The group began swift preparations to leave. The ladies covered themselves with their veils and checked that all the necessities had been taken.  Meanwhile John, the older of the two eunuch servants,  hauled a basket full of the remaining provisions onto his broad shoulders. Water and food were too precious in situations like this to throw away. The younger servant, Porphyry, carried the women’s bags. He was a young man of medium height but unusually strong. 

Both men considered themselves lucky – they had not expect to get out of the city. They assumed that Lady Kataphlorena and her daughters would probably be captured for ransom. The servants who were with her would likely have been killed. Or beaten and robbed of what little they had. When the mercenaries appeared to save the noble ladies, they both expected to be left in the city. After all, the client probably didn’t pay the mercenaries to save two unfree eunuchs. But Sophia acted as if it was obvious that both men were coming with them, and the mercenary captain did not protest. The only thing he said, was ask whether they had any previous fighting experience. While John shook his head quickly, Porphyry nodded curiously. To this surprise, the mercenary handed him a decent-looking, Norman sword, with a short order to ‘keep close to them’. It had almost been a decade since the young man last held a weapon as commoners were not allowed to carry anything bigger than a hunting knife. Slaves like Porphyry weren’t allowed to carry even that.

The two mercenaries walked into the corridor first. The rest of the group followed them. Rhode found herself right behind Eirene. As she stepped out into the corridor her eyes widened. The stone floor was slippery with blood. Six dead men were lying there. One had been cut completely in half. Another one’s head was lying a few feet away from his body, the face frozen in a silent scream of pain. Rhode’s legs grew weak and then gave way. She fell to her knees and the food she had eaten that morning returned to her mouth. When she was done vomiting, she wiped her face with the only thing available, her veil, and then threw it away. She tried not to look at the severed head. Behind her she heard her cousins gasp. One of the twins was throwing up, just like Rhode. Martina’s eyes were closed tight and her hands shook.

Seeing their reaction, Eirene shrugged her shoulders.

“War is war!" she said coldly. "These men came here with the worst intentions. You do not want to see what they, and their fellows, did outside. They don’t deserve your pity! Nor, at this point, would it be any help to them!” 

They walked through the corridors, seeing signs of looting and murder everywhere. The walk through the citadel lasted no more than twenty minutes but it was one of the most disgusting, harrowing twenty minutes any of them ever experienced. 

The mercenaries led them to the side of the citadel which formed a part of the outer wall. After a bit of searching, they found a reinforced door which opened up onto a narrow stairway leading right to the ramparts. The climb was exhausting. A sudden burst of wind hit them as soon as they stepped outside. They stood high above the city, on the top of the walls. The dust and smoke in the air made the stars almost impossible to see. The sight of Thessalonike, battered and ravaged, stretching out before her, was one Rhode would remember for a long time. Though Thessalonike was not her original home, she had grown deeply attached to it. She had lived here since she was a teen. It was, in some sense, her city, even if she had not been born here. Now it stretched before her smoking and in ruins. 

Rhode swallowed hard. She glanced sideways at the others. Her aunt and cousins stood rooted to the spot, staring at the sight before them. Sophia was wordlessly wringing her hands and bending out her fingers. Martina was biting her lip. Sybil's eyes were watering. Eirene looked at them with just a shade of sadness. Then she cleared her throat and led them along the ramparts of the citadel.

Suddenly, the grim silence which surrounded them was interrupted by a long, lone hoot of an owl. Soon after a quiet voice called “Captain!” in an undertone. The Dokeianos women stared as a lone figure appeared in the darkness and walked towards them, along the wall. As she got closer, they could see it was an armored woman who wore a thick turban over her hair. She approached them almost noiselessly despite her heavy armor.  Her turban was flecked a bit with blood.

Seeing her, the mercenary captain nodded his head. 

“Ready Reem?” he asked in Greek. She confirmed, her accent thick and rolling. Quite beautiful, Sophia thought absently. The turban-wearing woman  led them a bit further along the ramparts, to a place where a very thick rope was tied to the crenulation of the tower. They all stared. Finally Martina said softly:

“You…you don’t expect us to climb down that, do you?”

The mercenary didn’t respond, instead he started checking the rope. Eirene turned around, her cheeky grin back on her face.

“Do not worry, Miss! I will carry you, if need be!” She winked at Martina who blushed ever so slightly.

“Walking through the city will be more dangerous,” the mercenary captain explained evenly, “besides, you won’t be climbing, see?” he indicated a large basket hanging precariously at the edge of the wall. Ignoring their looks of worry, he pulled the basket up a bit higher.

 “It’ll carry four at most. You three,” he indicated Sophia and the twins, “get in! Reem will go down with you!”

