitos:......................Those born to the purple.

  Basileios:Eunuch:.............Representative of Andronikos Komnenos

  John Axouch:....................Megas Domestikos (Right Hand Man)

  Michael LourKouas:........Patriarch of Constantinople

  King Baldwin IV:.......................King of Jerusalem

  Alexios Bryennios:........Negotiator for marriage. Prefect of Constantinople:

  John Komateros:................Negotiator

  Baldwin of Antioch:...........King of Antioch killed at Myriokephalon:

  Theodore Mavrozomes:.....General, friend of Senator Kalothesos

  John Kantakouzenos:.........General, Killed in Myriokephalon

  Andronikos Kontostephanos:Rear Guard General at Myriokephalon

  Tarchaneiotes:.....................Vice Admiral

  Nestongos:...........................Full Admiral of the fleet

  Leontios: .............................Officer in Abydos

  Meletios the Phalangarches:.Commander of Abydos

  Captain Petrous:..................Ship’s captain

  Ioannes:.................................Operator

  Philippos:..............................Officer in charge of the regiment

  Templars

  Sir Talon de Gilles:..............Knight Templar

  Sir Guy de Veres:............... Knight Templar Senior

  Claude:................................Sergeant to Sir Guy

  Max Bauersdorf:................Sergeant Templar

  Henry:..................................Captain of Falcon

  Nigel:....................................Companion

  Guy:......................................Companion

  Brother Jonathan:...............Monk

  Brother Martin:...................Monk

  Dmitri Doukas: ...................Ship’s Guide

  Ship:.....................................The Falcon

  Palace officials

  Eunuchs

  The Chief of the officials:........Parakoimomemos

  Protospatharios

  Stephanos:............................Harbor Manager

  Nikoporus:.........Principle to the Emperor (klarrissimos) Chamberlain

  Andronikos:.......Praipositos or high ranks who control ceremonies

  Gregoras:.........Parakoimomenos. (Sleeps across the door of the emperor)

  Family Kalothesos:...............Family Name

  Damianus:........................Father

  Joannina:..........................Mother

  Alexios:............................Son and Emissary

  Eugenia:...........................First daughter: Lady in Waiting

  Theodora:.........................Youngest daughter

  Irene:................................Servant to Theodora

  Makarios:........................Agent for the family

  Giorgios:.........................Assistant agent

  Isaias:..............................Agent in Rhodes

  Joseph:.............................Servant to Alexios

  John:.................................Servant to Damianus

  Ariadne:............................Maid to Theodora

  Nikoporus Tagaris:..........Friend of Alexios

  Antonina:..........................Girl friend of Nikoporus

  Theodoulos Melachrinos:.Officer friend

  Gregaros Aggalon:............Squad officer

  Isaias:.................................Island agent

  Varangian Guard

  Asmundr:...........................Varangian chief

  Eirikr:.................................Second norse man

  Gudridr:.............................Third Varangian

  Cuthberht:.........................Saxon

  Eadgar:...............................Saxon

  Genoese

  Caravello:...........................Genoese captain

  Christophas ......................Levaggi:First Mate

  Davide Chelone:................Bosun

  Family Spartenos

  Pantoleon Spartenos:........Charioteer

  Basileios:............................Eunuch in high places

  John Spartenos:.................Senator

  Constance:..........................Wife of Spartenos

  Markos:..............................Eunuch for senator

  Choumnos:.........................Chief assassin

  Psellos:................................Second assassin

  Turks

  Kilij Arslan:........................Sultan of Turks

  Yigit:...................................Leader of Turks

  Burak:.................................Son of Yigit

  Arabs

  Saieed Fakhouri:................Arab Admiral fleet

  Aarif Mejid:........................Arab ship officer

  As-Salih Ismail al-Malik:...Son of Nur Ed Din. Syria

  Nur Ed Din:........................Former Sultan of Syria

  Salah Ed Din:......................Sultan of Egypt

  Book One

  1176 AD

  Then came to him the King Tafur, and with him fifty score

  Of men-at-arms, not one of them but hunger gnawed him sore.

  “Thou holy Hermit, counsel us, and help us at our need;

  Help, for God's grace, these starving men with wherewithal to feed.”

  From "The Leaguer of Antioch”

  Chapter 1

 
; Acre and the Templars

  The Officer of Stores and Requisitions leaned back against the hard wood of the chair and placed both hands flat on the papers piled upon the desk.

