Read Online The Silk Tree by Julian Stockwin - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Julian Stockwin
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me now, do you!’
Nicander stopped in his tracks, taken aback by the outburst.
‘Admit it!’ Marius snarled. ‘All your grand plans, prancing off to a library – you don’t want an old caligatus getting in the way, spoiling your pitch! I’m no fucking use to you any more, right?’
‘Why—’
‘So what do I bloody well do? Hey?’
‘Well—’
‘See! I saw you with that scumbag John the Cappadocian. He only spoke to you, didn’t he? Didn’t say shite to me. You’re going off to speak to Emperor Justinian yourself – can you see him giving me the time o’ day? No way!’
‘It’s not like that—’
‘I’m a shame to you! To drag about and act dumb all the time – you don’t have to fling it in my face, I know.’
‘Marius—’
‘You’re going to dump me. But have the guts to tell me first!’
Nicander sat down slowly. So that was what was goading him.
‘I’ve no intention of getting rid of you, Marius. In this venture you’ve equal shares with me.’
The legionary breathed deeply. ‘Listen to me, Greek. Don’t you dare patronise me. You go out of that fucking door without you swearing on all that’s holy that you’ll not betray me … you won’t find me here when you get back!’
In a rush of feeling Nicander realised that he was about to challenge fortune for the greatest stakes of his life yet he had not a single one to trust, any to whom he could safely open his heart, lay out troubles and frustrations, share the burdens – except this bear of a man with his strong, uncomplicated views.
He stood and clasped Marius’s hand. ‘We’ve gone through so much together …’ He paused, aware that a lump was forming in his throat. ‘And in what lies ahead I want you with me. I’ll swear, if you insist, but I allow before all that you’re my true friend and … I could never let you down.’
At first there was no reaction. Then the other big hand came out and a smile surfaced. ‘Friends. Yes. You and me, Nico – that is, Nicander,’ Marius added with a self-conscious chuckle.
‘No, m’ friend, it’s Nico.’ He grinned. ‘But only from you!’
CHAPTER EIGHT
In a haze of excitement Nicander stepped out along The Mese. His destination was the public library of the Emperor Julian of two centuries before – since the destruction of the Library of Alexandria, the acknowledged centre of learning of the civilised world.
Their great venture was now under way!
At the Forum of Theodosius he turned right towards the arched aqueduct of Valens. Where it met the rise of a hill there was a modest basilica, opposite the grander buildings of the university and overlooked by the Praetorium.
A number of stalls outside sold knick-knacks: stylus and wax tablet sets, finger guards and offcuts of parchment. One of the industries in the library was the copying of decaying papyrus documents to vellum, prepared from more long-lasting animal skins. With a few of his precious remaining coins, Nicander purchased several small pieces on which to make notes.
The library had the reek of ages past. He made his way inside through an old-fashioned columned doorway passing rhetors, grey-and-black robed learned scholars. An open space filled with desks stretched ahead to an apse and a dais with a pulpit-style desk where the stern literary steward sat.
There were three open floors with an endless warren of scroll nooks in the lower, broader shelves for the codices in the upper.
Nicander found an empty desk and looked about at the scores of students perched on stools working silently. They took no notice of a newcomer but an assistant steward quietly appeared at his side. In low tones he explained the structure of the library and Nicander was soon at a well-thumbed index.
The first thing he wanted to equip himself with was all there was to be known about silk. The ancients would have what he sought!
He asked for a well-remembered tome of his youth – the
Naturalis Historia
of the elder Pliny,
Nicander stopped in his tracks, taken aback by the outburst.
‘Admit it!’ Marius snarled. ‘All your grand plans, prancing off to a library – you don’t want an old caligatus getting in the way, spoiling your pitch! I’m no fucking use to you any more, right?’
‘Why—’
‘So what do I bloody well do? Hey?’
‘Well—’
‘See! I saw you with that scumbag John the Cappadocian. He only spoke to you, didn’t he? Didn’t say shite to me. You’re going off to speak to Emperor Justinian yourself – can you see him giving me the time o’ day? No way!’
‘It’s not like that—’
‘I’m a shame to you! To drag about and act dumb all the time – you don’t have to fling it in my face, I know.’
‘Marius—’
‘You’re going to dump me. But have the guts to tell me first!’
Nicander sat down slowly. So that was what was goading him.
‘I’ve no intention of getting rid of you, Marius. In this venture you’ve equal shares with me.’
The legionary breathed deeply. ‘Listen to me, Greek. Don’t you dare patronise me. You go out of that fucking door without you swearing on all that’s holy that you’ll not betray me … you won’t find me here when you get back!’
In a rush of feeling Nicander realised that he was about to challenge fortune for the greatest stakes of his life yet he had not a single one to trust, any to whom he could safely open his heart, lay out troubles and frustrations, share the burdens – except this bear of a man with his strong, uncomplicated views.
He stood and clasped Marius’s hand. ‘We’ve gone through so much together …’ He paused, aware that a lump was forming in his throat. ‘And in what lies ahead I want you with me. I’ll swear, if you insist, but I allow before all that you’re my true friend and … I could never let you down.’
At first there was no reaction. Then the other big hand came out and a smile surfaced. ‘Friends. Yes. You and me, Nico – that is, Nicander,’ Marius added with a self-conscious chuckle.
‘No, m’ friend, it’s Nico.’ He grinned. ‘But only from you!’
CHAPTER EIGHT
In a haze of excitement Nicander stepped out along The Mese. His destination was the public library of the Emperor Julian of two centuries before – since the destruction of the Library of Alexandria, the acknowledged centre of learning of the civilised world.
Their great venture was now under way!
At the Forum of Theodosius he turned right towards the arched aqueduct of Valens. Where it met the rise of a hill there was a modest basilica, opposite the grander buildings of the university and overlooked by the Praetorium.
A number of stalls outside sold knick-knacks: stylus and wax tablet sets, finger guards and offcuts of parchment. One of the industries in the library was the copying of decaying papyrus documents to vellum, prepared from more long-lasting animal skins. With a few of his precious remaining coins, Nicander purchased several small pieces on which to make notes.
The library had the reek of ages past. He made his way inside through an old-fashioned columned doorway passing rhetors, grey-and-black robed learned scholars. An open space filled with desks stretched ahead to an apse and a dais with a pulpit-style desk where the stern literary steward sat.
There were three open floors with an endless warren of scroll nooks in the lower, broader shelves for the codices in the upper.
Nicander found an empty desk and looked about at the scores of students perched on stools working silently. They took no notice of a newcomer but an assistant steward quietly appeared at his side. In low tones he explained the structure of the library and Nicander was soon at a well-thumbed index.
The first thing he wanted to equip himself with was all there was to be known about silk. The ancients would have what he sought!
He asked for a well-remembered tome of his youth – the
Naturalis Historia
of the elder Pliny,
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