Beloved Pilgrim (20 page)

"Are you thinking about, um, you know?" she
asked, taking care not to use her brother's name, now ostensibly
hers.

She could see from how he dropped his eyes
that he was in fact thinking of Elias, his lover. "Yes, and how
much he wanted to come here, see this city, then go on to see
Jerusalem."

Elisabeth put one hand on his shoulder. "It
all just came over me now, the same."

Albrecht nodded and swiped at his eyes with
his sleeve. She squeezed his shoulder.

"But," she suggested, "don't you feel him
with us? Walking with us and smiling that gleeful smile of his as
he tries to see everything at once?"

Her squire glanced sideways at her, his face
wondering. "You know, I do. It's not just me? I long for something
more tangible, but I do feel he is glad we are come here."

"Sometimes I think I hear him speak."

Albrecht's eyes suddenly filled with tears,
and he had to put his arm to his mouth to keep from sobbing aloud.
He shook his head. He managed to say in a whisper, "I do too. It
almost kills me."

She looked at him, concerned. "Would you
rather not hear it?"

"No!" he protested vehemently. "No!"

"You two!" Gerhardt's voice came from behind.
"That's right, you have never been here before. It does that to a
lot of people."

Elisabeth turned to look at him, walking
backwards for several paces. "The city? Did you . . . weep?"

"Mayhap. Mayhap not. I'm not going to tell."
The German knight gave her a wry smile.

Alain trotted up to join them. "That means he
did. Weep at the first sight of Constantinople, I mean." He slapped
Albrecht on the back. "I am not ashamed to admit it. I expect my
first sight of Jerusalem will have me weeping like a babe in
arms."

"Now, so long as you are in arms, no one will
know." Black Beast had come up behind him.

Even those who had visited the Sublime City
before grew silent as they approached the massive gate set into the
wall, almost as tall as the wall itself. More even than that, the
fact that it was shining gold overwhelmed even the most jaded. Not
gold colored, but actual gold. It was magnificent, awesome, and
very intimidating.

At the massive gate the leaders spoke with
the captain of the guards posted there. The man looked down the
line of knights coming toward him on foot. He seemed to make a
sardonic remark, causing Stephen of Blois to redden. Conrad quickly
leaned to the captain and spoke to him, then answered the man's
worried questions. When the two Stephens and Odo moved through the
gate, Conrad stayed in place.

"What's the problem, my lord?" Black Beast
asked as he came up to the Constable.

"Nothing much, my friend. They just wanted to
make sure you were all part of our party. Go on in. I assume they
will have made some provision for our housing. And it had better be
fit for our ranks."

The passage through the gate seemed to stop
and start, impeding the steady flow of the knights. When she and
her friends reached the portal Elisabeth discovered why it had. She
stopped suddenly herself, awestruck by what she saw. They were at
the start of a broad avenue, broad enough to march three dozen men
across. It was finely cobbled with smooth stones. On either side
were buildings of such richness she had never seen even singly, no
less one after another. "Do even the poor live in palaces?" she
breathed.

Alain chuckled. "Non, mon ami. If you stray
far off this avenue you will see slums that defy reason. But it is
best not to say anything about them."

The walking knights with their squires
followed the leaders and their train of servants and men-at-arms up
the length of the avenue. Ahead on the steady rise stood a massive
building. It seemed almost as wide as the rooftops of the city
visible to the pilgrim knights as they marched.

Alain answered her unspoken query. "The
Blachernae Palace. Where the Basileus reigns."

"The Basileus?" she looked puzzled.

"The Emperor Alexios Komnenos. That is his
title. It's the title of the Emperor or Empress, whichever is
supreme."

Elisabeth looked pointedly at him. "Women can
rule here?"

"You have never heard of Irene? Theodora?
Zoë? Theodosia?"

"How do you know so much, Alain?" she said,
shaking her head. She almost commented, "Mayhap our fathers do not
want women to know about those who have attained power," but caught
herself.

"I listen. I learn. I read. I ask discreet
questions." Alain smiled. "It looks like at least our leaders will
be given an audience."

