Varangian (Aelfraed) (30 page)

“I have no people.
  That will be Ragnar’s task.”

“And he will choose good ones believe me.”

After we had enjoyed a pleasant drink Ridley made his apologies and returned to see if his son or daughter had arrived.  “He is a happy man, at last.” It was not a question from Snorri it was a statement.

“Aye, they are good for each other and now that he is back with his warriors he is doubly happy. I feel that good things are headed Ridley’s way.”

“And you Aelfraed, do you have happiness, fulfilment?”

“No Snorri but I do not think I was meant to have it.
  My life has been a series of struggles against obstacles thrown at me by the capricious Norns.  I no longer plan for the future as it is of no use.  I wait to see what task I have next been given.  I now go to the west to fight the Normans and after that…”

“We have peace and fulfilment.
  Why not you?”

“You two had fortune on your side.
  The Norns threw me into your home, Eric and then it threw you into our boat, Snorri.”

“You can hope.”

“I gave up hope long ago for I have had too many disappointments but I fell that the estate will be good for me.” I turned so that Ragnar could not see my lips.  “If I should fail to return from one of these wars then the estate goes to Ragnar. “ I waved a hand at the room.  “You two have enough.”

“That is kind of you and you have done more than enough for us anyway. He would be upset at the thought of you failing to return.”

“I know but I probably will return.  I am a hard man to kill.”

Later as I was walking to meet with Isaac I thought back to those words. I could not remember a fight where I thought I would lose.
  Even when wounded at Stamford Bridge I had won the combat.  I had never faced a man I did not think I could defeat. I suspected there was one; I just hadn’t met him yet.

“Good to see you my lord and I am pleased that you recovered.”

“Thank you Isaac, it was the care of my friends that did it.”

“They are good men.”

“Thank you for arranging my estate.  Ragnar is to be my steward.”

“A good choice and he is a sound and reliable man.”

“And if I die I want him to inherit the estate. Any monies which remain should be divided between the rest of my friends, Ridley, yourself, Eric, Snorri and the Jarl.”

“That is kind but I hope we do not collect it for many years.”

“In my profession you can only see as far as the next battle.  Speaking of the Jarl, pass the word amongst the captains that I am seeking Varangians, especially Saxons. “

“We had heard that you had command of the bodyguards.
  That is a distinguished post.”

I shrugged, “I will still be fighting in the front line so for myself, there is no difference.”

I would have spent another couple of hours chatting with Isaac and drinking the Lusitanian wine were it not for the sudden entrance of one of my men.  Karl burst in, grinning, “It is the Tourmache, and he is a father.  He has a daughter!”

“Thank you I will follow behind. Well that will make a difference, a girl.
  I wonder if Ridley will try to teach her to stand in a shield wall.”

“Farewell my friend.”

The palace was filled with excited people.  Anna was popular for she was a happy young woman.  Her ordeal at the hands of the Normans and her rescue by Ridley had brought to mind the story of St. George and the two of them had attained a fairy tale quality about their life. It also seemed to mark the beginning of Alexios’ reign with a propitious event and Anna, the baby, was always seen as a symbol of good luck and good fortune.  The mother of the Emperor was flattered that it was named after her although I know that Ridley named her after her mother but it did not hurt to flatter those who had power. The new Varangians, now resplendent in their magnificent uniforms, needed no urging to follow the Saxon tradition of wetting the baby’s head.  What it really meant was drinking until you became unconscious. I did not begrudge it them for they had been loyal and fought hard to get us where we were.  I remained sober knowing that it was I who was in charge of the Hetaireia who would have to guard the Emperor while the Varangians drank.

Andronikos left with his army the following day.
  His faithful horse archers and cataphracts followed him and he sailed for Asia where he would command the Asian Themata.  He would have his work cut out for they had largely been neglected by the last two Emperors but he had learned much from Alexios and I knew he would cope. What it did do was to make me more aware that I needed to grab the army and whip it into shape.  It was sad for that was the last time I ever saw him and he had been a good friend. Alexios was still Commander of the Western Army but he was busy organising his government and it was left to me as senior strategos to ensure that we were ready. John proved to be a valuable help and never seemed to need sleep.  He was always bright and cheerful no mater how large the problems appeared to be.

“I have arranged a baggage train and guards.
  The soldiers are not he best but they will be enough to make sure that your baggage train is not robbed before it reaches you. I understand that it is archers and arrows which you will need against the Normans?”

“It is.”

“Good I have begun the production of many arrows but you will need to find your archers.  However we have an ancient device from the time of the Caesars which we can manufacture.  It is a Scorpion or bolt thrower.  I guarantee that, no matter how well armoured a Norman Knight is, the missile will pierce him. We have ten of these.” I had heard of them and Aethelward had told me of their power.  It might make up for the lack of bows and good archers.

“What about caltrops?”

“They are being produced even as we speak.  Now I have set the cartographers to making maps of the area for you.  I could never understand how you could fight in a strange place and not have a map. I have remedied that oversight. Now anything I have omitted?”

It was comprehensive but I still had requests. “We need more men to fill the ranks of the Varangians.”

“Sadly we cannot make those in the numbers we make arrows.  It depends upon volunteers.”

“I have spread the word and you may find new recruits beginning to arrive. I do not know when we leave but I shall leave the wounded Varangians here to recover and they can train up the
new men.  It will speed up the process and then, when the wounded are healed they can bring the recruits to us. You will need to keep up a good supply.”

“So I take it you will be not be as Olef was, and avoiding a fight?”

“We protect the Emperor and he is going to war; it is a perfect solution.”

