‘So he killed them all?’ Martin asked, now in Celtic.
‘Every last one of them, it seems,’ I replied, giving Maximin my helmet to pat. ‘On the way out, I’ll swear I saw blood dripping down the walls. They must have gone through each cell in turn. Even with the guards to help, I can’t say how the Emperor and his slave could still stand afterwards.
‘For what it may now be worth,’ I added after another look in the mirror, ‘I know it wasn’t Priscus who hired those Syrians. It was the Emperor. I had a good look at his bloody footprints in the Ministry. They were the same as the ones in the Permanent Legate’s bedroom. The left foot was decidedly shorter than the right.’
God forgotten for the moment, Martin’s face turned grey.
‘I find it reasonable’, I went on, ‘to assume he had everyone under the Ministry butchered to save himself the embarrassment of being revealed as the man who hired those assassins. Having me put to death would itself have been embarrassing, bearing in mind what he’d appointed me to represent. But he was so eager to cover any trail that led to Demetrius that ordering me and Priscus to back away wasn’t enough.’
‘So Phocas killed the Permanent Legate?’ Martin asked. ‘And Authari?’
‘No,’ I said. ‘That was still probably Demetrius. But Phocas was in the Legation to help get rid of the body. If two monks really were seen there last Sunday, Phocas was one of them. That raises any number of new hypotheses to test against the facts. However, the investigation is ended – at least, for the moment.
‘Now, to other business,’ I said. ‘I’m going out shortly to see what forces I might have for tomorrow. I’d like you to start supervising the packing of boxes. I want all the more important papers and books safely stowed in the official areas of the Legation.’
There was a knock at the door. Antony entered the room.
‘My Lord,’ he said, ‘I’ve drafted the documents you asked for. All is in order.’
He’d been quick about his business. I’d only instructed him a while earlier in the main hall as I came back in.
‘Excellent,’ I said. ‘Martin, be so kind as to assemble all the slaves in this office. I have an important announcement to make.’
All my slaves stood before me, including Gutrune. With them were the three slaves Theophanes had passed over to me to keep the bathhouse in order. These had been kept away from anything confidential and, having been watched on and off over the past few days, seemed to fit nicely into the household. I didn’t know what they could have heard of the latest news, but they looked worried.
‘Martin,’ I said, ‘I shall make my announcement in Latin. I’d like you to interpret straight into Lombardic. That should make what I have to say comprehensible to everyone.’
I stood up. ‘Dear friends,’ I began, ‘you will be aware that everyone expects an attack on the City tomorrow or the day after at the latest. It is now impossible to believe that a gate will not be opened to Heraclius. I cannot say what will happen when he enters the City. But I must act now so far as I can to ensure the safety of those who look to me.’
I raised my voice and spoke slowly, stopping after every clause to make sure I was clearly followed.
‘By the authority vested in me by His Imperial Majesty, I believe that the safety of the Empire and of the City requires me to free certain persons from the servitude to which they were born or to which they have been reduced by the fortunes of war.’
I named all the slaves present. As I did so, Martin took up the relevant deed and passed it to me for signing. I had no seal ready but Antony had assured me that a signature would be sufficient. As I signed each document, he added the seal of the Legation. I no longer had any right to this, so had passed it to him for safekeeping.
‘To those of you who know something of the law,’ I continued, ‘I say that this is an Act of State. Being so, it requires none of the formalities that must attend a private manumission. It is a legal and an irrevocable act. However, should anyone be inclined, once order has been restored, to question the legality of my act, each deed here granted is witnessed on behalf of His Holiness the Universal Bishop in Rome.
‘You are each, as of this moment, free. You are free to go when and where you please. In a moment, I must leave you on official business. When I am gone, Martin will give each of you a purse of gold and silver to start you in your new lives. It is my advice that you should stay in this Legation so long as it remains safe. If, in defiance of all law and all religion, it is entered by any hostile force, I advise you to leave at once. You must offer no resistance.
‘Gutrune’ – I turned to her and spoke in the simple Lombardic she was happiest with – ‘if it is necessary for you to leave the Legation, I want you to take Maximin with you. If possible, you will return him to Martin. If this is not possible, I wish you to bring him up as if he were your own child. Martin will make additional financial arrangements to cover this eventuality.’
I raised my hand for silence. I had no time for extended thanks. Besides, I have never encouraged emotional scenes where they could be avoided. I had cleared my own accounts, and that would have to be an end of the matter. I embraced each free citizen as I handed out the deeds.
In a babble of ‘God be with you!’ the room emptied.
‘Can you help me back on with this thing?’ I asked Martin, pointing at the breastplate. ‘I have no idea how to tie all these leather straps.’
‘Can’t we just run away?’ Martin asked with a shaking voice. ‘Surely we can disguise ourselves and hide out in one of the Latin districts. We can come out again when all this is over. Can’t you see that Phocas is sending you to your death?’
‘That seems to be part of his intention,’ I agreed. ‘Perhaps he wants to make a better job of it than he made last night with those Syrians. More likely, though, he just wants someone to slow things down in the streets while he prepares his own Thermopylae in the Imperial Palace.’
I silenced whatever comment Martin had begun.
‘Listen,’ I said, dropping from pure habit into Celtic, ‘Phocas tells me he’s armed his eunuchs, and plans to lead them in a fight to the last at the entrance to the Throne Room. For the moment, he has enough control in the city to be able to track me down if I try making a dash for it. Once Heraclius is through the gates, however, I doubt I shall be the only defender buggering off out of sight.
‘Now, Martin,’ I went on, fixing him in the eye, ‘what I said to the slaves goes for you as well. I want you out of here at the first smell of trouble. Take whatever you need to get back to Rome. If you can get the child back to Gretel, so much the better.’
‘You have very little respect for my courage,’ he said, his exalted tone returning. ‘Perhaps I don’t always acquit myself well in the presence of the unexpected. But I know my duty.’
I cut him off. ‘Your duty’, I said, ‘is to take that child back to Rome. Beyond that, you look to your own safety. We don’t know for certain it’s all up for Phocas. If it is, I’m more likely to get out safely if I’m alone. We’ll have dinner in Rome yet. I’m sure you can persuade Sveta not to poison me.’
Martin ignored me. ‘I bought a relic of Saint Victorinus when we got back to the City,’ he said. ‘It is attested by the Holy Fathers of his own monastery. I want you to wear it when you go out on the streets. He saved you once before.’
‘My dear Martin,’ I said, trying not to laugh at the shrivelled finger he passed across the desk. ‘Put that thing back in its box.’
‘Then we shall all pray for you,’ he said.
‘I’m not going to my death just yet,’ I reminded him. ‘I’ll be back at dawn.’
57
After several months in the place, I’d come to take the sheer size of Constantinople for granted. Now I was put in charge of its defence, I was brought back to my first realisation. There are nearly ten miles of wall to cover. As I keep saying, the City walls are impregnable; and, as hardly a decade goes by without one of more attempts to breach them, they are always kept in excellent repair.