In the Heart of Darkness(152)

Hoping against hope, but fearing the worst.





"Who is that?" squawked the "Emperor" Hypatius, leaning over the wall separating the kathisma from the Hippodrome. He stared at the little army pouring through the southwestern gate. Then, goggled, seeing them slinging grenades at the huge mob of faction thugs on the other side of the Hippodrome.



"Where did they get grenades?" he shrieked.



A new battle cry was heard: "Antonina! Antonina!"



Ajatasutra leaned over the wall and examined the invaders. His eyes were immediately drawn to a small figure bringing up the rear. Helmeted; armored—but unmistakeably feminine for all that.



He smiled bitterly, turning away. He looked at Balban and gestured with his thumb.



"That's what you called the sheep."



Hypatius was now gobbling with sheer terror. Pompeius, the same.



Someone began pounding on the rear entrance to the kathisma, the barred door which led to the Great Palace. Narses recognized John of Cappadocia's voice: "Open up! Open up!"



At Balban's command, the kshatriya guarding the door unbarred and opened it.



John of Cappadocia burst into the kathisma, trailing three of his bucellarii.



"Belisarius is here!" he shouted. "His whore Antonina has some kind of army—" He fell abruptly silent, seeing the scene in the Hippodrome.



"She's here already!" snarled Balban, pointing over the wall. "And she's got grenades!"



Narses sighed.



Too clever by half.



The eunuch rose. Strode forward. Took charge.



"Have you blinded Justinian?" he demanded.



John of Cappadocia nodded.



"Theodora?"



"She's under guard in the palace."



Narses took Balban by the arm and pointed over the wall separating the kathisma from the Hippodrome. He was pointing to the hundreds of kshatriya manning the rockets. The four hundred kshatriya, unlike the thousands of milling and confused faction thugs, were already forming their battle lines. Most of them were opening baskets of grenades. The kshatriya manning the rockets were hastily re-aiming the troughs.



"You've still got your own soldiers and—if you provide some leadership—that huge faction mob. Get down there! Now!"



Balban neither argued nor protested. Immediately, the spymaster began clambering over the wall.



Narses grabbed Hypatius and shoved him to the wall. "Go with him!" he commanded. "You're the new Emperor! You need to rally the Hippodrome crowd!"



Hypatius babbled protest. Narses simply manhandled the "Emperor" over the stone rampart. Despite his terror, Hypatius was no match for the old eunuch's wiry strength. Half-sprawled over the wall—on the wrong side of the wall—Hypatius stared up at Narses.



"Do it!" ordered the eunuch. His eyes were fixed on Hypatius like a snake on its prey. An instant later, Narses tore Hypatius' clutching fingers off the wall. The "Emperor" landed in a collapsed heap on the stone platform below.



Hypatius immediately lunged to his feet and jumped at the wall.



Hopeless. That wall had been designed to keep assassins from the emperor. A strong and agile man could have leapt high enough to grasp the top of the wall. Hypatius was neither.



The new "Emperor" gobbled terror.



"Do it!" commanded Narses.



Hypatius gasped. He turned his head and spotted Balban. The spymaster was racing around the upper tiers of the Hippodrome, heading for the kshatriya rocketeers. He was already forty yards away.



Gibbering with fear, Hypatius staggered after him.



In the kathisma, Narses turned from the wall and confronted John of Cappadocia.



"Where are the rest of your bucellarii?" he demanded.



The Cappadocian glared at him.



"That's none—"



"You idiot!" snarled the eunuch. "Kept them in the palace, didn't you? Planned to keep them unharmed, didn't you? So you'd have them available for later use."



John was still glaring, but he did not deny the charge.



Narses pointed to the chaos in the Hippodrome.



" 'Later use' is now, Cappadocian. Get them! With your thousand bucellarii added to the brew, we might still win this thing."



John started to protest. The eunuch drove him down.



"Do it!"



John argued no further. The Cappadocian charged down the corridor leading to the Great Palace. Narses went after him, dragging Pompeius by the arm. Before following, Ajatasutra ordered the kshatriya still in the kathisma to join Balban. As he left the kathisma—now unoccupied—the kshatriya were already climbing over the wall and dropping down into the Hippodrome.



In the corridor, Ajatasutra quickly caught up with Narses and Pompeius.