Beloved Pilgrim (21 page)

Elisabeth was both relieved and regretful.
"Here is my squire," she proclaimed ebulliently. "He's all I need.
You can go now, Maliha." Seeing her crestfallen look she assured,
"But you will come back some time, will you not?"

The woman bowed several times as she backed
out of the chamber. Albrecht looked at her as she passed him. "Your
Excellency need only call for your poor servant," the woman said,
and turned and dashed out the door.

"What the hell was that all about?" the
squire asked.

Elisabeth stared at the closed door. "That?
That was a honey-eyed lioness."

Albrecht looked from the door back to his
"master." A smile started to play on his lips. "Did you not want
her to bathe you?" he inquired, nodding toward the screen that hid
the tub.

Elisabeth looked up with wide eyes. "Oh, my
God no! How could I do that? She'd find out!"

Bathed, dressed and escorted to the palace,
Elisabeth noticed a speculative look cross her host's visage. She
chalked it up to her refusal to accept his servant's ministrations.
She hoped she had not caused trouble for the woman.

At the palace Elisabeth found herself seated
far from the imperial dais as the most sumptuous meal she had ever
had was paraded up and down the gigantic room. Her three knightly
companions were at her table. They were elbowing each other and
recounting the lovely baths each had had. Black Beast turned to
her. "How about you, Elias? I thought I saw a little flower dance
in and out of your chamber with towels and very little else."

Elisabeth thought to join in on the ribald
talk, but at the same time felt it somehow discourteous to lie
about bedding a woman she had not. She shrugged and took a gulp of
her wine. "Not my taste," she muttered.

"As if that was the situation. Probably left
her unconscious," Black Beast jested, elbowing the other two who
laughed.

At the high table on the dais, a man in rich
clothes and more gems than Elisabeth had ever seen in one place
bent his head this way and that, speaking with the Stephens, Odo
and Conrad. Servants dashed back and forth behind them, filling
goblets and serving from gold platters. One young boy carried a
porcelain bowl to each man and held it as each man dipped his
fingers, while another boy stood ready with towels. Four or five
eunuchs stood behind the Basileus and his guests watching for any
need, scowling and barking orders at the servants.

Elisabeth was both curious and a little
anxious about the food offered to her. A servant would bring a
platter to their table and offer its contents to each knight. The
squires then reached across the table to serve their masters
whatever they selected. "What is it," she asked Albrecht in a
whisper as he scooped some sort of slimy black mass onto her golden
plate.

"How should I know? It smells fishy," he
whispered back.

Elisabeth had noticed the men at the table on
the dais picking at something with tiny slender utensils with
tines. From where she sat she could not see precisely what they did
with these instruments, so she let her glance slide to Gerhardt. He
raised the slim utensil, speared some white cheese on it, and
dipped it in the gelatinous mass. He smiled at her as he closed his
lips on the utensil and seemed to savor the taste.

She matched his actions and found herself
with a mouthful of something exotic and sensual to the tongue.
"It's salty!" she said, surprised. "What is it?"

Gerhardt replied around a taste of the
unknown delicacy. "Fish eggs." He chuckled at Elisabeth's surprised
look, but all she did was shrug and go on eating.

This first course was followed by a
remarkable variety of dishes. There was all types of bread and
dried and fresh fruits, many of which she did not recognize. One
cold concoction seemed to be onions and mint in what someone called
a "zucchini." It was refreshing. Later a similarly bracing bowl of
leaves with a sprinkling of herbs and a sweet and tart honey and
vinegar dressing was followed by the main dish, a goat stuffed with
onions and other vegetables, smothered in a fish sauce. A rich red
wine was served throughout the meal, which ended with honey cakes,
nuts and more fruit.

Elisabeth caught sight of Andronikos as the
man hovered here and there. Seeing her look, the eunuch hurried
over to her.

"May I serve you, my Lord Elias?"

She searched for something to ask for. "Oh,
yes, Andronikos. Can you tell me who that man is next to the
Basileus, the one with an eye patch?"

The man looked up. "That is his Grace, Count
Raymond of Toulouse. He who led the pilgrims to Jerusalem."