Elisabeth watched as the men and a few of
their servants were permitted into a gilded gate. They had seen
Conrad hasten along the procession of pilgrim knights to catch up,
and he was among those who went in. A subdued moan of
disappointment went through the procession when after admitting
only about two dozen of their number the gate was closed. Armed
men, giants really, with pale hair and pale eyes stepped in front
of the door, holding weapons and ready for an argument.

"The Verangian guards!" Black Beast indicated
the guards with a sweep of his hand. "Norsemen. The Emperor's elite
personal army. Magnificent, aren't they?"

Men unarmed but dressed in elaborate garb
came forth and started to lead the rest of the party off through an
alley that ran along the palace wall. "Those are eunuchs," Gerhardt
told her. "Watch out for them. The ones that still have their
peckers are usually sodomites."

"You mean some have their members still?"
Elisabeth asked.

"Most of them do. A lot of those who have
that chopped off die of fever from infection. Only the ones
actually housed with the royal women just have their balls and
cocks removed." Gerhardt cringed.

Elisabeth mirrored the men's protective grab
at their own groins. "But can they still, um, function?"

Alain chuckled, "They can. That's why the
warning. Don't lean over to pick anything up when one is
around."

Albrecht scowled.

A heavily scented eunuch approached their
party. He was dressed in robes of sea-green silk with gold
embroidery at the neck, sleeves, hem and open front over a fine
white shirt, and wore an outlandish hat made of some sort of
brocade. "Most gracious, please to accompany me to the palace
gardens. My name is Andronikos Komnenos. It is my distinct honor to
have you all as guests in my villa."

The three knights exchanged looks with raised
eyebrows. Elisabeth tried not to look at the eunuch's groin
area.

Only Albrecht met the man's eye. He saw a
tall, well made man with strong facial features and a short beard
with just a hint of gray streaking the black. The dark eyes
sparkled as he nodded in return to Albrecht's frank inspection.

Andronikos led them down the alley. Elisabeth
was appalled to hear Gerhardt whisper to Alain, "But I thought
eunuchs couldn't grow facial hair."

The eunuch turned with an indulgent smile.
"That is usually correct, my lords. It depends on the age of the
boy when he is castrated."

Albrecht smiled triumphantly at the three
knights' backs.

Andronikos, accompanied by two male servants,
led them through a small gate into a large garden and bade them
rest while he went to his house and arranged for their rooms. As
soon as the eunuch's back was seen hurrying down the alley the
three knights began to jest about him and eunuchs in general.
Elisabeth quickly called to Albrecht, "Squire, come with me. I need
you to help me fix a broken thong on my chain mail." She led him a
short distance to where a fountain played. "I am sorry, Albrecht.
Do you want me to tell them to lay off?"

Her squire fiddled with the hem of her mail.
There were no broken thongs but he had to act like he was doing
something. From where he knelt he replied, "No, my lord, it is not
necessary. I should be used to that by now. Besides, I think Alain
might be hiding something himself."

"You think he is a sod . . . a lover of
men?"

Albrecht grimaced at her slip. "I don't know,
but I've caught him looking at you with that sort of look."

She looked over at the French knight. "Either
that or he knows what I am."

They drifted back to the three knights after
giving them time to get the eunuch jests out of their systems. "You
should see that fountain," she said. "It has more gold on it than
an Archbishop's robe."

All five glanced over as Andronikos came
toward them. "Please to come with me, noble sirs."

As they went out of the garden and down the
alley Alain asked, "Komnenos? That's the Basileus's surname, is it
not?"

The eunuch's placid smile turned to him.
"That is a fact, glorious sir. I am his cousin thrice removed."

"Why did he remove you?" Gerhardt asked.

"Or what did he remove?" Black Beast
inserted.

Elisabeth whirled. "Is that the behavior of a
knight of the Cross?" she shot at them both.

"Do not chide the noble knights, my lord, on
my account," the eunuch said gently. "I am not ashamed of what I
am. If the good sirs derive entertainment from that, I do not mind.
In our golden city being a eunuch can bring riches, power and
gifts. My mother and father chose this life for me so that I might
serve the Basileus the better."

