Emperor, he sounded like one. Krispos had to obey. Hating himself and Anthimos both, he swept the floor clean. The Avtokrator stood over him, making sure he found every scrap of parchment. When he was finally satisfied, he said, 'Now go get rid of them.'
Normally Krispos took no notice of the privies' stench; stench and privies went together. This time, though, he was on business different from the usual, and the sharp reek bit into his nostrils. As the torn-up pieces of law fluttered downward to their end, he thought that Anthimos would have done the same thing to the whole Empire, were it small enough to take in his two hands and tear.
Krispos was stubborn. All through his life, that had served him well. Now he brought his stubbornness to bear on Anthimos. Whenever laws were proposed or other matters came up that required a decision from the Emperor, he kept on presenting them to Anthimos, in the hope that he could wear him down and gradually accustom him to performing his duties.
But Anthimos proved just as mulish as he was. The Avtokrator quit paying day-to-day affairs even the smallest amount of attention he had once given them. He ripped no more edicts to shreds, but he did not sign them or affix the imperial seal to them, either.
Krispos took to saying, 'Thank you, your Majesty,' at the end of each day's undone business.
Sarcasm rolled off Anthimos like water from a goose's feathers. 'My pleasure,' he'd answer day by day. The response made Krispos want to grind his teeth—it kept reminding him of all that Anthimos really cared about.
Yet Anthimos could work hard when he wanted to. That irked Krispos more than anything. He watched the Avtokrator patiently studying magic on his own because it interested him; he'd always known how much ingenuity Anthimos put into his revels. He could have been a capable Emperor. That, worse luck, did not interest him.
Krispos regretted trying to get him to handle routine matters when something came up that was not routine. Urgent dispatches from the northern frontier told of fresh raids of Harvas Black-Robe's Halogai. Though Anthimos had strengthened the border after forcing Petronas into the monastery, the raiding bands coming south were too large and too fierce for the frontier troops to handle.
Anthimos refused to commit more soldiers. 'But your Majesty,' Krispos protested, 'this is the border because of which you toppled your uncle when he would not protect it.'
'That was part of the reason, aye.' Anthimos gave Krispos a measuring stare. 'Another part was that he wouldn't leave me alone. You seem to have forgotten that—you've grown almost as tiresome as he was.'
The warning there was unmistakable. The troops did not go north. Krispos sent a message by imperial courier to the village where he'd grown up, urging his brother-in-law Domokos to bring Evdokia and their children down to Videssos the city.
A little more than a week later, a worn-looking courier brought his blowing horse up to the imperial residence and delivered Domokos' reply. ' 'We'll stay here,' he told the rider who spoke with him, esteemed and eminent sir,' the fellow said, consulting a scrap of parchment. ' 'We're already too beholden to you,' he said, and, 'We don't care to depend on your charity when we can make a go of things where we are.' That's what he said, just as the other courier wrote it down.'
'Thank you,' Krispos said abstractedly, respecting his brother-in-law's pride and cursing him for being an obstinate fool at the same time. Meanwhile, the courier stood waiting.
After a moment, Krispos realized why. He gave the man a goldpiece. The courier saluted in delight and hurried away.
Krispos decided that if he could not go through Anthimos to protect the farmers near the northern border, he would have to go around him. He spoke with Dara. She agreed. They asked to meet with Ouittios, one of the generals who had served under Petronas.
To their dismay, Ouittios refused to come. 'He will not see you, except at the Avtokrator's express command,' the general's adjutant reported. 'If you will forgive his frankness, and me for relaying it, he fears being entrapped into what will later be called treason, as Petronas was.'
Krispos scowled when he heard that, but had to admit it made sense from Ouittios' point of view. A couple of other attempted contacts proved similarly abortive. 'This desperately needs doing, and I can't get it done,' Krispos complained to Mavros after yet another high-ranking soldier refused to have anything to do with him.
'If you like, I think I can put you in touch with Agapetos,' Mavros said. 'He has lands around Opsikion. He used to know my father; my mother would speak of him from time to time. Do you want me to try?'
'Yes, by the good god, and quick as you can,' Krispos said. With Mavros as go-between, Agapetos agreed to come to the imperial residence and listen to Krispos and Dara. Even so, the general's hard, square face was full of suspicion as he eased himself down into a chair. Suspicion turned to surprise when he found out why he'd been summoned. 'You want me to go up there and fight?' he said, scratching an old scar on his cheek. 'I figured you were out to disband troops, not put them to proper use. So did everybody, after what happened with Petronas. Why this sneaking around behind his Majesty's back?'
'Because I put his back up, that's why. He just won't take care of things in the north, since I'm the one who argued too hard that he ought to,' Krispos answered. 'I'd sooner wait till he comes round on his own, but I don't think we have the time. Do you?'
'No,' Agapetos answered at once. 'I know we don't. I'm only surprised you do, too. After what befell the Sevastokrator, like I said before, if you'll excuse me for speaking out so plainly, I would've figured you to be out to weaken the army more, not give it useful work to do.'
'Petronas did not fall because he was a soldier,' Dara said. 'He fell because he was a rebellious soldier, one who valued his own wishes above those of his overlord. Surely the same is not true of you, excellent sir?'
Agapetos' chuckle was more grim than amused. 'If it were, your Majesty, do you think I 'd be dunce enough to admit it? All right, though, I take your point. But what happens to me when the Avtokrator finds out I've obeyed the two of you rather than him?'
'If you win, how can he blame you?' Krispos asked. 'Even if he tries, we and your success will both shield you from him. And if you lose, you may well end up dead, in which case you'll worry about Phos' wrath, not Anthimos'.'
'For all those fancy robes, you think like a soldier,' Agapetos said. 'All right, we'll try it your way. Anthimos said he wouldn't mind having you as Emperor, didn't he? I can see why. And I wouldn't mind having a go at the Halogai, truth to tell. Those axes the imperial guardsmen carry are fearsome enough, aye, but how would they fare against cavalry that knows something of discipline? It will be interesting to find out, yes it will.'