It suited me to be busy for Ridley was preoccupied with his daughter and the next couple of months flew by as I arranged for men to be trained and weapons ordered.
  The Jarl had returned once during this time and he promised more men.  It had been funny to watch Stig, torn between his desire to lead his band and his dream of fighting alongside the Varangians. They also brought news, how they got it I do not know, that Olef had fled to Italy and joined Robert Guiscard.
Wyrd
.

I had been with Cnut and Sweyn going over the lists of men when the messengers came.
  “My lord you are required by the Emperor.”

The court was subdued and I could see the other Strategoi and Tourmache there.
  Alexios looked up at me.  “It is the Normans.  They have landed in Illyria, Dyrrhachium is rumoured to have fallen and he and his sons are heading for Thessaly. Are you and the men ready?”

I grinned, “We are ready and that old man had better watch out for I have eight hundred Varangians who have a few scores to settle.”

We went to war!

I felt sorry for Ridley to be leaving his child so soon after its birth for that had been my lot and I had lost my son as a result. I did not think that would happen to my friend but I worried for him; not that I had time to worry.  Being in command of the five thousand men of the Hetaireia was a big enough headache but at least we had John’s baggage train.  What we did not have were the promised Scorpions.  Priority had been given to the wagons which meant the Scorpions were not finished.  Men would pay for that oversight with their lives. The Norman army and its allies were heading towards Thessaly which was on the western side of Greece. It was as close as they could get to Byzantium without actually attacking the city. More bad news was heaped upon us as news of a defeat for Andronikos in Asia reached the city.  It was not the best of conditions in which to march. The only bright spot was my Varangians who marched cheerfully along the summer roads.  The baggage train carried their armour and, for them it was a pleasant stroll.  We had light cavalry scouts and a Thema in addition to a Bandon of cavalry.  We hoped to pick up a Thema once we reached Thessaly. We had no ideas of numbers apart from the knights.  It was rumoured that there were at least a thousand knights.  It meant Alexios could not throw his cataphracts against the knights for they would be outnumbered five to one; not good odds even for those magnificent horsemen. When we heard that Corfu and Kefalonia had fallen our spirits sagged.

Our first good news was that the news that Dyrrhachium had fallen had been exaggerated. It still held and we headed north
west to try to relieve the siege of that most valuable and important city. When we camped that night I was invited to a private meeting with Alexios. I nodded to the two guards at the entrance to the tent and said quietly but forcefully, “No one within ten paces and your ears hear nothing.”

They saluted their agreement.
  I had a fearsome reputation and I knew that they would not cross me. Once inside I joined Alexios at his map table. “There are things you need to know as my deputy.  Should I fall during the battle you will need to pick up the pieces.”

In many this would have seemed morbid but not to soldiers and I did not use false flattery. “If you fall then it means my men will not have done their job.”

“I have persuaded the Venetians to attack the Norman fleet.  They have little reason to love the voracious Normans and it will prevent his army being reinforced.  I have also sent three hundred thousand gold pieces to the Holy Roman Emperor, Henry.  He should be attacking the Pope in Italy in the next few weeks.  They are allies of the Normans and Robert will have to return to defend his ally. We just need to buy time.  We will need to strike quickly and decisively.”

I looked at the map of the city and the countryside.
  I remembered it from the last battle we had fought there. “We cannot defeat him unless we first defeat the knights.  If we put the cataphracts on one wing and the light horse on the other then he will have to split his own cavalry and that means we might be able to defeat one wing and the switch to the other.”

“There is only one Bandon of cataphracts.”

“But we now have two Droungoi of Varangians.  If we place one behind the cataphracts and one behind the light horse then the Hetaireia can still guard you and we have two Thema to hold the centre.”

“We still do not know his numbers.”

“We need horse archers for they make the best scouts and they are a deterrent.  When this is over we will need to raise some more.”

“If we get through this.”

“We will Emperor, we will.”

The day of the battle was a cool one, for summer was well over and autumn upon us.
  I gave Ridley the place of honour on the right behind the cataphracts. He was reliable and would be a rock against which the Normans would flounder. The Thema were in front of the Imperial Guards and I took the left with the rest of the Varangians. Robert Guiscard had a solid line of Knights spread before us with infantry behind.  I could see none of the dreaded crossbows and took this to be a good sign. The enemy were in three wings and the one facing the cataphracts was but three hundred strong which was the same number as those on my flank.  Alexios had the four hundred elite warriors of the Byzantine army, the Hetaireia, protecting him.

We began to advance.
  I was not sure if Robert Guiscard, the mighty Norman, had fought the heavy cataphracts before; they could only gallop quickly for a short distance but they were almost impossible to kill unless outnumbered. Their commander was a sound warrior who would judge his charge well. I had more of a problem with my one thousand light horses.  Only one hundred had bows and the rest had javelins and shields.  They would need to be used subtly. 

The Normans began to trot. I yelled to the Droungarios. “Charge, throw a volley of javelins and then retreat behind me.” At the same time I saw the cataphracts thunder into action.
  The two hundred gleaming soldiers kept a solid line and they crashed into and through the Norman lines.  I had little time to watch for the light cavalry had hurled their missiles and were racing back pursued by angry Normans. “Shield wall.” I had Boar Splitter, for some of the men with me were new men and I was not confident about their ability to swing an axe in a shield wall. The Normans eagerly raced forwards and then the arrows began to fall, creating gaps in their lines.  They did not reach us in a solid line but piecemeal and we dealt with them as such. I thrust my spear at the head of an approaching horse but the wily warrior jinked the head around.  Unfortunately for him it left a gap in his armour and I thrust my spear into his unprotected groin.  As it entered I twisted and quickly pulled.  He looked down as his entrails were ripped from his dying body. A shield wall is no place for complacency and I thrust again at the knight to my right who was trying to spear Edward.  My spear went into the gap under his arm and as he died he fell to the left and dislodged another knight.