Bastions
Chapter Forty Five: Quid Pro Quo
Part 3
Prelude:
The colonization of America was an outfit that ill suited the Vikings and Norsemen. They arrived expecting to conquer, but found no one to conquer. The natives would simply walk away and return after the newcomers had frozen in the harsh winters; picking apart the remnants of civilization. But when the Althing in Iceland had decided to end state-sponsored colonization there were simply not enough ships to carry back all the people who had left to settle the new world. On top of that many of the settlements had simply been "lost", never to be heard of again. Companies were even worse; most just decided to cut their losses and just stopped funding the colonies, leaving them to their own devices. But the tail of the Norse did not end in 1376 with the end of official colonialism. History tells of a great Viking leader: Lúðvik of the Innu, later Lúðvik of the Skrælingjar. Lúðvik was able to unite a small fraction of the Norse settlers left behind and form a small state based on the workings of his native Iceland; he called it the Little Parliament or
Litl'þing. These Skrælingjar settled along the southern coast of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Centuries later, when the first Vasque and Breton explorers arrived at the Gulf they found traces of Norse civilization: red haired children, pale natives, iron weapons handed down within families. The language was foreign but held many Norse words and the people spoke of a loose confederation of Skrælingjar which had fallen apart in the decades before. However; like many other pagans, the last of the Skrælingjar were not permitted to live in the midst of the good Frandist colonists. Instead they were ejected and later destroyed when they united again under the banner of the
Nyjaþing and died fighting for their freedom.
A modern recreation of the Banner of the Nyjaþing.
July 18th, 1376
The horizon was ablaze with the fires of war and deceit. Emperor Stephen watched as Constantinople burned from within. He had been foolish, his navies had been incompetent, and now the fleet that was supposed to protect the Queen of Cities was somewhere in the Mediterranean waiting for their orders. He would have to congratulate the Prussians on their flagrant disregard for the rules of war, though he must admit he was only angry because he had not managed to capture the messages of his enemy first. The siege was reaching its third morning, and most of the town was barricaded and blocked off, forcing the Prussians through more easily defended areas. However; any defense erected in a night can be dismantled in as many hours. How could everything gone so poorly? Why was he still here? He turned away from the burning horizon and headed toward his Megas Dux who was leaning over a map of the city, trying to think of a better way to defend the capital.
"I must get out of this city," Stephen said.
The Megas Dux, his brother and trusted commander who put him on the throne to begin with, looked at him grimly. "I know, I've been trying to figure out how for some time now. Brother, my lord, this was a swift action of a master tactician. King Doyvát was never to be under estimated. He won a civil war through barbarian tactics... we... I should have seen his tricks coming."
"Well, it wouldn't be a dirty trick if we could predict it," Stephen relented, "Is there any hole in the ground I can escape through?"
"The sewers lead out and into the bay... which is swarming with Prussian ships. My lord, this might be unheard of, but we must disguise you as a monk and hide you among the clergy. When the city has fallen and the Prussians begin to move on elsewhere, we can smuggle you out of the city to Athens. I believe that Athens will be spared for a while longer while they try to cross into Asia and take Thessaly."
"Always a step ahead of me, Cenwig." The Emperor removed his crown and placed it in a near-by chest and then began stripping off his robes and royal outfits while his servants fetched an old monk's habit.
"It is best that we do not tell anyone who you are while my guards and I move you around. If anyone finds out, the Prussians might catch wind of it and hunt you down."
Dressed and starting to grow worried and demoralized, Stephen was pushed down the hall by several guards also disguised as peasants and monks. Cenwig lingered briefly in the throne room, looking at his aides. With a deep breath he grabbed a bag and threw the crown unceremoniously into it. "Tell no one, but we cannot let this fall into the wrong hands." Then he joined his brother and the guards and they all hurried out into the courtyard.
"Where are we headed, brother?" Stephen asked.
"The Hagia Sofia, we must move. There is no telling when the Prussians will seize the cathedral!" Getting there was not a difficult ordeal. Though soldiers were running to and fro, the Prussians had so far been held back and out of the city, with only a few small footholds in the walls. However, things were not looking so great. From the great cathedral, so close to the palace, Stephen could see the extent of the Prussian resolve. The whole city was surrounded by land and by sea. The sails of the Prussian Black Sea Fleet nearly blackened out the early morning sun, casting a strange and eerie shadow over the great Roman city.
The Emperor froze in place; looking out over the Bosporus a grim face slowly took hold over his usually calm demeanor. The Rome he had fought so hard to control was already slipping from his grasp. He could not help but think that there was indeed something wrong with the Roman model of succession. His nation was weakened from war and in no shape to be fighting one so needlessly. It had been his Roman honor that had driven him to antagonize Prussia, but they did what Saxons and other Germanic barbarians did best: conquer and plunder.
***
Stephen exited the monastery and headed toward the Hagia Sofia on his normal rounds. "
Lábrit, kung Mun," said the one of the two Prussian guards who sat outside of the giant cathedral. The man tipped a finger to his cap as Stephen walked past him, smiling with a brief nod. Inside he saw several soldiers at work helping artists fix and restore the interior of the cathedral, damage as far back as King Kiten's invasion of the Empire only a century ago.
