The Iron Lance (3 page)

“Naturally,” intoned the abbot after a moment, “the jarl wishes it to be known that, inasmuch as he is not taking the cross himself, he will not be extending any material assistance to those who choose to go.”

“Nothing?” asked Ranulf, the smile fading from his face.

The abbot gave a slight shake of his head. Murdo could see how much the gray-robed cleric relished his position as emissary, and hated him the more. Self-important meddler, thought Murdo, and entertained himself with the vision of the abbot's backside covered in ripe, red boils.

“You see how it is,” Abbot Gerardus replied. “The jarl has many claims on his properties and substance. It is enough that he will be deprived of the rightful tribute of his noblemen. Certainly, he cannot be expected to provide supplies and provisions for all.”

“But—” began Ranulf. His protest was stifled by the imperious abbot's upraised palm.

“It is the view of the church that those who follow the crusade are pilgrims and as such must meet the cost of the pilgrimage out of their own resources.” He looked around the room, as
if assessing the value of its appointments. “If one finds oneself unable to meet the cost, then perhaps one is unwise in pursuing the journey.”

“The tribute will be forgiven?” wondered Ranulf.

“Of course.”

“For the duration of the crusade?”

The abbot nodded. “All tithes and taxes, too, yes—that is, until the pilgrim returns.”

Ranulf rubbed his chin, reckoning his savings.

“I would not like to think the love of mammon stood between any man and his sacred duty,” Abbot Gerardus continued. “The spiritual rewards are not inconsiderable. As you know, all pilgrims will enjoy complete absolution for all sins committed while on crusade, and should death befall anyone who takes the cross, his soul is assured swift admission into paradise.”

“That much I have heard,” Ranulf replied.

Lady Niamh, grim and silent, stood with her arms crossed and her mouth pressed into a thin, hard line. Murdo knew the look, and rightly feared it.

The three young men entered the hall just then, eager to hear the abbot's news. They approached the board and Ranulf beckoned them close. “We have our answer,” the lord informed his sons and nephew. “Jarl Erlend will allow the crusade, but we cannot look to him for aid.”

“We can go?” asked Torf, glancing from his father to the abbot and back again.

“Aye, that we can,” Lord Ranulf answered.

“Then I take the cross!” declared Torf, thrusting forward.

“Torf-Einar!” exclaimed Lady Niamh. “It is not for you to say.”

“I take the cross!” Skuli echoed, ignoring his mother.

Not to be outdone, Paul pushed forward. “In the name of Christ, I take the cross!”

Ranulf stood, gazing resolutely at his wife. “Tell Bishop Adalbert that Lord Ranulf of Dýrness and his sons will come before him to take the cross on the Saint John's Sabbath.”

Murdo heard this and his heart beat faster. Did his father mean to include him, too? Perhaps the lord had changed his mind, and he would be included after all. He held his breath.

The young abbot nodded. “Trust that I will tell him. Of course, you will wish to place your lands under the protection of the church during your pilgrimage.”

“That will not be necessary,” Ranulf replied easily. “Lady Niamh will remain in authority here. My son, Murdo, will be here to help her, of course, and as the jarl is to stay in Orkneyjar, we have nothing to fear.”

Murdo's face fell as the hope, so quickly kindled, died to ashes in his heart.

“That is your privilege, of course, Lord Ranulf,” remarked the abbot. “But I advise you to pray and seek God's guidance in this matter. You can deliver your decision to the bishop on the Sabbath.”

“There is no need,” Ranulf assured him. “I have made my decision, and I will not be changing it now.”

“Very well.” With that, the abbot rose, and Murdo received the distinct impression that, having made a dreadful blunder, they were all being abruptly dismissed.

Heads erect, hands folded before them, Abbot Gerardus and his brother monks left the hall, retracing their steps to the yard. The lord bade his sons to fetch the clerics' horses, and Murdo used the opportunity to loosen the cinch strap on the abbot's saddle—not enough so that the churchman should fall, but enough to make the saddle sway uneasily from side to side.

Back in the yard once more, the abbot accepted the reins from Murdo's hand and, without so much as a word of thanks, swung himself onto his mount. “Pax vobiscum,” he intoned sourly.

“Pax vobiscum,” answered Ranulf, whereupon the abbot wheeled his horse and rode from the yard, followed by his three silent companions.

