Varangian (Aelfraed) (28 page)

I would be lying if I said I was not disappointed.
  I wanted to fight Olef and his Varangians and that would not happen but I would, at least, be reunited with my men. I asked Alexios about the Guard. “Tell me about the Varangians.  When Nicephorus is removed do the guards become yours?”

“It is complicated.
  They are loyal to the Emperor as long as he his Emperor. After he is deposed they normally loot the treasury and then most swear allegiance to the new Emperor.”

I was shocked, “And this is allowed?”

He spread his hands.  “What Emperor wishes to anger the men who guard him?”

“The difference is that you have your own Varangians and we will stop Olef and his bandits from robbing the treasury.” No matter what Alexios said, I swore to myself that I would make sure that the murderer who had never fought once for Nicephorus would not profit from this. I could see that Alexios thought that this was a fact of life and inevitable.
  It was not.

We could see the fires from the army out at sea and the Jarl edged us closer in to the shore.
  “Do you want Stig and the boys to accompany you?”

“No Gunnar you have done enough and the Emperor has no men this far out.”

Alexios extended his arm.  “When I am Emperor, Captain I will find some way to increase your profit.”

“If you protected the lower end of the Dnieper and controlled the Pechengs then I would, indeed be a rich man,”

“Consider it done.”

We had to wade the last few paces to the shore and I had forgotten the flies that seemed to love the low lying areas and live to devour Saxons. We might only be a mile or two from safety but it would seem further. I was bolstered by the fact that Alexios struggled more than I did.
  I must have recovered, somewhat, from the attempt on my life. We were found by a patrol of Andronikos’ cavalry who reined up. They held spears to our throats until they recognised us. “We thought you were imprisoned.” The leader dismounted to give his mount to Alexios.

He had not recognised me at first and I spoke, “And what of me?”

He almost jumped out of his skin; it was as though he had seen a ghost.  “We heard that you were dead.”

“No just close to it and then shorn like a sheep.”

The officers were delighted when we arrived and we were washed, fed and watered in rapid succession. We told the rapt audience of officers of our escape and the fortunate happenstance of the presence of Jarl Gunnerrson’s ship.  “
Wyrd
.” Was the only comment from Ridley but he was right. Someone or something was keeping me safe and for a purpose.

A rider galloped into the camp bearing letters fro Alexios. “They all looked to him in surprise.
  “But who knows you are here?”

“My mother, and she must have known that we would escape.”

He began to read the letter and Ridley drew me to one side.  “What of Anna, my wife?”

“I did not see her but she will be safe for she is Nicephorus’ family.”

“But what happens when he is removed?”

“We will be in the city by then.” I explained to him about the Varangian Guard and the raiding of the Treasury.
  “We will enter secretly with our men and some of Andronikos’ trusted men.  We will secure your wife and the Treasury and if Olef tries to take it then…”

Alexios gave a triumphant wave of his hand.
  “The Emperor has allowed my wife and family to go to the convent of Petrion.  They will be guarded but as you can see she is able to send us messages and she is being given information by the Empress.  Tomorrow we begin our slow march to Byzantium.  Let us see him sweat while we gather troops.”

My face itched as we rode towards the city, much to the amusement of my hairy Saxons.
  I was determined to look as I once had and put up with the irritation. It made me somewhat short tempered although my colleagues were delighted to have both Alexios and me back in the fold. We took the journey slowly for more Thema and Droungoi were joining us everyday as they heard about our joint escape; Nicephorus was not a popular emperor.  Alexios was known as a soldier’s general and was always more popular than Nicephorus.  I was keen to get there quickly and prevent Olef from robbing the country of its treasure. We also heard from Alexios’ mother that there were more western mercenaries in the city.  I wondered where they had come from. Were they Normans? Perhaps more Saxons?

As we camped, less than a day away from the city I sought out Alexios.”You do not want a full scale battle for the city do you?”

“Of course not, I told you I want no blood shed.”

“You may want that and Nicephorus may want that but Olef is a vicious Viking who just wants the treasure. Let me slip in with a thousand
men and we will secure the treasury and the palace.  With luck they will then desert as soon as you arrive.”

“I am not sure.”

“There is one other way we could ensure a blood less take over. I will speak with Nicephorus and give him your assurance that he will live.”

His eyes lit up at that. “It is risky.
  How would you get in the city?”

“They are hiring mercenaries, we go in small groups to volunteer and others slip in during the day.
  Don’t forget my men know the city and they know the barracks. They will be looking for an army not a rabble.  My men can play the rabble.”

Although Alexios argued for a while he knew it was a no lose situation for him and it would ensure a peaceful entry to the city.
  Andronikos was disappointed that the Commander of the West refused to allow him to accompany me. He was there when I spoke to the men I would take with me. I made sure that they had all discarded any Imperial uniform and those who could speak other languages were selected to ‘volunteer’ for service.  The others would be secreted in various parts of the city. Timing would be crucial and Alexios and the army would arrive outside of the city at dusk allowing us to open the gates during the night.  He was keen for civilian casualties to be minimised and empty streets would ensure just that. I went ahead with the first group of volunteers.  I chose a group who could all speak Danish.  Some of Andronikos’ warriors would follow and then Ridley with more Danish speakers.  We hoped this way to have at least thirty warriors inside the walls soon after dawn allowing the rest to trickle in when we controlled the gates.  We all wore worn mail and carried old swords. I had the tale that we had come down the river seeking our fortune in the Varangian Guard.  I hung at the back for my scraggly beard marked me as different. I hoped for a certain lack of rigour when we were enlisted.  The threat of Alexios’ army might make them look less closely at those willing to fight for them.