With some help from him and the woman named Reem, the three noble ladies were soon standing reasonably comfortably in the large basket. The mercenary started lowering them slowly. 

Martina watched in fascination as the four women descended lower and lower along the tower, until they could barely be seen. She glanced at the mercenary, who was slowly letting the rope run through his fingers as if the four women weighed nothing at all. She furrowed her eyebrows and turned to Rhode. To her surprise, her cousin wasn’t even watching Sophia and the twins descend. Instead, Rhode was staring intently at the city. Martina walked up to her.

“What is it, dear?” she asked, “are you feeling alright?”

Rhode pointed at a group of burning houses near the Hagia Sophia, Thessalonike’s most important church.

“Loukos’s house is quite near from there...” she said quietly. Martina looked at her sympathetically. “I know. But there isn’t really anything we can do about that now…Come on, they’ll be sending us down next!”

Rhode did not hear her. She turned to look at the two mercenaries. The man was just pulling the basket back up. The woman was staring into the dark intently. They were talking quietly. Rhode closed her eyes, counted to three quietly (a piece of surprisingly useful advice she once received from her tutor – before you say anything, count slowly to three in your head, and only then say it - ) and decided to try her luck.

“Mercenaries?”

Neither of the two heard her. They were still discussing something in quiet voices. Rhode tried again.

“Mercenaries! I wish to hire you! There is something…that I need to do before we leave the city and I will require your protection!”

This certainly got everyone’s attention. Everyone, the mercenaries, Martina, the servants, turned to stare at her. As if on que, Martina, Eirene and the mercenary captain all said:

“What?”

Rhode knew her face was completely red by now. Their combined gazes made her even more nervous than she had already been. She wrung her hands.

“I’d like you to help me save some books. I will pay!”

Martina’s eyes widened.

“Dearest, with what?”

Martina’s question was drowned out by the annoyed voice of Eirene.

“Pay? Don’t be ridiculous, girl! We’re already being paid a hellishly large sum of money to get you out of here. No one is going to go waste time to take you for a trek around the city because you forgot to bring something.”

“I…I own a whole house. I will pay with that!”

“Rhode, you can’t!” Martina exclaimed, but she was interrupted again, this time by Chlodvig.

“Where is the house?”

“On Rhodes” Martina tried to explain, “But, she can’t just sell-”

“I meant the house where the books are,” the mercenary interrupted Martina again.

Rhode looked at him hopefully. She had expected them to say no. It was dangerous and stupid. Even with her lack of experience in…anything really, she could clearly see that. But when she saw Loukos’s burning house, and thought of the books inside, she knew she wouldn’t forgive herself if she didn’t at least try to get them to safety.

She pointed towards the burning houses. It was around the middle of the city. A good location in peace time. She raised her eyes at the mercenary, worriedly. His face was blank. Then he shrugged his shoulders and said offhandedly:

“I can take you there,”

Eirene turned to him, stunned.

"You’ve got to be joking Captain! It’s ludicrous! There were alarm bells a few moments ago. You heard them too. They must have found the dead. Going there now is asking for trouble. And for what? A house on Rhodes? What on earth would you need a house for? You haven’t even lived in a house for –"

“You and Reem will be enough to take them safely to the meeting point. I’ll take her to the house. Once you reach the others, don’t wait for us. Tell Kurshan to send me two horses and the dogs. Then move out north. I’ll find you tomorrow or the day after. Just head towards Neposi." 

Eirene shook her head bewildered. Then she sighed and looked at the shocked Martina and the two serving men.

“You heard him!” she said loudly, “get in!”

Rhode stared in disbelief. Then she said:

“Wait…but…!”

The mercenary captain did not turn around, he was busy lowering the basket which now held Eirene and the rest of Rhode’s family.

“You’d prefer Eirene?” he asked, not looking up, “I understand. But you get me. Sorry.”

Rhode did not respond. She twisted a loose lock of hair and looked away. 

____________

Eunuch - men who had their testicles removed. This was a common practice in the East. The Byzantine, Persian and Chinese empires all used Eunuchs extensively. They were considered 'safe' servants for women. In Byzantium most eunuchs were originally slaves from abroad as TECHNICALLY making eunuchs was illegal within the borders of the empire (in practice it happened a lot though). However, many eunuchs gained their freedom and some held important posts in the administration of the empire as diplomats, officials and even, sometimes, generals. There were even some official posts reserved exclusively for eunuchs. In Byzantium they were considered a 'third gender'. If the operation was performed before puberty, eunuchs never developed facial hair and tended to be of slightly different build, with a leaner, more delicate muscle-mass. They were often compared to angels (who are sexless in Christian tradition).