Saint-Germain: Burning Shadows Part 15

Enlitus Brevios achieved a pugnacious stance. "If we speak with him, then you must hear what we hear, or you may be deceived by the monks, who are not above telling you things that will cause you to take their side. I don't trust monks to be forthcoming about such matters."

"Then let us seek this stranger out now," said Bernardius. "I will ask Priam Corydon to allow us to join in the interview of the man." He began to walk up the slope toward the cross-shaped monastery, not bothering to turn to see if he were being followed.

They found Priam Corydon, Antoninu Neves, and the messenger in the office of the monastery, all three men looking troubled at the sight of the eight encroachers who hardly bothered to knock on the door. Neves put his hand on the hilt of his sword, but moved it away again when Priam Corydon gave him a severe look and said, "This is no occasion for fighting."

"They have come without being summoned," said Neves.

"They would have been informed of the messenger's presence before sunset in any case. I gather everyone within the walls is aware that our first visitor of the spring has arrived," said Priam Corydon, trying to make the best of the awkward situation. He motioned to the plain wooden bench against the far wall. "You may be seated. All of you."

Enlitus Brevios hesitated as if uncertain if such an offer were an insult. He considered the matter, then did as he was told; the others joined him. "Who is this man? They say he comes from Drobetae."

"That I do," the stranger said, absently chafing his forearm. "I am Hredus, a freedman in the household of the Praetor-General, Verus Flautens. He has dispatched me to discover where the people of Dacia are living now, and how well-prepared they are to defend themselves." He ducked his head in an habitual show of respect.

"He has been giving us news from the former Province of Dacia," said the Priam.

"And imparting all he has seen for himself as he made his way here," added Neves.

Mangueinic leaned his crutch against the wall at the end of the bench; he stretched to relieve the tightening in his back. "What have you seen, Freedman Hredus?"

"There are many encampments of refugees, most of them at lower elevations than this one, most of them fairly small-perhaps fifty persons and as many animals," said Hredus promptly. "I have noticed that the greatest number of refugees are from the high plateau, northwest of this valley, where the land is flat enough for a good cavalry attack. About half the refugees have been driven out by Huns; the others have left antic.i.p.ating attacks." He paused. "They say the Huns leave few survivors where they have pa.s.sed. And if they attack a second time, they come in greater numbers. They are like a plague on the land."

"So have we all heard," said Enlitus Brevios, an edge of defiance in his remark. "The Gepidae and Carpi have said it, and so have the Goths and Daci."

"According to rumor, this new Hunnic King, Attila, is organizing his forces along Roman lines, and is changing his manner of attack to confront fortresses and ground troops." Hredus nodded to Neves. "You have heard of this, haven't you?"

"That I have, but haven't been able to gather more information since the first storm of winter," said Neves. "No one could reach this valley, and no one could leave."

"Except the fifteen we exiled," said Brevios under his breath.

"We all have heard the same thing," added Mangueinic.

"Many garrison commanders are convinced that Attila is going to focus his efforts on Aquinc.u.m, from where he can strike out at all the Carpathians, and position himself to a.s.sault cities farther west, or so they have informed the Praetor-General," said Hredus. Three garrison commanders had offered him such speculation, which seemed enough to bring it to the attention of these men. He scratched at a patch of darkened skin on his forearm. "I'm told you have a healer here. Do you think he could do something to alleviate this infernal itch?"

"If there is anything to be done, Dom Sanctu-Germainios will do it," said Mangueinic.

"The regional guardian of Apulum Inferior?" Hredus asked, startled.

"The same," said Mangueinic. "The monks at the infirmary have nothing to match his knowledge of medicaments, and they have their hands full with those suffering from dry eyes and wet noses. You may need more than prayers and powdered angelica-root. Without the Dom's skill, I'd have lost my life and not just my leg."

Hredus concealed his interest. "If it's convenient, I'd like to consult him after evening supper."

"It will be arranged," said Priam Corydon, anxious to learn more from Hredus. "How long did it take you to reach us? How were the roads and the bridges? How many towns have been attacked?"

"I would have been here some days since, but the late storm prevented me from traveling at all for three days, and then the snow was so deep that I couldn't determine if I would get through the pa.s.s at all." Hredus scratched his wrist again. "There were wolves about, and bear, so I didn't want to risk making camp outside st.u.r.dy walls, and that, too, slowed me down."

"Better a few days late than dead," Bernardius said.

