The Byzantine Wager

Chapter 51 - Once Upon a time in a Dungeon II

Chapter 51

Once Upon a time in a Dungeon II

Twenty years earlier it had been Stephen and Andronikos imprisoned in the Anemas dungeon. Stories were told in the dark between the doors of the prison cells. The wretch in the next cell told the sad story of his plight, and wept at the injustice of his upcoming punishment. In his cell Andronikos told boastful stories where he was always the hero.

"When I finally returned to Constanitinople with my fellow captive, Theodore Dasiotes - the fellow who was captured with me on our hunting trip - it would have been, let me think... in the spring of 1144. Was I angry? Sure, I was angry. How could I not have been? I was held hostage for the entire year in which Manuel became Emperor. The whole year. For no reason. Simply to save his dignity and his purse. Of course, by the time Sultan Masud released us - all the top positions in the army, in the navy, in the palace - everything was taken by those who had been on hand when he became Basileus. Ha. Stepped over his elder brother to become Basileus."

Andronikos paused as he paced his cell and assumed the classical rhetorical pose for the stabbing cut of his last remark. His listener in the next cell could not see him, but it was nice simply to have a listener. The boredom was excruciating, so it was enjoyable to be able to recount his youthful travels and adventures to someone. Usually Andronikos had only himself to talk to, so now with an audience (of sorts), he walked through the paces as if he were Cicero arguing in front of the Senate. The silence from the cell near the stairs left him to conclude that the other prisoner had either fallen asleep or was too absorbed in his own problems to pay attention. No matter.

He crossed his own cell and lifted the book of prayer from where it sat on his writing desk. From the binding he removed a long, thin, iron nail which he had hidden there. Earlier he had asked his wife to bring him the nail when she came to see him on her almost daily visit. A dutiful woman, she had done so without question. Their visits, on opposite sides of the barred door, were not supervised, so it was simple and indeed permitted to pass any object. As befit his station Andronikos had candles, a brazier for cold nights, quills, ink, and parchment for his correspondence. He had his father's copy of Homer, as well as a book of prayer, and other things to read. Servants came into his cell to empty his chamber pots and to clean and barber him daily. His viands came as leftovers from the emperor's own kitchen.

Andronikos moved to the middle of his cell, dropped to his knees, and using the nail, began to pry along the side of a metal grate set into the brick floor of his cell. The grate covered a drainage passage which ran under the cell. He did this simply to while away the endless hours. There was nothing else to do except talk to the unseen man in the cell along the passage - Stephen... whatever his long name was.

"Sultan Masud's initial peaceful overtures were but a ruse. He launched an attack on our major fortified staging area in Bithynia. Do you know Malagnia? The closest one to Constantinople itself?"

"Never visited," came the reply.

Aah, so he is still awake.

"We responded quickly and in force." Andronikos continued both with his scratching on the floor and his story. "Once we reinforced Malagnia, we pushed on to the walls of Iconium itself. Sultan Masud was so fearful of capture he retreated, but he left Iconium behind with a brave - and polite - defender."

Andronikos paused in his scratching and sat back on his haunches. "My own brother. I saw him on the walls and we spoke briefly at a distance. We didn't have the siege engines or supplies needed to take the city. I am glad of that. I would have hated to kill my own brother. Still his forces harassed us as Manuel marched the army back towards Antioch again."