Krispos Rising

From Turtledove

Krispos Rising

Early in his life Krispos was seized by raiders from Kubrat along with his family and several other people from their peasant village near the Empire of Videssos northern border. For a couple years, Krispos and the resettled peasants toiled under heavy taxation by their new overlords, barely surviving the harsh winter months. When ransom is paid by the atvokrator of Videssos, the peasants are freed. At the official hand-over ceremony, Krispos met the ruler of Kubrat, who gave him a gold piece, as well as the abbot Pyrrhos and the diplomat Iakovitzes, both of Videssos.

In his new village, Krispos grew into a young adult. He helps fight off a raid from Kubrat but then lost almost his entire family as well as many fellow villagers to an outbreak of cholera. Even after the cholera outbreak, tax collectors dispatched by the government of Anthimos III place even greater burden on the wrecked village with an increase in taxes. Bitter, Krispos took his gold piece, his few belongings, and set out for Videssos the city, working as a day laborer for various farms and villages to keep his belly full.

When he arrived in Videssos the city, Krispos begged shelter at a local monastery which happens to be run by the abbot Pyrrhos. The abbot had a dream about Krispos that foretold of great things to occur if he took Krispos under his wing. Meeting the young peasant after waking up from the dream in a cold sweat and on the floor, Pyrrhos took Krispos to meet Iakovitzes (the diplomat from the ceremony with the Kubrat ruler), who needed a groom for his stable. Even though Krispos was repelled by the diplomat's desire for his body, the peasant took the job. In a few days he was settled in.

A few months after moving in, Krispos accompanied his master on a diplomatic trip to the provincial city of Opsikion. He helped Iakovitzes get started in his talks with the Khatrisher diplomat Lexo, then grew bored and wandered around the city. He ran into a noblewoman named Tanilis who referred to him as "majesty" before falling in a faint. He soon became friends with Tanilis and her son, Mavros; the noblewoman told Krispos that she thought he would become a major power in Videssos, and that she wanted to support his rise if she took in Mavros as his brother. Krispos accepted, and soon developed a love life with Tanilis, who was a decade older than he, to pass the time.

Iakovitzes finally settled with Lexo in a treaty favorable to Videssos (cleverly worded so that Khatrish would not take notice). Informing Krispos of his desire to leave the little provincial city, the diplomat drank himself stupid and then walked in front of a horse-drawn wagon, breaking his leg and forcing the entire party to pass the winter in Opsikion. With nothing else to do, Krispos passed his time making love to Tanilis. As spring blossomed, Krispos and Iakovitzes make their slow but steady way back to the capital, taking Mavros with them as promised to Tanilis.

Krispos soon came under the notice of Anthimos' guardian, his uncle Petronas. As the Sevastokrator for the young (and disinterested) Anthimos, Petronas was the true source of power in Videssos. He took Krispos in as a groom after watching the peasant wrestle a Kubrat diplomat to the floor, and soon introduced him to the atvokrator Anthimos and his chief eunuch Skombros. Petronas maneuvered Skombros, who was acting as a rival advisor to Anthimos, out of the city and had Krispos installed in his place; Krispos was even allowed to keep his manhood, which was usually taken away from eunuchs.

As vestiarios, Krispos had to take part in several of Anthimos' night-time galas. Occasionally he slept through these parties; he also made the acquaintance of the empress, Dara, who as being ignored by her husband. Working with the empress, Krispos gradually convinced Anthimos to get rid of Petronas; the sevastokrator, in turn, attempted to slay Krispos with sorcery. In time, Petronas was lured into a coronation ceremony, tonsured and dispatched to a monastery.

With no one in the empire working as an authority figure, Anthimos allowed the running of government to deteriorate. Krispos ran afoul of the avtokrator, who, as an amateur sorcerer, attempted to slay him as his uncle had tried to do the year before; forewarned, Krispos turned the tables, and Anthimos accidentally slew himself with his own magic. Krispos was then grudgingly crowned avtokrator by Petronas' uncle, Gnatios, who was the Patriarch of Videssos.

The Videssos series
	Bridge of the Separator
The Time of Troubles	The Stolen Throne | Hammer and Anvil | The Thousand Cities | Videssos Besieged
Tale of Krispos	Krispos Rising | Krispos of Videssos | Krispos the Emperor
Legion Cycle	The Misplaced Legion | An Emperor for the Legion | The Legion of Videssos | Swords of the Legion
Short Stories	The Decoy Duck | A Difficult Undertaking | The Seventh Chapter