  “It is apparent that you do not understand the Rules of the Order…sir,” he said with a sardonic twist to his lips, addressing the men standing in front of him. His bearded face was dark with annoyance and not a little smug.

  “What rules are we discussing here, Sir Julian?” Max Bauersdorf demanded. His scarred face was flushed with anger. He glanced at Talon de Gilles standing next to him, and then placed his knuckles on the table and leaned towards the officer.

  “We captured the ship without any help from the Order and brought it here to Acre full of prisoners, whom we had released from captivity and a slow death at the oars! It therefore belongs to Sir Talon here, as he was the commander at the time. He brought us here alive and well, with a dromon that will make a great difference to the fleet, but it is his by right to do with as he pleases.”

  “You should remember your place, Sergeant.” Sir Julian glared back up at Max, who slowly stood upright. Talon could see his companion resisting the ingrained urge to stand to attention.

  Sir Julian continued; it seemed to Talon that officials of this kind always adopted a patronizing manner when they knew that they held the upper hand.

  “The Rules state that everything that is captured by those of the Order belongs to the Order, and it is we who shall dispose of the ship, Sergeant,” Sir Julian barked. “Neither you nor Sir Talon here can dispute this. If I were you I would yield the ship with good grace, and then we can all get on with more important business.”

  Talon gave Max a half smile, then turned his gaze upon Sir Julian. “If what you say is correct then you will have no objection to my discussing this issue with Sir Guy de Veres.” He kept his tone pleasant.

  Sir Julian stared at Talon. “You know Sir Guy de Veres?” His tone said he did not believe it. But he looked a little uncertain.

  “We do, very well too,” Talon lied.

  Sir Julian shrugged, only half-believing him. “You are welcome to do so, Sir Talon. We all respect what you’ve done. Still, there are the Rules, and I cannot help you in this matter.” He took up a quill and dipped it into an inkpot. “Now if you do not mind, I am a very busy man.” He reached for a parchment.

  Talon nodded, then took Max by the upper arm and turned his irate friend away.

  “God be with you, Sir Julian,” he said pleasantly in parting.

  They strode out of the chamber. Max managed to slam the heavy wooden door with a loud crash as they walked out and strode down the narrow stone corridor.

  “I despise those people, Talon,” he growled. “By what right do they take the ship from us and toss Henry and the others out onto the quayside as though they were vagabonds who have no place? This isn’t much of a welcome for men who have just escaped the Egyptian galleys!”

  Talon chuckled. “Max, my dear friend. I detected a look of uncertainty in Sir Julian’s eyes when I mentioned Sir Guy, so I wonder…” He too was feeling unsure of matters in this new environment in which they found themselves. Acre was proving to be less hospitable than either of them had imagined.

  “He is a little, jumped-up official who is greedy for our spoils,” Max complained. “Meanwhile, Sir Guy de Veres is not in the city at present and no one knows where he is, so we have an uncertain time ahead of us.”

  “But Max, I am not sure what we would do with a ship. Neither of us knows how to sail one. Henry now, he is a sailor and a navigator so he could do so, but what would we do with one if indeed we were allowed to keep it?”

  Talon was referring to one of the men who had been rescued in Egypt and had navigated the captured dromon to Acre for them.

  Max looked up at the sun. “I have to attend to some duties, Talon. I will see you later at the inn?”

  Talon nodded, clasped hands with Max, then waved him off and made his way out of the Templar stronghold down to the harbor and along the wharf to the main gates. Once he was through the gates he was in the city itself, where all the stench, grime and noise of the town assailed his senses.

  He had been appalled at the squalor of the city known as St Jean d’Acre. He wondered at the difference between this place and Cairo, which he had come to know reasonably well during his enforced stay there. No attempt had been made to plan Acre’s streets, other than in the Jewish quarter, which was hemmed about by the many winding, narrow streets and poorly constructed houses and hovels built by the Christians. Filth lay in piles along the center of the main streets and in corners where it had been swept by the last rainfall; often there were carcasses of dogs and other small animals that had either died of disease or were there because someone had killed them. Either way huge rats feasted well on the corpses and other offal that lay about rotting and stinking in the hot sun. The streets were never cleaned other than when it rained hard enough to wash it all into the sea, or for religious holidays, and then it was only the main thoroughfares that were swept. As he walked along the street that led to the eastern sea wall, Talon pondered his situation.