After supper the Lord of Dýrness and his lady wife exchanged sharp words. Late into the night their voices could be heard beyond the thick walls of their chamber. The servingmen had vanished just after clearing the supper board, lest they come foul of their lord's displeasure, and none were to be found anywhere. Murdo, sitting alone at the hearth, could not hear what they said, but the meaning was clear enough. Even the lord's gray wolfhound remained curled in a corner of the hearth, jowls resting on his great paws.

“What ails you, Jötun?” muttered Murdo, flicking a peat clod at the dog. “It's
me
that has been forsaken.”

Murdo did not go to his bed that night; he was discouraged enough already without listening to the smug chatter of his brothers and cousin. Instead, he stalked the hill behind the house cursing his luck and railing against his untimely birth. He demanded of the heavens to know why he had been born last, but neither the stars, nor the pale half moon deigned to answer. They never did.

“Your horse has been saddled, basileus,” announced Nicetas. From his camp chair in the center of the tent, Alexius Comnenus, Emperor of All Christendom, God's Co-Regent on Earth, Supreme Commander of the Imperial Army, rose and lifted his arms. Two young armor-bearers darted forward, one of them clutching the imperial sword, and the other the wide silver belt.

Together the two buckled the sword and then backed silently away while old Gerontius, Magister of the Chamber, shuffled forward holding the emperor's golden circlet on a small cushion of purple silk. Alexius lifted the circlet and placed it on his head, and then turned to his aging servant. “Are we ready, Gerontius?”

“The basileus is ready,” replied Gerontius with a bow.

“Come then, Nicetas,” said the emperor, stepping quickly to the door. “We would not have the enemy believe we are cowering in our tent. We shall let them see us at the head of our troops, and they shall know Alexius fears nothing.”

The two men emerged from the imperial tent, and the emperor stepped onto the mounting block where his favorite stallion waited. Alexius raised his foot to the stirrup and swung easily into the saddle; he took up the reins and, with Nicetas, Captain of the Excubitori, the palace guard, mounted beside him, made his way slowly through the camp to the chorused
shouts of acclaim from rank upon rank of soldiers.

“Listen to them, Nicetas. They are eager for the fight,” Alexius observed. “That is good. We will whet their appetite a little more, so that tomorrow they will feast without restraint.”

“The blood of the enemy will be a rich sacrifice for God and his Holy Church,” the captain of the guard replied. “Amen.”

“Amen.”

Upon reaching the edge of the camp, the two rode on, following a trail which led to a nearby hill where three men on horseback waited. “Hail and welcome, basileus!” called the foremost of them, riding forward to greet his sovereign with a kiss. The other two offered the imperial salute and waited to be addressed.

“What have you to show us, Dalassenus?” the emperor asked. He rubbed his hands in anticipation, and regarded his kinsman fondly.

“This way, if you will, basileus,” replied Dalassenus, Grand Drungarius, Supreme Commander of the Imperial Fleet. The family resemblance was strong in the young commander: thick black curly hair and keen black eyes beneath even brows, he was short-limbed and muscular like all the Comneni men, and swarthy-skinned like his cousin; he differed only in that where his kinsmen displayed the Greek half of their heritage, his own features tended more towards the Syrian.

Reining in beside Alexius, he led the emperor up a winding rocky path towards the crest of the hill. The two rode together side by side, easy in one another's company. They had fought alongside one another many times, and both knew and respected the other's skill and courage.

As the emperor and his entourage gained the top of the hill called Levunium, the light from the setting sun struck them full like the blaze from victory fire. The sky, aglow with flaming reds
and golds, shone with a brilliance exceeded only by the sun itself. The men, blinded for a few moments, shielded their eyes with their hands until they could see once more, and then looked down into the dusky valley below.

The extreme desperation of their predicament became apparent only gradually as they beheld the dark, spreading blotch rippling north and south from one promontory to the other, and stretching into the distance as far as the eye could see—like a vast black river whose waters were slowly filling the Maritsa valley with the flood of a vile and filthy sea.

Alexius stood in awe-stricken silence, gazing into the valley at the assembled enemy: Pechenegs and Bogomils in numbers beyond counting, tribe upon tribe, whole barbarian nations rising to the slaughter of the empire. Nor were these the greatest enemy bawling for the blood of Byzantium. They were merely the last in a long, long train of barbarian hordes seeking to enrich and aggrandize themselves through the plunder of the empire's legendary wealth.

