The Merchant and Warrior's Memoir

III: Constaninople

Upon arriving in Constaninople, Anthelme promptly collapsed onto the stone ground in exhaustion. He was exhausted. Finding his brother may be harder than he thought, especially when he has the entire continent to search. But, at least he'll meet many new folks, some better, like Bertrada, or some worse, like that thieving bastard from Florence.

The Byzantine capital was quite the sight, with the walls towering higher than the eye could see, he swore. Not really, it was hyperbolic, but they were still, really, really, tall. He seemed to be in a bit of a downtown area, as he could see the city was bustling with more people than the other two were. He could see many stands, which he knew could be helpful. Right this instant, particularly. Anthelme was starving.

Anthelme approached one of the shoppe stands nervously, one that seemed to be selling fruit. He knew he most certainly looked like a foreigner, and he was a foreigner. He had never been to Constaninople before, unlike the two previous Italian cities. 

The owner of the shop immediately started speaking to him in Greek. Her tone sounded nice, so he'd assumed she was just politely greeting him. At least he'd hoped so. Anthelme did not speak Greek. He did know Latin, maybe she'd understand him if he spoke in Latin?
   "Hello, Madame," said Anthelme in his best Latin he could. "my name is Anthelme. Anthelme Aloïs."

The shopowner looked at him, and understood, responding in Latin.
   "Hello, my good lad!" She said in response.    "Aloïs, reminds me of a dear fellow named Beowulf who stopped by here a year prior." Beowulf? Anthelme had never known anyone by the name of Beowulf. But... Maybe Beowulf had known Beaullime, if Anthelme could find him?
   "Beowulf? Fascinating." Said Anthelme. "Say, have you seen anyone with the name Beaullime stop by?" She shook her head apologetically.
   "Say... I'll keep an eye out for Beaullime," she started, "if you, in return, bring me the head of that troublesome boy Licinius. Licinius Tzimskes." She said, her expression turning sour. Anthelme blinked. That got dark quite quickly.

   "Licinius? Licinius Tzimskes?" Asked Anthelme. "Who is that?" The shopowner laughed a hearty laugh.
   "Oh, you're not from around here, are you, boy?" She said with a smirk.
   "Ask any fella around here, they'll tell you their personal stories about that boy Licinius. Always up to no good, that thieving rascal." Anthelme blinked. That was certainly comforting. But, he agreed, anything to find Beaullime.

He tossed her the payment and left with a basket of fruit in his hands, as he cheerfully peeled and ate an orange. Oh, it tasted so absolutely amazing, after this long time. Knowing that the Aloïs name had been around Constaninople, something that felt even nicer inside of him than the orange was the knowledge that he was getting somewhere. It may not be much of a lead, but he surely felt pretty damn excited.

As he was eating his orange, he saw a fellow, dashing back and forth, before promptly unclipping a woman's necklace from behind and sliding it slickly right off of her. He dashed off, and the woman hadn't batted an eye.

Anthelme had a feeling that was Licinius.

Anthelme slowly approached who he assumed to be Licinius Tzimskes, thinking of his deal with the shopowner he had met. Licinius, however, quickly noticed him. Licinius drew a sword from his side before pinning Anthelme to the wall. Goddamit, could someone threaten him in a way that didn't include bashing him against a wall?

   "Who are you, foreigner." Said Licinius with a scowl. "What in the name of God you doing here. What did you see." Anthelme was quick to reassure Licinius that he was but a wandering merchant.

Licinius was a fairly attractive young man, Anthelme could give him that certainly. He had hair that, under the sun, looked almost wine red and deep purple. Though he knew it wasn't, it was still quite pretty. Licinius also had striking sapphire blue eyes, and was wearing much jewelry that Anthelme could almost guarantee was most likely stolen.

   "I'm just- I'm- uh... Looking for my brother?" Said Anthelme to Licinius. "Beaullime Aloïs? A French crusader? Perhaps you know him as German, he did flee to Saxony. You know his name, yes?" Asked Anthelme.
   "Beaullime... I met a man named Beowulf Aloïs once. Hated that guy." Hissed Licinius, as he continued to threaten Anthelme with the sword.
   "Can you- can you put that down, please, my good sir?" Asked Anthelme nervously.

As Licinius noticed Anthelme most certainly could never be any real threat, he lowered the sword. He kept a glare, however. Licinius took Anthelme into an alleyway, and looked at him dead into his jade green eyes.

   "Hey, Ant, can I call ya that? Well, Ant, I'd really appreciate it... If I were to... Recruit... A recruit." Said Licinius slowly. "I'll help you find your dear brother to bring an end to your little sob story, if you help so they don't catch me again, alright?"

   "Erm, alright..." Said Anthelme, mainly scared with what Licinius Tzimskes would do to him if he didn't go along. Though Anthelme didn't admit it to himself, he was genuinely excited to have a new friend helping him in his journey to find Beaullime, while also figuring out who the hell was Beowulf.

And, he did kind of like the nickname 'Ant'. It made him feel cute.

Licinius smiled.
   "Splendid... Splendid, Ant." Said Licinius as he shook Anthelme's hand. Anthelme was kind of surprised how quickly Licinius had gone from threatening him with a sword against a wall to quickly becoming his ally.
   "I've been coming up with a little... Plan, Ant." Said Licinius coolly.
   "I'm going to leave Constaninople, and I'm going to leave the Eastern Roman Empire. Clearly, I'm not that popular here. I would really quite... Appreciate ruining my reputation somewhere else for a change." Said Licinius with a sarcastic eyeroll.

For Licinius Tzimskes, it was a 'funny haha joke'. For Anthelme Aloïs, he'd just found someone possibly willing to help him scavenge Europe for his brother in return for Anthelme's help in getting Licinius out of Rome.

   "Hey, Ant, how long would it take us to get to Jerusalem? I'd get outta Constaninople, and surely your crusading brother has a chance of being there." Asked Licinius.
   "Well, it wouldn't take long..." Said Anthelme slowly in response.

Licinius smirked, looking up at Anthelme.
   "We're off to Jerusalem, for a young man's adventure, friend."