Chapter 357 - 253: Aegean Sea, Our Sea

Five days later, Eric and his party entered the narrow waterway the Greeks called the Hellespont, the closest point to the shores of Anatolia.

Eric and the others saw a small coastal town where lanterns swayed in the night wind, which sighed through the desolate shrubs and rocks.

A massive bonfire burned in what looked like a central square. The wind threatened to extinguish it, at times blowing the flames low. Around the fire, twenty-some people laughed, talked, and ate from a platter.

The town’s good citizens had long since fled into the wilderness or been sold into slavery. These men were plunderers.

They had a good day, secured their loot, and were enjoying themselves, never suspecting anyone else was there.

The Pisans sailed into the wind, turning and frantically adjusting their sails against its hiss. The hull was slick with spray, and the crew was on edge. Although the wind kept shifting, the Pisan Navigator skillfully brought the ship to dock.

The Knights and Warriors checked their straps and the sharpness of their weapons, their faces as hard as stone.

As they drew closer, they saw that the men were Turkic People. Eric had the Archers get ready.

Soon, Arrows rained down on the Turkic People by the fire. Several were killed outright. The lightly wounded were run through by Knights who charged in with Lances.

One of the Turkic People ran, shouting an alarm that alerted his comrades in the houses. They tried to flee, having no time to don their Armor.

Some of the nearby Turkic People heard his shouts and followed him across the square, fleeing toward the white Church—a solid, domed building that glowed pink in the firelight.

Most of these fleeing Turkic People were caught by Arrows or run down by the Knights, but about three of them made it into the Church, slamming the wooden double doors shut.

Stephen hammered on the Church’s wooden doors with the pommel of his Sword. "We have to get them out."

Belem considered this, eyeing the sturdy wooden beams and studded nail heads. "I think it will burn," he said.

"You would burn God’s Church!" a Priest shrieked. "It’s not worth it, not for a few Turkic People."

"The Church didn’t protect the Christians, but it’s protecting the Heretics," Belem said with a shrug.

But Eric wasn’t focused on the Church. He had smelled blood and was heading toward a small hut off to the side.

It was a building with sturdy walls and a single door, looking as if it had once been a Leather tanner’s workshop. Trash was scattered around it.

He kicked the door open, and the overwhelming stench of blood billowed out.

Everyone inside seemed to be dead, and stark naked at that. Eleven corpses, pale as the underbellies of fish, lay spattered and soaked in blood. Flies buzzed over the scene.

Several Priests immediately dry-heaved, and even the Knights covered their mouths and noses.

"Did they bring these people here just to kill them?" Belem muttered in confusion.

"No," Eric said, aiming his Torch at something on the ground. "They castrated them. They meant to sell them as slaves, but they weren’t very smart about it. Two of them bled to death. After the ’surgery,’ their bonds were cut—I suspect so they could help themselves and the others with their wounds.

"The rest seem to have been strangled. This one’s head is smashed in. He probably couldn’t accept what happened. The survivors strangled each other with ropes, and the last man ran at the wall until his skull was crushed."

The metallic smell of blood and the buzzing of flies filled the air as the men contemplated the horror.

Belem, also feeling sick, stormed out of the room in a rage. "Goddammit, where are the Greeks? I remember you lot pull this kind of crap, too."

He then dragged a Greek man inside, as if to make him atone for this.

It was one of Brinyos’s attendants.

"Oh, come on. I know you Latins do it too," the Greek attendant retorted.

"We might have it, but we’re not enthusiastic about it. Even I have never fucking seen it. If you do this too much, who’s left to till the fields? And we don’t need a eunuch to serve us. It would make us look effeminate." Belem smacked the man on the back of the head. "I seem to recall a eunuch trailing after you, and you have the nerve to talk?"

"He is a Spado, which is the gentlest treatment," the Greek attendant said.

"Gentlest? He was still castrated. A man isn’t a horse. Why don’t you go..." Belem raised his hand for another slap.

It wasn’t just Belem; the Frank priests standing nearby were also shocked.

"He’s talking about the method of castration," Brinyos explained, walking in. "There are different ways. A Spado is merely castrated—a clean removal with a sharp blade."

Brinyos paused with morbid relish, made a gesture, and let out a "SNIP!" sound. He then grinned as the men around him uncomfortably clamped their legs together.

"They even do it to some high-born infants," Brinyos continued, to the stunned astonishment of the others. "Only a whole man can become Emperor, so some Princes choose this path. It allows them to hold high office without ever posing a threat."

"What the fuck am I hearing?" Belem slapped a hand to his forehead in shock, then looked at Eric. "God doesn’t allow this, right, Eric?"

"That’s right. ’Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God. You are not your own... Therefore, honor God with your body.’ God opposes all mutilation of the flesh," Eric said with a nod.

"You hear that? You Greek heretic!" Belem smacked the attendant on the back of the head again.

"What’s the second type?" someone asked curiously.

"Thlasias. The testicles are crushed with stones," Brinyos said.

"Is there a third?" someone else asked, still curious.

Brinyos shrugged, frowning as he waved a hand toward the blood-caked corpses. "In Constantinople, you don’t see this much anymore. But further East, where men are permitted multiple wives and concubines, the women are secluded in a special place.

"Any male slave who serves them must be... rendered harmless. They remove everything, leaving only a tube for you to urinate through."

"Ah... so they can’t mess with the bull’s cows," Stephen said, attempting a joke to lighten the mood. The truth was, he was thoroughly terrified.