Page 10 of Immortals and Ink

"If I were to ask…" he began.

"I would say yes," Arslan said, rubbing the space between his eyebrows with a thumb and forefinger. "You're clearly going to need it."

"Just like that? You haven't heard my terms."

"Oh, please, you have no terms. You have an emergency and a boat. I have a city I have been quietly looking after for decades, a storeroom of supplies, and a network of people who owe me favors," Arslan replied and scratched at his beard. "If I'm being honest, I've been extremely bored for about twelve years. I was praying to my god this week for something interesting to happen, and he appears to have sent me you. Who am I to refuse the gift?"

"I just told you that your city is about to be sacked, and you don't seem to care," Alexis replied.

"I care very much, which is one of the reasons I wish to help you. If I were to go out into the streets and tell everyone I meet that crusaders are going to attack us, no one would believe it," Arslan said, and his eyes went sad. "I have also seen enough cities fall to know that it will happen, just like it will inevitably bloom again."

Alexis didn't say anything for a moment before he gave in and smiled. "Arslan, I think I like you."

"I like you too. This, I suspect, will be a problem for us both in the long run."

Alexis didn't hold back the laughter that broke free from him. "Without a doubt, but for the next few weeks, it will be very useful."

Arslan poured more tea. "Now, tell me everything. Start with Dandolo and the crusaders. Then the Library and the crypts. We will make a list! I'm very good at lists."

Still laughing, Alexis relaxed in the warm circle of lamp-light and sweet smoke, and began to talk.

CHAPTER FOUR

Arslan produced the vellum from a drawer in the low table, proving he was the kind of scholar who was always prepared. Alexis could see that it was of good quality, just like the ink and quill that came next.

"Greek for the places," Arslan said, taking up the pen. "Latin for the objects. Arabic for the names of people who might help or hinder us. If the vellum is lost or stolen, whoever finds it must be literate in all three. There are very few people in the city who are, and I know what all of them eat for breakfast."

Alexis laughed softly. "Of course you do."

"I make it my business to know who to keep an eye on. I'm sure you do too," he replied, and after a few minutes of careful scribbling, Arslan handed it to Alexis. "Tell me if I missed anything, but if I were the crusaders, this is what I would target first. We need to decide what we are willing to let them have."

It was an exceptionally good list, Alexis noticed with warm amusement. The Hercules of Lysippos sat at the top, because Lysippos was not replaceable, and because crusaders couldn't be trusted within a mile of a bronze of known weight.

Below it, the four horses of the hippodrome, with a side note of 'too big, too public, too heavy. Mourn them.'

Alexis could leave a fake of the Hercules, but Arslan was right, and he couldn't take the horses. He would put a protection spell on them and hope that it would be enough to stop them from being melted down.

The manuscripts of the imperial library came next, in order of priority, with marginal notes on whether the current cataloguer could be persuaded to look the other way, and which would need to be simply taken.

There were things missing that Alexis couldn't risk leaving behind, so he took Arslan's pen and began to add them in.

Alexis tapped his finger on a line halfway down the page. "The psalter at the Pantokrator."

"What about it?"

"There's a book in the binding that no one knows is there. It is an Alexandrian epitome of Epicurus that I have been looking for since the Ptolemies were still in charge of Alexandria. If we get the psalter, I can get them both out."

Arslan looked at the other notes he had added. "How do you know there is this secret side chamber in the Library?"

"Because I helped build it."

"Ah, I should have known.” Arslan rose to his feet. "Come, I need to check the storeroom to make sure I have the right supplies, not only for your escapades but for a siege."

"You could leave now that you know it is coming," Alexis pointed out.

Arslan only laughed. "No chance in any of the hells."

Alexis understood that attitude only too well. He had lost many places over the years, and he would protect Venice with everything he had to ensure he didn't lose her, too.