"As to the condition of the road, the nearer you are to Roman territory-East or West-the better the roads are, but they are not as fine as records say they were a century ago. Most of the roads are in need of repair, and in some areas, total replacement is required. Three of the small bridges between Drobetae and Gepidorum are no longer safe to cross so I ferried across some ten thousand paces below Ulpia Traiana, which has been raided, but I can't say who the raiders were. That was why I didn't remain near the town. The river was high but the main thaw had barely started. By now, it will be a torrent." Hredus could see the trenchant involvement of the men in the room, and he decided to make the most of it. "One merchant I encountered not far from Ulpia Traiana told me that the Huns are moving out into the plains to the northwest of here. He had it from a family of farmers from Auru Calida; the Huns burned them out."

"Others have suggested that," said Priam Corydon.

"Then it may be worthy of your attention. This part of the mountains is only two or three days' ride to the beginning of the plains; if the land were flatter you could cut that time in half," Hredus said. "Once they're set up in a camp, your valley will be one of the first they're likely to seek out."

"You must have a great deal to impart to the Praetor-General," said Bernardius. "Can you tell us why he sent you here?"

Hredus chuckled. "He wants someone he can trust to get close enough to the Huns to observe them, but not so close as to risk being caught." He said it very much the way Flautens had told him to answer such an inquiry. His eyes gave nothing away; his many years of slavery had taught him to conceal every aspect of his thoughts and emotions.

"Then he must trust you," said Priam Corydon. "We'll bear that in mind."

Enlitus Brevios spoke up. "We'll want to consult this man more closely, for some of us are planning to leave as soon as we can take our wagons through the pa.s.s, and we'll want to be prepared for what we should expect. We will be bound for Viminacium." His hard smile challenged Priam Corydon to forbid them to go.

"If you are determined, then I will not attempt to stop you. But I urge you to be sure that you will be as safe as possible during your travels. You will be responsible for the well-being of those going with you, and the preservation of their souls." Priam Corydon rose. "Who among you is planning to leave?" Urridien answered first, then Bacoem, Hovas, Thirhald, and Corcotos. "And what of you, Mangueinic? and Tribune Bernardius?"

"We've only now heard of this plan," said Bernardius. "I still believe for those who wish to move on that midsummer is the time for us to go." He shrugged. "Neither I nor Bernardius have the authority to command these men to stay or to go. If it suits their purposes, then, no matter how reckless it may be, we won't have the right to keep them here."

Mangueinic pursed his lips. "I don't think it is prudent to set out so early in the season of travel, but there is little I can do about it, except to tell them my reservations, which I have done."

Priam Corydon made the sign of the fish and then the sign of the cross. "May your leaving not harm you, or us, and may G.o.d protect you on your journey." He went toward the door. "I ask you to take time for private contemplation, that you not discuss what you have heard here with one another until tomorrow, so that none of you reaches a conclusion that hasn't been examined in your own souls. You are worried and you are unhappy with living here. If you will implore G.o.d to grant you His Wisdom in your dreams, I will be content with your outcome whatever it may be, for it will have come from G.o.d." He made the sign of the fish again and left them.

Mangueinic leaned forward and shoved himself to his foot as he reached for his crutch. "Come," he said to Hredus. "I'll take you to Dom Sanctu-Germainios."

Hredus looked at the other men, tempted to disregard the Priam's orders. Then he hitched his shoulder. "The sooner he treats me, the sooner I will recover," he said, approaching Mangueinic. "I'll follow you."

Hovas took a step to block Hredus' leaving. "Tonight I'll think of questions to ask you in the morning. I will want answers, messenger."

"Hovas, don't badger the man. He's had a long, hard journey and is ent.i.tled to rest," said Brevios, who then addressed Hredus. "You may rely on Dom Sanctu-Germainios to employ all he knows to rid you of the trouble you have with your skin."

"I pray it will be so," said Hredus as he moved around Hovas and fell in behind Mangueinic, making the sign of the fish as he went.

Mangueinic pointed out the old wooden chapel as he and Hredus approached it. "Long ago this was a pagan spring, and that chapel was put up for those who came to consult the keepers of the waters, and to find shelter in their travels through the Carpathians. Then a pilgrim stopped here, more than two centuries ago, and saw the Virgin Maria above the spring, and it became a holy place for Christians. Sanctu Eustachios had the monastery built when he retired from the world. Once the monastery was complete, the chapel fell into disuse."