"
Hwæt, Mun! We mussáju kætrsletá in se ræcáŝan ŝew sinik rædát!" yelled one soldier. He began pushing Stephen aside, but in a moment of temporary lapse the confused Emperor punched the soldier as he tried to free himself. "
STÁT!" the soldier called, he fumbled with his weapon as Stephen headed toward an exit. But on his way he tripped and fell face-first onto a section of the floor's mosaic that was being redone. Wiping plaster and small glass pieces from his face, Stephen turned to find several guards had surrounded him.
"
Kát ist taws ándit hór, Mun?" asked a lead guard. Stephen shrugged his shoulders. He never bothered learning Prussian as a lesser noble and was even less interested now. The soldier rolled his eyes and grabbed the man disguised as a monk and lifted him up, picking glass out of his forehead and brushing him off. "
Bráult!" he commanded, making a pushing gesture with his hands. Quickly leaving, Stephen headed toward the main market where things were slightly more normal, if anything during the occupation could be called that. He turned to see if anyone was following him and in doing so felt himself walk into another person.
"I'm so s..." Stephen began, repeating the words as taught to him by some of his fellow monks to be said in this sort of situation.
"
Indrátsak!"
Wonderful, Stephen thought, of all the people in Constantinople's market he finds the one Prussian. The man turned around, a youngish man of dark curly hair wearing a naval uniform. A Roman woman clutched his left arm and Stephen recognized her as his niece. He quickly tried to cover his face and run off, but the man simply but his boot down on his robes and he stuck where he had fallen prone. Catching a quick glance, he saw that the naval officer was not angry, though rather startled and unhappy that his time out was being interrupted.
But then the dreaded sound of his niece: "M... my lord?" Konstantina asked, she let go of the officer and reached for him.
"Please, don't!"
"But uncle yo..." and then she stopped as she realized the error she had made.
"
Gadist," the man started, "Your uncle?" he finished in Greek, "My lady you called yourself niece of the Emperor himself... so either you've made me a fool or a hero."
"A fool, my good sir," Stephen lied. The officer grabbed him and picked him up, pushing off his hood in the process. The Emperor got a good look at his captor, a younger version of a man he had seen in the court before the disappearance of the Æthelstan's wife Helena and his sister Isabel. Seeing that the Prussian was unconvinced Stephen broke down, "Please don't kill me! Please have mercy!"
"So... you are the Emperor then?" the Prussian asked. "Well then, all is well for me, eh?" he asked Konstantina jokingly.
She didn't look to happy with the jest, "Lord David, I... I... um..." but she was lost. She could tell that her uncle was lost to her and her Prussian beau was already past her. He needed her to help control the Roman elite stuck in the city, but now he had the Emperor. He had his leverage. Even so, he turned to her and waited for an answer that all three of them knew was never coming. Stephen watched as the man stuck his arm up, summoning his personal guards. Across the market, the Emperor saw his brother Cenwig watching, stunned in horror. The Emperor cut his gaze after he got a small nod, he knew that his Megas Dux would not be in the city long, continuing the fight in exile.
"Please, don't kill him, David!" Konstantina blurted out.
It caught both men off guard and Doyvát turned to her an in a monotone voice stated, "I am not going to kill a crowned monarch of a foreign country... I am not a barbarian as you Romans are quick to compare us Prussians to. What good would come from gaining the ire of every other monarch in Europe when it would be much easier to just get our way?"
"What do you want? I can give you anything, please just let me go!" Stephen knew he was running out of time, the guards were closing in.
"Why would I want anything more? I have the Emperor in one hand and a woman of his court in the other. I could have myself crowned Emperor at this rate!"
"Never, I... never!"
"Well, you and I have very different definitions of 'anything'. Not what I was looking for anyway. See, what I strive for... and what all Prussians strive for, is to finally step out of the shadow Rome casts over us. We are always second fiddle, no matter how much better the tune or more we are paid."
"So you are all some sort of upset middle child?"
"No, see that is the thing. At this point we have all the allies, all the gold, all the power, all the merchants, all the contacts, the most powerful army and arguably the most powerful navy. Yet... for some reason, nothing convinces you Romans of that, but then again this is only the second time we've sacked this supposedly impenetrable city. Maybe you'll learn in time."
Konstantina sobbed quietly, she knew she was stooping herself only a few pegs above a common street prostitute, but she didn't want to hear it said so frankly. The guards closed around them, "
Kát ist he, min laof?"
"
Ludzó ládrt se siewkalp uzán min cámbæræs un gáræntt ŝis kalp ingelókæn en ien cetumsŝip sieæt." The guards saluted and took the Emperor away while the kindly surrounded Konstantina and paraded her off. Doyvát chuckled briefly and followed the group with the Emperor. He debated whether he'd keep the Emperor's discovery a surprise until his father arrived or if he'd entice the old bastard with the good news. Either way; today had been highly successful for the young Prince and he reflected on his good fortune.