"Raymond de Saint Gilles is here?" she said,
astonished.

"Yes, noble sir. He is joining your party
when you leave at the end of the month. He is a great friend of the
Great Basileus. He goes to lend the Emperor's help to your holy
quest." He answered two or three other questions Elisabeth
posed.

After their host had moved away to find some
other need to fulfill, Black Beast grumbled, "From the looks of it,
Toulouse is coming along to keep us newcomers in line."

Elisabeth shot him a look. "What do you
mean?"

"Nothing, nothing. What did our fey friend
say about our leaving?"

She considered the huge man. "Just that we
are leaving for Ancyra once our animals and supplies are ready.
Before June."

"That gives us better than a fortnight,
then." Alain seemed pleased. "Plenty of time to taste some of the
pleasures this city can offer."

"I haven't seen anyone who looks like a
Lombard Archbishop," Black Beast put in.

Alain offered, "Andronikos said he has been
ill since he arrived. He won't be coming with us."

The morning after the grand feast Elisabeth
awoke late. The sun streamed through the open latticed window. She
looked over to find a small round table sitting next to the bed
with a sweetened drink made of honey, fruit, almonds and yogurt,
some flat bread and a hot drink that was bitter to the tongue.
Somewhere someone was playing an exotic stringed instrument. The
breeze wafting lazily into the chamber was fragrant with the scent
of orange blossoms. She sighed deeply with pleasure.

"Why don't you come in and share this food
with me?" she called to Albrecht who slept on a palette near the
room's door.

"Are you awake, Excellency?" came a soft
voice from the balcony of her chamber. The gauzy window drapes
parted and the honey-eyed Maliha looked in.

Elisabeth scrambled to pull up the cover so
that her loose shirt, open in the front, would not give away her
possession of small but decidedly female breasts. "You?" she cried.
"I thought you were Albrecht."

She realized that with the sound of Maliha's
voice the music had stopped. "Was that you playing?"

"Did it disturb you, my lord?"

"No, of course not. It was delightful. But
Maliha, you must stop coming into my room unannounced. It's . . .
unseemly." Elisabeth knew she must be scarlet with
embarrassment.

Maliha stood framed in the door to the
balcony, a shaft of morning light giving her dark hair an aura
effect. Her face was open and unhappy. "But exalted one, you asked
me to come back. If this lowly servant displeases you, I am sure my
master will find you one more to your liking." Her eyelashes
dropped to kiss her cheek. She ventured, "Mayhap a young man or
boy?"

From the bed, Elisabeth stared at her. "N-no,
I mean, you do not disturb me. It's just, well, in my homeland a
young . . . man . . . values his . . . um, privacy. We expect
servants to make themselves known by tapping or scratching on the
door before entering."

The darkly lovely young woman looked as if to
weep. "But, your Excellency, I did tap on the door. You did not
call out, so I came in."

Open-mouthed, Elisabeth shook her head. "No,
Maliha, I mean tap on the door, wait, and only come in when you
hear Albrecht or me say to come in."

Maliha nodded, but it was not clear if she
understood. She glanced up to peer sideways into the bed. "Is
Albrecht not here?" She quickly added, "My lord?"

"He must not be, if you came in the door
there." Elisabeth pulled aside the light bed curtain to look to
where Albrecht slept. The palette was cleared away, probably stowed
under Elisabeth's bed. "No, he is not here."

"I have displeased your Excellency. I hope
you will accept an apology from so unworthy a person," Maliha
murmured meekly.

Elisabeth gazed at her, exasperated. "I know
you are supposed to talk like that to . . . well, your master's
guests, but I wish you wouldn't. I hate that sort of talk from a
woman, from anyone." Elisabeth glared off to the side. She did not
therefore see the flash of surprised anger in the woman's eyes.

Just then a tap came at the chamber door.
"Come," she called. She was relieved when the person who looked in
was not one of the three knights. Nor was it Albrecht. One of the
male servants bowed, hardly giving Maliha a glance, and said, "My
master would like to have the company of his honor to sup with him
this day in the pavilion. May I tell his Excellency to expect the
young lord?" He waited silently for an answer.

"What time of day is it now, and when is the
supper?" Elisabeth inquired.