Hredus had heard the story before, but he responded with interest. "That transformation has happened in other places."

Mangueinic nodded, and rapped on the side-door. "Dom Sanctu-Germainios. I have a new patient for you."

Nicoris opened the door and nodded a welcome. "You and the new patient are welcome. Dom Sanctu-Germainios is with Giraldus, Antoninu Neves' lieutenant; he hammered his hand while working on the outer wall." She stood aside to admit them.

"Is he badly hurt?" Mangueinic asked, coming through the door and leaving room for Hredus to enter with him.

"He has broken two bones in his hand, the Dom says, and he has made a splint to help the bones to heal straight."

"Poor man," said Hredus, because he knew a response was expected of him and would gain him the good opinion of Mangueinic, which would be useful.

"It is unfortunate," Nicoris said, encouraging the two to move toward the alcove where Sanctu-Germainios had his raised table.

Mangueinic stumped toward him. "I've brought you the messenger from Drobetae, Dom Sanctu-Germainios." He nodded to Giraldus. "I'm sorry to hear about your hand."

"It was a foolish thing to do," said Giraldus. "I don't know how it happened."

"You will need to wear that sling during the day, and to wrap your hand in cloth during the night," said Sanctu-Germainios to Giraldus as he got off the raised bed. "If you have swelling or pain, use ten drops of this tincture"-he held out a large vial-"and drink it in a cup of water or wine. Do not use it more than twice a night."

"Very well," said Giraldus, accepting the vial with his uninjured hand. "Lucky thing it was my left hand I struck. At least I can still use my sword."

"As you say: fortunate," was Sanctu-Germainios' dry answer.

Nicoris escorted Giraldus to the main door; she wished him well and went back to the alcove where Sanctu-Germainios conducted his examinations, waiting near the hearth and listening. When Hredus had finished his account of his trek from Drobetae, he held out his arm.

Sanctu-Germainios took it and held it up to the waning light; as he inspected the purplish area of skin, he asked, "Did you have a rash before the color changed?"

"Some chafing," Hredus allowed. "How did you know?"

He took on his most academic tone. "The rash was the cause of your infestation. As you scratched, you moved animalcules from the rash to lodge beneath your skin. I will need to open the skin and insert a curative ointment. It is not a pleasant procedure, but if it is not done, the animalcules will spread through your body and will rupture your organs." He saw the shock in Hredus' eyes. "I do not mean to frighten you, or to cause you distress, but you ought to be aware of the danger of delay, or superficial treatment."

Hredus' face went blank. "Then it must be done," he said without inflection.

"I have an unguent that will deaden the pain of the cutting, and syrup of poppies to relieve any pain you feel afterward. I will need some time to boil my instruments, as the physicians of Roma used to do." He regarded Hredus. "Would you rather have supper and rest until the first quarter of the night?"

"You said it was urgent that it be treated," said Hredus.

"It is, but if you are tired and hungry-"

"Let us be done with it," said Hredus.

Nicoris came up to Sanctu-Germainios and said quietly, "You have very little of the sovereign remedy left. Four vials are all that remain."

"I know," said Sanctu-Germainios. "And I have neither the moldy bread nor the athanor to make more." He sighed. "Still, there is enough to treat this man, and have a little left. If I must, I can pack wounds with moldy bread, if I can persuade the baker to provide me with some. For now, I will deal with this messenger."

"Then shall I put the flensing knives to boil, and the closing pins? Which astringent herbs shall I use?" Nicoris went to the red-lacquer chest.

"Nettles and tarragon," Sanctu-Germainios answered, then escorted Hredus to the raised bed. "If you like, I will prepare a composer for you."

"No need," said Hredus, and got onto the bed, watching Sanctu-Germainios, revealing nothing.

Text of a report from the factor Artemidorus Iocopolis to Patras Methodos, both in Constantinople; written in Byzantine Greek in fixed ink on vellum, and delivered by footman.

To the estimable priest, Patras Methodos, this accounting of the a.s.sets of the Eclipse Trading Company, as requested to facilitate the liberation of Rugierus of Gades, who is presently being held under house arrest, and to regularize the evaluation of the business.

The Eclipse Trading Company is presently owned by Dom Feranescus Rakoczy Sanctu-Germainios, regional guardian at Apulum Inferior in the former Province of Dacia, who has nine hundred aurea in deposit with the Secretary of the Metropolitan for its continuing operation.