When we reached the gate the guards were sent inside the palace and I wondered if Olef would come but it was not, it was
Straboromanos, the spymaster, who now appeared, from his clothes and demeanour, to be running the palace.  He only knew me vaguely and I breathed a sigh of relief.  Cnut made a convincing Dane and we were admitted.  The parlous state of the defence was obvious when we were immediately sent to reinforce the guards at the northern gate. The threat of Alexios was working.

The men who were outside would all congregate outside the various gates in the huge city.
  When we had control they would be admitted.  Most of my men were to go to our old barracks where we had plenty of good weapons and armour and we could be hidden from view. This was a nervous time for me as I had to remain hidden from Olef for the whole day.  I hoped that he and the Emperor would be busy with more pressing matters than new recruits. We did not know any of the other guards at the gate and there were six of them.  There was little point in disarming and disabling them until more of our men arrived. The plan had been to seep into the city in groups of tens to avoid arousing suspicion of the spies in the city.  It was almost noon when I saw the first two groups in ferreting around the market stalls opposite the gates.  I gave the smallest of nods and eight of them approached the guards.  The men who approached were Andronikos’ Greeks and I heard them offer to volunteer. One of the guards turned to fetch someone but Cnut said, “No, I will go.  I need a piss anyway.”

Once the six guards returned to their duty, standing in a line, blocking the gate, we were on them.
  The twenty men ran forwards and we struck them on the backs of their heads. They were quickly tied up.  The people in the market only saw some men rush the gate, have a scuffle and then the six guards were there again.  We had secured one gate. I left the six men to admit our fellows and we went quickly to our barracks.  It was, as I had hoped, empty and we quickly armed ourselves more effectively. I left Cnut in charge and, with five others, made my way to the other gates. The main gate, to my relief, was held by Ridley’s men and I sent them to the barracks under Ridley’s command.  “We have almost enough now but I shall visit the Treasury and see who guards that.”

“Don’t forget the noon change of the guards.”

“Send a group of men to each gate to take care of the relief when they come.  That will just leave us the change of evening guards.”

We made our way through the deserted streets of the palace.
  Every available guard was either in a tower or on the walls. The outer wall of the city had been abandoned just to protect the palace.  As we neared the stables I halted the men.  There were Varangians on guard and not the Hetaireia.  That meant Olef was planning to run.  The wily Norse must have known that Nicephorus could not stand against Alexios and was preparing for flight already. As we approached the Treasury I knew what we would find, Varangians on guard. Olef had been clever, the Hetaireia were loyal troops and they had been sent to fight, as they would do, Alexios.  As soon as the attack started then the Varangians would loot the Treasury and flee.

Once back at the barracks I summoned one of Andronikos’ most trusted Kentarches.
  “Get back to the army.  We need to attack closer to midnight than dawn or the treasure will be gone.”

After he had gone I looked around; with the guards on the gates and the men inside we had about five hundred men.
  There were another four hundred outside. We would need to neutralise the Hetaireia. Ridley gave me one of his looks which said we would fail. “That is a hard task.  We would lose many men.”

Then I had a blindingly simple idea.
  We would relieve the guards and tell them that they had been ordered to guard the Treasury.  This would rid the walls of the guards and prevent the Treasure from being pilfered. I explained this to Ridley who was still unconvinced. “But who will give the order? They know you are the strategos of Alexios.”

“It is quite simple.
  I send a relative.  Someone the Hetaireia knows is trusted by the Emperor.”

“Who is that?”

“Why you of course; the saviour of his niece. We will fit you out in the uniform of a Tourmache of Hetaireia.  They value the title as much as the man. All you will need is confidence.”

As the afternoon wore out Ridley and I secretly sought out our men and briefed them.
  I hoped that the message had got through to the Commander but the new plan meant that we could secure the gates with the warriors we had. I had selected the one hundred of my finest Saxons to go to the Treasury although I hoped that the Hetaireia would deter the pillaging which might ensue.

Straboromanos and some of his officers toured the gates and the walls.
  As my men were all kitted out in Hetaireia uniform he saw nothing amiss and he even smiled at the main gate. “If those rebels come they will receive a shock when they see how many men we have.” He had clapped Sweyn on the shoulders.  “We will show them that our city is not to be taken easily eh?”

As the sun began to set and the guards were changed, Ridley followed them to relieve the new guards.
  I was close by in case there was any trouble. The Kentarches saluted when he saw Ridley.  “My lord?”

“New orders, from the Emperor.
  He is worried about the Treasury.  Take your men and make sure that no-one gets inside.  Relieve the Varangians and they can return to their barracks. These new men can suffer the night watch.” The order seemed reasonable and was delivered by a trusted member of the Emperor’s family and they left. Leaving Ridley to complete the changeover I took my men towards the Treasury.  We reached there soon after the Kentarches and his men had arrived.  The Varangians there were less than happy but they were outnumbered and out ranked.  When the Hetaireia took their places I breathed a sigh of relief as they would not gain the treasure without a fight.  The problem would now come when Olef discovered that he no longer held the Treasury.

“Now lads we are going up against the Varangians.
  Do not believe all the stories about them; they have not fought since they came to the city and are full of piss and wind.  You are the true warriors.  We might be outnumbered but the rest of our men will be here soon.  Remember your training and all will be well.”

We reached the Varangian barracks just as Olef and his men emerged.
  From the sound of his voice and his demeanour he was less than happy with his subordinates’ vacillations but when he saw us, lined up in a shield wall he almost erupted like a volcano. “Sound the alarm, traitors are within the walls!”