With another bow, the man supplied, "The sun
is near zenith, your lordship, and supper will be in just over two
hours."

She wracked her brain for any sort of
commitment. Thinking of none, she nodded. "Tell my gracious host
that I should be honored to have supper with him. May I ask, who
else will attend?"

Now the man glanced at Maliha who stood, her
honey-colored eyes again downcast and shaded from view by the
luxuriant lashes. Looking back but not quite at the bed, the man
replied, "You are to be my master's especial guest."

"Oh. Very well. Can you find my squire and
send him to me? I wish to dress."

Again the man looked over at Maliha. "May
this lowly maidservant be of service in that regard, your
honor?"

"No. I want Albrecht."

With raised eyebrows the man at the door
bowed and said, "Very good, your Excellency. Maliha!" He clapped
his hands and said something in Greek that Elisabeth could not
understand. Whatever it was, it distressed the young woman. She
scurried to the door and slipped out behind the manservant.

Elisabeth hurried to assure. "The maidservant
is not at all displeasing to me. I just prefer my squire."

The man bowed once more, very deeply, and
backed out.

"How peculiar," Elisabeth breathed.

With her tardy squire's help Elisabeth washed
and dressed to be ready for the supper.

Albrecht hesitated after speaking the words,
"My lord?"

"Yes?"

"It might sound odd coming from me, but
remember the other day, what the knights were saying about eunuchs?
That you need to watch out that they don't, well, take
advantage?"

Elisabeth stared dumbfounded at her squire.
"Are you saying that this supper is . . . a seduction?"

"I-it could be."

She laughed. "Somehow I don't think the
Basileus would think much of even a cousin, albeit three times
removed, raping the pilgrim knights he has asked to help him repel
the Turks. Men can be raped, can't they?"

"Indeed they can, my lord. But Andronikos
might think you may, well, want to be seduced. He is a fine looking
man. You are too, after a manner of speaking."

Adjusting her belt to allow for the proper
draping of her tunic, she protested, "But he sent me a woman to,
well, wash me, and do whatever I wanted." She looked up at
Albrecht, realization dawning. "And I keep sending her away. Oh,
sweet Jesus."

Albrecht looked away. "Just be aware. That's
all I am saying."

He looked back at her face and saw an impish
grin there.

"It would be rather a comedy, wouldn't
it?"

He saw the laughter building in her eyes and
started to laugh himself. Through his laughter, he managed to get
out, "It certainly is a situation I never thought I'd witness."

Entering the garden from the villa, Elisabeth
looked for the pavilion. It was a large tent, made of pure white
muslin. She crossed the garden to where it stood, right in the
middle of the walled inner garden. As she approached it a
manservant in pristine white bowed and held the flap for her to
enter.

The interior of the pavilion was cool but
bright. She saw why instantly. It had been built over and around a
small fountain that kept the heat of the sun that radiated through
the white walls from making the space into an oven. The scent of
jasmine and some exotic oriental incense met her delighted senses.
The floor of the tent was all luxuriant rugs. She saw Andronikos
settled comfortably into a pile of opulent, brocaded and
be-tasseled pillows. He was drawing smoke through some sort of
bottle with water in it. She gave him a courteous bow.

"Ah, my lord. Welcome to my humble pleasure
garden. I hoped you would be able to share my supper with me. Come,
come and sit here." Andronikos was in royal blue silk with gold
thread embroidery in a geometric pattern down the frogged front. It
was a color that became his graying hair and beard. She went to the
pile of cushions and sank into a position with her legs crossed at
her ankles. "Will you take wine?"

"Your Excellency, I am flattered at the
invitation. We are not expecting any of the other knights?"

Andronikos smiled languidly. "No indeed, we
shall be quite alone."

The man poured wine into a cup from a ewer
with a long spout. Elisabeth took the wine cup and drank . "What is
that bottle you are smoking from?"

"It is called a hookah. The water takes the
bite out of the smoke. The herbs in it are a mix of mild drugs and
fragrant leaves. It is harmless," he added, seeing her hesitation.
He went on, "I shall have the servants bring in the dishes right
away, if you please, so we will not be disturbed."