Alexius, the light of the dying sun in his eyes, took in the unholy sight before him, and remembered all the other times he had gazed upon the enemy before a battle. In the last thirteen years he had faced Slavs and Goths and Huns, Bulgars and Magyars, Gepids and Uzz and Avars—all howling down across the windswept steppelands of the North; and in the south the wily, implacable Arabs: first the Saracens, and now the Seljuqs, a sturdy and energetic warrior race from the arid wastes of the East.

God in heaven, he thought, there are so many! Where does it end? Forcing down his dismay, he declared, “The greater the enemy, the greater the victory. God be praised.” After a moment, he turned to his kinsman and asked, “How many Cuman have pledged to fight for us?”

“Thirty thousand, basileus,” replied Dalassenus. “They are camped just over there.” He indicated a series of rough hills, behind which a pall of smoke was gathering. “Does the emperor wish to go to them?”

Alexius shook his head slowly. “No.” He squared his shoulders and straightened his back. “We have seen enough barbarians—they hold no fascination for us. We would rather speak to our soldiers. It is time to kindle the flame of courage so that it will burn brightly in the fight.”

He reined aside and departed the hilltop, returned to the Byzantine camp and commanded Nicetas to assemble the themes and scholae. While the soldiers were summoned, the emperor waited in his tent, kneeling before his chair, hands clasped tightly in prayer.

When Alexius emerged from his tent once more, the sun had set, and two stars gleamed in a sky the color of the amethysts in his swordbelt. A raised platform had been erected beside the tent so that he might address his troops and, with the coming of night, torches had been lit and placed at each corner of the platform. Preceded by an excubitor bearing the vexillum, the ancient war standard of the Roman Legions, Alexius mounted the steps and walked to the edge of the platform to look out upon the assembled might of Byzantium—a force much reduced from its former size, but potent still.

The last of the ancient and honorable themes stood in ranks before him, their separate regiments marked out by the color of their cloaks and tunics: the red of Thrace, the deep blue of Opsikion, the green of Bithynia, the gold of Phrygia, and the black of the Hetairi. Rank on rank, upraised spears gleaming in the dusky twilight, they stood, fifty thousand strong, the last remnant of the finest soldiers the world had ever seen: the Immortals. Alexius' heart swelled with pride to see them.

“Tomorrow we fight for the Glory of God and the welfare of the empire,” the emperor declared. “Tomorrow we fight. But tonight, my brave companions—tonight, above all nights, we pray!”

Alexius paced the edge of the platform, his golden breastplate glimmering like water in the torchlight. How many times had he addressed his troops in just this way, he wondered. How many more times must he exhort men to lay down their lives for the empire? When would it end? Great God, there must be an end.

“We pray, my friends, for victory over the enemy. We pray for strength, and courage, and endurance. We pray God's protection over us, and his deliverance in the heat and hate of battle.” So saying, Alexius, Elect of Heaven, Equal of the Apostles, fell on his knees and fifty thousand of the finest warriors the world had ever seen knelt with him.

Raising his hands to heaven, the emperor sent heartfelt words of supplication and entreaty winging to the throne of God. His voice rang out in the twilight stillness with all the passion of a commander who knows his troops woefully outnumbered and must trust their courage to sway the scales of war.

When at last the emperor finished, night had descended upon the camp. Alexius opened his eyes and stood to gaze in amazement at a most miraculous sight; it was as if the stars above had fallen to earth, and the plain before him now sparkled with all the glory of heaven itself. Each and every soldier had a lighted wax taper affixed to the blade of his spear—fifty thousand earthstars shining with bright-flecked rays, illuminating the camp with a clear and holy light.

The glow from that light sustained Alexius through the long, restless night, and was with him still when he rode out at the head of his troops before dawn. The imperial cavalry crossed the
Maritsa a few miles upstream of the encamped enemy, formed the battalions, and waited for daybreak. They attacked from the east, with the light of the rising sun at their backs. To the sleep-sotted barbarians, it seemed as if the warhost of heaven was streaming down upon them from out of the sun.

Alexius struck the confused mass at the center of the Pecheneg and Bogomil horde. It was a swift, sharp thrust into the belly of the beast, and he was away again before the barbarian battlehorns had sounded the call to arms. Having roused and enraged the enemy, he fell back—just out of reach of their slings and spears—and waited for them to make their counter attack.