The Company owns nineteen merchant ships, all plying ports from Trapezus, through the Black Sea, the Adriatic, the Mediterranean, into the Atlantic Ocean and as far as Gallia Belgicae; additionally, the Company sponsors three caravan troupes that trade as far as Herat in Persia and Medina in Arabia. All tariffs on goods brought to market in Constantinople are current, in accordance with Dom Sanctu-Germainios' specific instructions, and all taxes on the property of the Company are current. Bona fides copies of bills of lading for the last year are included with this information, for your diligent review. Eclipse Trading Company maintains offices in twenty-seven ports; a list of these is provided in this report.

One hundred aurea accompany this as a donation to the law-courts and the Church, in the interests of justice.

By my own hand, sixteen days after the Vernal Equinox in the Christian year 439, Artemidorus Iocopolis factor, Eclipse Trading Company Constantinople

7.

Three days after Enlitus Brevios and his little company of fifty-eight refugees departed for Drobetae, two of the sentries came down from the high peaks running, their eyes wide and breathing hard; they hurried to the travelers' dormitory and began to pound the platter of hammered bra.s.s that hung outside the main door and served as the alarm for all the monastery. In response to the clamor, monks, men, and women came at a rush, a few of the older women shooing children into the old chapel as they sped. The sentries continued to slam the leather-headed mallet into the hanging platter until more than half the residents of the monastery had reached them.

From his vantage-place on the roof of the old chapel, next to the drum-dome, Sanctu-Germainios shifted his attention from the distant clouds to the residents of the monastery, who surged into the central open square, some carrying weapons, and all of them restive. With a sense of distress, he climbed down from the roof, and stepped inside the building. "It's starting," he said to Nicoris.

"Are you going out to join them?" She seemed unfl.u.s.tered as she reached for his surgical tools. "I'll put these to boil."

"No, I won't join them. I'm too much of a foreigner for many of them, and just now, they are wary of foreigners." He said it readily enough, but there was an echo of loneliness in his admission.

"Then I'll stay in, too. I am also a foreigner." Her quicksilver eyes glittered. She came up to him.

Contemplating her from his vantage-point above her, he said, "Foreigner to foreigner, I can be counted upon to keep a confidence." He touched her birthmark with the tip of his finger.

She looked away from him. "That's good to know," she said distantly.

Outside, there was an increase in the noise as the crowd grew larger.

Luitpald, the younger sentry, began shouting as people gathered closely around them. "Hors.e.m.e.n! Hors.e.m.e.n! At least fifty of them! Coming this way!"

There were shrieks of dismay and demands for more information. The people moved closer to the sentries and one another. "Huns?" The question ricocheted through the crowd.

"It's G.o.d's judgment!" exclaimed Monachos Kyrillos, making the sign of the fish as he hurried toward the church.

"Huns or not, when will they get here?" Bernardius' voice cut through the general babble.

"Mid-afternoon!" the second sentry bellowed, his voice cracking. "If they keep up their pace."

"Call the herders in from the pastures and put the herds and flocks in the barn!" Bernardius ordered. "Then post all the Watchmen on the battlements! Women into the dormitory." Forgetting the ban on his Latin phrases, he yelled, "Cavi tempum!"

"We have time enough to man our posts, and guard the livestock!" Neves roared. "My company! Gather your weapons!"

"Not yet, not yet," exclaimed Priam Corydon as he pushed his way through the crowd to the sentries. He held up his hands for silence, and gradually the crowd went quiet. "Now, Luitpald, Oios, tell us what you saw. Keep your description simple, and do not report what you did not actually observe."

"Hors.e.m.e.n," said Luitpald. "Coming up the trail at the trot."

"Do you know which direction they came from before they took the road up the mountain?" Priam Corydon asked, unfl.u.s.tered and purposeful. "Just hors.e.m.e.n? Might they not be reserve troops sent to aid us? Why did you give the alarm?" He regarded the two sentries calmly.

Oios frowned. "They're too far away to be certain where they came from, but I think we should prepare to defend the monastery."

"They carried no Legion standards; a few of them had pikes topped with horsetails," Luitpald reported, the panic in his eyes unmistakable.

"Huns," said Neves loudly. "They have horsetail standards."

Another tide of whispers swept through the a.s.sembled residents, and Mangueinic, once again in charge of the Watchmen, bawled out, "Gather your arms! Bring in the livestock and brace the gates!"