Nicæa

Theodora Drops In

The afternoon of the eighteenth of June was hot, and Nilufar made a great effort to avoid her mother, hiding in the sitting-room that overlooked the square. She was careful not to sit anywhere near the particular window that featured in her nightmare. Nilufar sat on the opposite side of the room, the south side, under a completely different set of windows.

Nilufar was deep into her book when her childhood friend Theodora climbed in through the nearest window. The windows on the south side of Nilufar's sitting-room nearly touched the balcony that jutted out from Theodora's house, looming over the narrow alley below. Theodora, her long hair tied neatly, as she preferred, was carrying a basket of eggs.

The girls had played on the street together in their dimly-recalled young childhood, when they were young enough that the fact that Nilufar was Seljuk and Theodora was Greek had not even entered their minds. Nilufar's father had never approved of tomboyish Theodora, and Theodora's father was not entirely comfortable around their Seljuk neighbours, no matter how wealthy and generous. However, Nilufar's mother Pari was a strong and forceful woman, and Pari approved of the friendship. Nilufar's father was under his beloved only wife's thumb, and Theodora's father, with no connection to the ruling dynasty, had no hope of interfering with anything Pari decided was within her rights. Pari had befriended Theodora's mother, and furthermore, liked Theodora. Therefore, the two girls were friends. No one else had been allowed to have a say in the matter.

“You could come by the door, you know,” Nilufar rolled her eyes at Theodora.

“That's no fun at all, Nilu,” Theodora retorted. “My mother says you're to give these eggs to your mother. My mother says it's no use having friends if you don't share with them in time of need.”

“Thank you,” Nilufar said solemnly. She set the basket down on the floor.

“I hope this ghastly siege is over soon,” Theodora said, making a face.

“I don't,” Nilufar shuddered.

“You had that nightmare again, didn't you?”

“I have it every night,” Nilufar admitted, looking away in embarrassment.

“It's a silly dream,” Theodora retorted childishly. “I had a much better dream last night. I was guarding the walls and one of the barbarians was climbing a ladder, right there in front of me!” Both girls agreed that the Franks and Germans were barbarians. The rag-tag army that had destroyed most of Nicæa's suburbs last year were proof of that. Both girls also agreed that both the Turkish Seljuks and the Greeks in Constantinople were civilized, though each thought her own people were the more advanced.

“You were defending the walls? You?” Nilufar asked in disbelief.

“What? It was a dream. It doesn't have to make sense,” Theodora pointed out. “Your dream doesn't make any sense either. Anyhow, when he got to the top of the wall, I found I had a big, iron bar. I used it to pry one of the stones out of the wall, sending the man and the ladder crashing down.”

“I wish I had dreams like that. My dream always ends with someone trying to kill me.”

“That is because you're worried only about the end of the siege. You're afraid of what might happen, but I'm afraid of what is happening. We could all starve to death before the siege ends, Nilu! Did you know that just yesterday, almost two hundred more men showed up outside the walls, in boats? This may never end! I don't care who wins – us or the barbarians – but I want this siege to be over.”

The two girls had discussed this topic before, during the long weeks of the siege. Theodora couldn't care less about what was happening to the Sultanate. She said - and often – that she would rather be living under the Basileus in Constantinople, Alexios, than under Kilij Arslan or any number of heirs of Malik-Shah. After all, Theodora would remind Nilufar, Nicæa had been Christian for generations before the Muslim Seljuks had decided they liked the place. Therefore, Theodora said, it would only be fitting to be under the control of a Christian Empire. Sometimes, Nilufar wanted to tell Theodora to shut up.

Instead, Nilufar said, “Those barbarians would kill us all!”

“Maybe all you Turks,” Theodora pointed out cruelly, “But it's still better than starving.”

This time, Nilufar did say it: “Shut up, Theodora.”

Theodora rolled her eyes. Then she let herself out of the window again, her expression angry.