The invaders, eager to avenge the assault, hastily formed a battleline and began their plodding advance. The imperial defenders looked out on a single vast, clotted mass of bellowing barbarians—less an ordered line than an enormous human tidal wave rolling across the land—and heard the deep jarring bone-rattling thump of the drums, the strident, sense-numbing blare of the huge, curved battlehorns, and the defiant cries of the warriors as they swept towards them with quickening pace.

It was a display calculated to produce terror in the beholder; it was their chief weapon, and one which served them well; with it, they had conquered tribe and nation, overrunning all they surveyed. The empire's soldiers had faced it before, however, and the sight and sound of barbarians massing for their attack no longer inspired shock or dismay, no longer quelled the heart in terror, or swallowed the senses in panic. The Immortals gazed with narrowed eyes and tightened their grip on lances and reins, calmed their horses with gently whispered words, and waited.

Flanked on either side by his standard-bearers—one lofting the purple banner of the Holy Roman Empire, the other the golden vexillum—Alexius looked across to his officers, the
strategi, who anchored the long ranks at the center of either wing. The foremost of these was a seasoned veteran of the Pecheneg wars, a man named Taticius, whose fearlessness and shrewdness had often saved lives and won battles. The emperor signalled his general, who sang out in a strong voice: “Slow march!”

The trumpets sounded a single, shrill blast, and the troops started forth as one. The imperial formation—two divisions, each made up of ten regiments in ranks, five deep, and a hundred riders to the rank—moved in close concert with one another; shoulder to shoulder and knee to knee, the riders formed a wall not easily breached or broken. Their long lances kept the foe out of reach of their horses, and themselves out of reach of barbarian axes and war hammers. Once in motion, there was little on the ground that could withstand a charge of mounted warriors.

Taticius gave the sign, the trumpets blared again, and the riders quickened their pace. The invaders met this with a shout, and came on. Fifty paces later, the trumpets sounded a third time, and the riders doubled their speed. The horses, trained to combat, strained at the reins, excited for the coming clash; but the riders held them back, waiting for the signal.

Faster and faster came the barbarians, the sound of their screams and drums and horns shaking the very earth and air, drowning out the thunder of the onrushing hooves. At the strategus' signal, the trumpets shrilled once more. Ten thousand lances swung level.

The two forces closed upon one another at speed. As the gap swiftly narrowed, the trumpets gave out a last signal and the horsemen put spurs to their mounts and let them run.

For the space of two heartbeats, the world was a churning chaos of blurred motion as the two onrushing armies fell upon
each other. The clash sounded a mighty crack which echoed from the surrounding hills, and ten thousand barbarians fell. Many of these were trampled down and their brains dashed out beneath the iron hooves of the emperor's horses; the rest met death at the point of a Byzantine spear.

The charge carried the emperor and his troops deep into the barbarian mass. The screaming hordes, seeing the gleaming gold and purple standards, leapt over one another in their frenzy to strike down the Elect of Heaven. But Alexius, mindful of the danger of allowing the enemy to surround his division, had instructed Taticius to signal the retreat as soon as the assault foundered. Accordingly, the trumpets sounded above the barbarian shriek and, with practiced ease, the imperial soldiers disengaged, fleeing back over the bodies of the dead and dying.

The enemy, seeing the horsemen turn away, pounded on in blood-blind pursuit, screaming as they ran. They chased the fleeing horsemen—only to be met with another measured charge by oncoming cavalry. The emperor, having had time to halt the retreat, had turned his troops and reformed the ranks; Alexius, with five thousand horsemen behind him, spurred his division into the center of the oncoming barbarian battlehost.

The barbarians, neither so quick nor so tightly clumped as before, were more cautious this time. They tried to dodge the spears and hooves, to allow the horses to pass and stab at the riders as they swept by. The Byzantines had long acquaintance with this tactic, however, and were not easily outflanked. The ranks behind covered for the line ahead, and the barbarians could not close on those they sought to strike. Indeed, most were fortunate not to be cut down as they darted into position.

The charge ground to a halt, and the imperial troops made good their retreat, falling back the instant the attack faltered. They fled back across a battleground now deep with Pecheneg
and Bogomil dead. This time, however, they did not regroup and charge again, but fled up the hill.

The enemy, believing they had beaten the Byzantines, quickly reformed the line. The drums began beating, and the horns blaring, and they marched ahead once more, but slowly this time. Two disastrous charges had taught them respect for the elusive horsemen.