The Sage of Einar

In a brothel in Constantinople Gautier opened his eyes and could see a beautiful woman, so he smiled, but when he turned around, he could see a man with effeminate features.

But far from being bothered by the man, he only stroked that man's hair before getting up and getting ready to take a bath.

To do this, she put on a silk robe and sandals while walking to the brothel's bathrooms, on the way she could see Guido, who had also gotten up.

"I have to admit that this brothel made me feel quite rejuvenated. It had been a long time since I felt like a real stud.

Tasting the joys of this city can be quite addictive. "

Guido, who had a smile on his face, stretched his hands "But you have not tried the brigade of gladiators and female gladiators. That is a service that leaves a life experience.

Emperor Charlemagne used to say that what happens in Constantinople stays in Constantinople, in this city of pleasures any fantasy can be fulfilled

I wonder what Princess Adelaide is up to, though. "

On a battlefield between mud and blood, Adelaide used a stone to repeatedly hit the head of her enemy.

Who, when receiving constant blows with those stones, caused him a fatal wound that made one of his eyes detach from its socket.

While a gray paste with blood began to come out of that hole in the skull, looking at the corpse on the ground, Adelaide only grit her teeth and got up to continue the fight against the rebels.

"She shouldn't be fighting right now, maybe. She may just be leading troops as the rebels are not a real problem.

Although she may be fighting on the front lines, the princess can sometimes be very impulsive in the heat of battle. "

Guido sighed after hearing the Duke's words, "She looks a lot like her grandfather, Emperor Charlemagne, in his youth was also very passionate about fights.

When I started my training as a guard at the imperial palace, he personally trained with us.

Then came the revolts of his brothers, so we were fighting in the middle of the civil war side by side, although it was something completely impressive.

The bloody battles that I saw still give me nightmares at night. "

When they reached the large bath, they were greeted by a group of female slaves who had different shapes and seemed to come from far away places.

These women cared for Gautier and Guido while using sea sponges and hot water to cleanse their bodies.

At the end, aromatic rose oil was placed on their skin while they massaged their bodies. While they did so in the bathroom, two soldiers entered.

Which seemed to be from the guard of Basil Theophilus, who did not interrupt the slaves and only looked at the two relaxed men because they had to wait for them to wake up.

When Gautier opened his eyes, he could see two soldiers in gleaming armor staring at him.

"I assume they are here to inform us about the expedition."

One of the guards nodded and opened a scroll that he took from a bag.

"The emperor of the only Roman empire, Basil Theophilus, using all the power that corresponds to him and respecting the agreement reached with the crown princess of the Frank empire.

Send for Guido and Duke Gautier to be summoned to the docks of the imperial family to meet with the members of the expedition.

So that they can leave as soon as possible to the north and fulfill the agreement reached by this means. "

Gautier sighed and stroked his nasal septum "I guess vacation time is over for us Guido, you must wake up right now because we have to leave as soon as possible."

Guido just opened his eyes and shook his head before he got up from the carpet, where they were massaging his body.

Upon arriving at the port, Gautier was surprised to see that there were 20 ships and almost more than 5,000 crew members, including sailors and soldiers.

The boats were also very well prepared as they had ballista on the sides and some of them had steel tubes protruding from the boats which had a dragon decoration.

With some curiosity, Gauiter pointed to one of those ships and looked at Guido.

"Those ships are perhaps the famous ships that use Greek fire."

Guido nodded "Those ships saved the Roman empire when the Muslims invaded them. Empress Irene often spoke about Greek fire and its used to protect the empire.

Although this force could perfectly destroy a fleet of hundreds of ships, I believe it is a way to ensure our safety in pagan and unknown territory. "

After walking a bit they were able to reach the flagship in which Basilio Teófilo was, who when he saw them could only smile.

"I am glad that you have enjoyed all the pleasures that Constantinople has to offer, but all good things must end.

This fleet of 20 ships has a crew of 6000 sailors and soldiers who will be in charge of protecting and taking care of all of you.

They have enough food to survive a full year but I will also give them 3000 gold coins so they can buy food for the pagans.

The person in charge of taking them across the river that reaches the north will be Oleg, a Viking who converted to Christianity. "

Waving a hand, a man dressed in heavy armor began to walk towards them.

His face was full of scars but despite this he had a Byzantine cross hanging on his chest, also his brown hair was very well cut, resulting in an elegant appearance.

Arriving in front of Basil Theophilus, Oleg dropped to one knee and paid his respect to the emperor.

"Basil Theophilus, Oleg is at your service."

Basil Theophilus only made a sign to stand up "Oleg, these two men are the representatives of Princess Adelaide.

You must take care of them and Kassia in case they find her alive, but your most important duty is to guide them in the wilds of the north.

Also in the process I want you to try to evangelize all the natives you can. That is a secondary mission and remember you will not be able to return until you find Kassia alive or dead.

If they do, they will be killed the moment they dare to return.

Duke Gautier does not think about returning without Kassia either. I have already sent letters to Princess Adelaide and we reached the consensus that you should return with Kassia.

I don't have to remind either of you that the two empires have an area that encompasses almost the entire known world.

So they will not be able to return without bringing Kassia, to avoid problems almost all the soldiers and sailors were chosen from among the former servants loyal to Empress Irene.

So do not try anything against Kassia because they will be in charge of protecting the daughter of their faithful empress. "

Gautier swallowed a bit of saliva "Basil Theophilus, you are not afraid that they may rebel against you and try to prevent us from bringing Kassia in case she is alive."

Basil Theophilus with a rather happy face only looked at all the crew "They can do it but if they return with that intention their families will die, then they will have to choose between returning and not doing it.

They are also a danger in the empire; it is better to let them go and not return; they do not have to worry because their main ship has soldiers faithful to me.

They, unlike the traitors, have the mission of taking care of you and Kassia in case she is alive and wants to return. "

Gautier was puzzled by the Roman emperor's comment "We are not supposed to go back to her."

Basil Theophilus began to laugh "As I told you I spoke with your Princess Adelaide, we will only get Kassia back if she wants to return or if she is dead.

If she doesn't want to do it, why does she have a family, these soldiers will have to take care of her and her descendants. "

Gautier then understood why Basilio Teófilo had their families retained. It was a rather malicious plan because of their loyalty, they would have to pay for the punishment of leaving their families.

To start a new life in a wild place where they may starve or end up killed by the savages.

But even if Kassia wants to return, quite possibly all of them prefer to stay in those lands because if they set foot in the Byzantine empire.

They would be assassinated because they were a danger to the emperor. It was a horrible situation for them, but it was very favorable for the Byzantine empire.

Although he had many complaints about Princess Adelaide about not having sent letters to know the development of the events.

He couldn't do anything because possibly she knew that instead of working, he and Guido spent their time from brothel to brothel.

While she had to be fighting noble by noble to be able to end the rebellion caused by her brothers.

'I just hope the princess forgives us the last thing I need is for her to treat me like a traitor.

Although if she had, I would probably already be dead, along with Guido. '