Seeing the three knights look humbled,
Elisabeth smirked back at them triumphantly.

The rooms they were given in the palatial
house of the Emperor's cousin thrice removed were as large and well
appointed as many of the halls the five had seen in Germany and
France. Each was housed with a choice of servants, male or female,
though Elisabeth insisted she was content to keep her own squire
with her. They were allowed to rest. Andronikos sent a servant to
tell them they would be roused from their beds to have baths in
time for him to conduct them to the palace for a feast. The three
knights instantly regretted asking for male servants, imagining the
delights of a woman bathing them.

Rising from the luxuriantly soft bed in her
room, Elisabeth saw that fresh clothes had been set out for her. A
large metal tub was in the middle of the floor with a screen around
three sides of it. A young woman sat on its edge and swirled
fragrant oils into the steamy water. Elisabeth stopped short when
she saw her, leaving the laces of her linen shirt partly untied.
"Where's Albrecht? I mean, my squire?" she croaked out.

The woman quickly stood and bowed.
"Excellency, your squire has gone to inquire about your animals. If
it will be permitted, your humble servant will prepare your bath
and bathe you."

She kept her eyes down, her gaze curtained by
thick, long lashes. She was clad in a light silk gown that did
little to hide the darker parts of her anatomy. Elisabeth's eyes
strayed to areola and pubic hair clearly outlined under the thin
fabric. She caught herself, embarrassed, but it looked like the
woman had not noticed. "That's not necessary. My squire will take
care of that when he returns."

The woman looked up dismayed. Before she
could lower her gaze, Elisabeth caught sight of honey-colored eyes.
Honey! She had never seen eyes that color before. Her throat tight,
she stammered, "What is your name? Where are you from?"

The woman answered in a servant's respectful
voice. "My name is Maliha, Excellency. I am a Turk. Well, half
Turk, half Greek. My mother was Turkish and named me." She looked
troubled as if she had spoken too much.

"Oh?" Elisabeth responded. "That's
interesting. She raised you alone?" She leaned a hip against a
table, crossed one ankle over another, and stood trying not to let
her glance sink to those fascinating shadows. Without her realizing
it, the tip of her tongue slipped out and ran along her lower
lip.

Maliha twisted her hands together. "The
Excellency is kind to ask about this unworthy servant."

"No, I am truly interested." Elisabeth
started to chew on a fingernail.

"I do not know who my father was, lord. I
only know that he was Greek."

Elisabeth looked up. "I'm sorry. I didn't
mean to . . . "

Tilting her head Maliha looked up at her.
"No, Excellency, it is for me to beg your forgiveness. I will leave
you alone. Just call for more hot water and towels should your
Excellency need them."

The pilgrim knight discovered she didn't want
the woman to leave, in spite of her initial panic. "Can't you stay
until my squire returns?"

Something like trepidation crossed the
woman's face. "Of course, noble sir. Just tell me what . . . you
want me . . . to do for you." She tried to hide her confusion. "Do
you want me to undress?"

Elisabeth's face went red. "Just talk. I just
want you to talk with me," she assured quickly. "Until my squire
returns. Unless you will be chastised for lingering."

Maliha looked up again, her face full of
uncertainty. Then a thought seemed to cross her mind. Her features
relaxed. "I am here for your pleasure, Excellency. If you want to
talk, I shall talk, and deem it my rare privilege."

The two stood not speaking, Maliha's eyes
downcast, Elisabeth's averted. The knight ventured, "Can you not
look at me, Maliha?"

"I will do whatever you ask, my lord."

"Then look at my face." The dark beauty
lifted her chin and looked straight into Elisabeth's face. "What a
remarkable color!" Elisabeth said.

"Excellency?"

"Your eyes. I have never seen honey-colored
eyes on anyone."

Maliha's face displayed some relief. "A
lioness, my lord. They often have honey-colored eyes."

"They do? I have never seen a real lion.
Mayhap I should call you my lioness?"

Maliha peered into her face. "You may call me
whatever your Excellency wishes." She took a step toward her. "Do I
please you?"

The door to the chamber opened and Albrecht
came in, startled to find his "lord" talking to a young Turkish
woman.