  Other than a brief flurry of excitement upon their arrival, Acre had been less than welcoming to him and his companions from Egypt. They were all now heading for poverty in a place that was already overflowing with beggars and the destitute, many of whom resorted to petty theft and purse cutting, or worse. He had to shoulder his way along the crowded streets where vendors shouted their meager wares of cloth, crude wooden carvings and relics, which they all claimed were the genuine article. There were many gullible pilgrims ready to believe them, for was this not a great city on the edge of the Holy Land? Knights on their huge destriers rode tall above the moving crowds, their way cleared by their squires and servants who shouted at the slow movers as they pushed forward. Priests and monks there were aplenty, as the church had large numbers of both for the benefit of the multitude of sinners who inhabited the Holy Land. The former walked with a touch of superiority while the latter hoisted their habits and walked in pairs.

  Soldiers of almost every description from crossbowmen to pikemen and common footmen were to be seen everywhere, many of them drunk and staggering. Fights broke out and spread like brushfires as others, equally drunk, joined in the general melee. The city guard was kept very busy and Talon imagined the jails were full by now. He traversed one small square where some freshly hung thieves were still twitching and the crowd not yet dispersed.

  Talon barely paid these events any attention, other than to take another street to avoid them, as he had his own worries to deal with. Another thing he found disconcerting was that people in this city were pushy, loud and rude to everyone. It reminded him of Agues Mortes where he had first landed in Languedoc on his way to find his parents. He wondered, not for the first time, if he had not made a bad choice in coming to Acre when he could have remained a welcome guest in the calm beauty of the Fayoum of Egypt and lived like a lord. But the choices there had not been easy either. He could not have left his new companions and Max to whatever fate might befall them when he had the means to bring them to their chosen land.

  The street where Talon had his lodgings was narrow and full of debris drying out in the hot afternoon sun. The stink of garbage and the wailing of hungry infants made Talon wrinkle his nose and wish for some wax for his ears as he climbed the rough cut wooden stairs to his single room. It would not be long now before he was thrown out of even this miserable lodging for lack of coin.

  *****

  Later, in a small, shabby tavern just off Armory Street, Talon was seated alone, morosely sipping a cheap wine and eating the meager fare that he could only just afford. His money was almost gone. He had given a large amount of the coin he had brought with him from Egypt to Henry and the crew of their galley to help them stay alive while in this expensive city. None of them knew what was to happen to them. The Captain of the City Guard, an officious and pompous official to Talon’s mind, had forbidden any of th
em to leave, but there was almost no employment for them either, so they lived as they could. He ignored the noisy crowd of soldiers and sailors gathered at the other tables playing at dice or cards, betting their meager earnings away and getting drunk at the same time while trying to grope the few whores who were rash enough to wander among the tables looking for customers.

  After attempting to persuade him that their wares were available for a small coin, the three whores who plied their trade in the inn withdrew, casting lingering looks at him. None of them could have been older than eighteen, but the careworn lines etched into their features and their crudely made-up faces gave the impression they were thirty or more. He barely noticed them, for his thoughts were elsewhere as he brooded on what the future might hold.

  The rough cut leather curtain at the main entrance to the inn parted and Henry pushed his way in with Nigel just behind him. Both men had been with Talon when he had escaped from Egypt, having been galley slaves until Talon had them released to fight for his allies. They had sailed the ship he had stolen from Al Qahira to Acre and now, like him, they were down to their last coins and their clothes were in rags.

  Henry peered into the gloom and then spied Talon in the corner. He nudged Nigel as they made for his table.

  “Well met, Talon!” Henry boomed.

  “God’s blessings, Henry, Nigel. Where’s Guy?”

  “He’ll be here soon,” Henry said. He looked uncomfortable.

  “He is entertaining a whore,” Nigel said with a wry grimace.

  “He can afford one?” Talon pretended shock.

  “You know Guy. The city is full of all sorts of women, and many whose husbands have died in the wars or been taken prisoner. Some have become whores just to stay alive in this pestilential place. They need to earn a living too, I suppose, even if it is on their backs. But I can only guess what Guy pays them—he is as short of coin as we are,” Nigel said.

  The two men seated themselves and called for wine and bread. Both had lost weight since their arrival and Talon wondered just how much longer they would have to languish in this city before any of them knew their fate. It had been weeks now, and still no employment was offered. He felt reasonably certain he would be taken into the Templar Order, but he was no longer sure he wanted to become a full Templar knight. And what about his friends?