will sweep through the passes before the month is out.’ He would have said more. But a sudden spasm of fear took hold of him, and his voice fell away.
‘Make that twenty thousand ,’ I sneered, ‘and then halve it.’ I put the bread into my mouth and chewed with as much enthusiasm as if a priest had put it there. ‘You know perfectly well that the Empire lost Britain to about that many of my own people – and not all at once. Whatever the minstrels told you in Ireland about the unstoppable flood of yellow-headed giants who dispossessed your ancestors, we weren’t enough to have taken London – not, that is, if you’d done other than scuttle out of the place like frightened chickens.’ I sniffed and ignored the face he pulled.
I was right in my history. The Western Provinces really had been lost to not enough armed men to fill the Circus in Constantinople. They’d crossed the Rhine into a desert produced by centuries of misgovernment, and had been quietly welcomed by the survivors. But there was no point taking issue here and now with the accounts agreed by Martin’s people with the Imperial historians about those unstoppable floods of yellow-headed giants. None of it mattered any more. In the resulting silence, I reached down into my leather satchel and pulled out a small cloth bag. Its many coins made a dull chinking sound on the table. I reached down again for a sheet of parchment I’d folded over three times and sealed with my ring. I pushed both towards Martin.
‘The cash is all I bothered bringing with me from Alexandria,’ I said. ‘I thought it would be more than enough for the journey, and it’s still a decent sum.’ Wearily, I lifted a hand to stop the protest. ‘The draft is on the Papal Bank. It will be honoured regardless of any confiscation decree. Your job, once we are separated, is to get yourself and Sveta and your child and my child to Rome, and then wherever may seem appropriate. Go to the Lateran and speak to the Dispensator. He may not give active assistance. But you can rely on him to tell you straight if you will all be safe in Rome – or if you should make a run for where the Lombards rule, or for the lands of the French King. He may even advise you to go back all the way to Ireland. Wouldn’t you like that – to go home at last to Ireland? You could be a man of some consequence there. Whatever the case, you’ll be far outside the Emperor’s reach.’
Martin’s response was to look down at the closed bag and to start crying again. ‘But it’s so unjust, Aelric,’ he sobbed. ‘None of this was your fault. You did everything possible . . .’
I smiled and patted him gently on the hand. ‘You know the rule, Martin,’ I said. ‘When things go this wrong, someone has to be blamed . It can’t be the Emperor. It can’t be the Viceroy of Egypt – he is the Emperor’s cousin, after all. That leaves me or Priscus. It’s pretty clear that we’ll both share the blame.’
I smiled again and resisted the urge to reach up and touch my spot. ‘Now, once you’ve gone through the motions of announcing me as I step ashore, and of reading out my commission, I want you to vanish into the crowd. No one will pay attention to a freedman. Get away from me. Don’t look back. Take the first seaworthy vessel out of Piraeus. Go to Corinth. Take whatever ship is going west. Do you understand?’
There was more sobbing and mopping of wet eyes. In the next cabin but one, I heard Maximin start wailing for his father. I told myself not to get up and go to him. It was best not to remind him that I was about. I needed Martin to make a clean getaway on the dockside. I couldn’t have a child in his wife’s arms, screaming and reaching out for me.
There was another knock at the door. This time, it was the wine. I drank two cups straight off, and on an empty stomach. The writing on my commission wavered slightly as I looked at it. But I could feel myself coming into a better mood since the
‘Make that twenty thousand ,’ I sneered, ‘and then halve it.’ I put the bread into my mouth and chewed with as much enthusiasm as if a priest had put it there. ‘You know perfectly well that the Empire lost Britain to about that many of my own people – and not all at once. Whatever the minstrels told you in Ireland about the unstoppable flood of yellow-headed giants who dispossessed your ancestors, we weren’t enough to have taken London – not, that is, if you’d done other than scuttle out of the place like frightened chickens.’ I sniffed and ignored the face he pulled.
I was right in my history. The Western Provinces really had been lost to not enough armed men to fill the Circus in Constantinople. They’d crossed the Rhine into a desert produced by centuries of misgovernment, and had been quietly welcomed by the survivors. But there was no point taking issue here and now with the accounts agreed by Martin’s people with the Imperial historians about those unstoppable floods of yellow-headed giants. None of it mattered any more. In the resulting silence, I reached down into my leather satchel and pulled out a small cloth bag. Its many coins made a dull chinking sound on the table. I reached down again for a sheet of parchment I’d folded over three times and sealed with my ring. I pushed both towards Martin.
‘The cash is all I bothered bringing with me from Alexandria,’ I said. ‘I thought it would be more than enough for the journey, and it’s still a decent sum.’ Wearily, I lifted a hand to stop the protest. ‘The draft is on the Papal Bank. It will be honoured regardless of any confiscation decree. Your job, once we are separated, is to get yourself and Sveta and your child and my child to Rome, and then wherever may seem appropriate. Go to the Lateran and speak to the Dispensator. He may not give active assistance. But you can rely on him to tell you straight if you will all be safe in Rome – or if you should make a run for where the Lombards rule, or for the lands of the French King. He may even advise you to go back all the way to Ireland. Wouldn’t you like that – to go home at last to Ireland? You could be a man of some consequence there. Whatever the case, you’ll be far outside the Emperor’s reach.’
Martin’s response was to look down at the closed bag and to start crying again. ‘But it’s so unjust, Aelric,’ he sobbed. ‘None of this was your fault. You did everything possible . . .’
I smiled and patted him gently on the hand. ‘You know the rule, Martin,’ I said. ‘When things go this wrong, someone has to be blamed . It can’t be the Emperor. It can’t be the Viceroy of Egypt – he is the Emperor’s cousin, after all. That leaves me or Priscus. It’s pretty clear that we’ll both share the blame.’
I smiled again and resisted the urge to reach up and touch my spot. ‘Now, once you’ve gone through the motions of announcing me as I step ashore, and of reading out my commission, I want you to vanish into the crowd. No one will pay attention to a freedman. Get away from me. Don’t look back. Take the first seaworthy vessel out of Piraeus. Go to Corinth. Take whatever ship is going west. Do you understand?’
There was more sobbing and mopping of wet eyes. In the next cabin but one, I heard Maximin start wailing for his father. I told myself not to get up and go to him. It was best not to remind him that I was about. I needed Martin to make a clean getaway on the dockside. I couldn’t have a child in his wife’s arms, screaming and reaching out for me.
There was another knock at the door. This time, it was the wine. I drank two cups straight off, and on an empty stomach. The writing on my commission wavered slightly as I looked at it. But I could feel myself coming into a better mood since the
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