Tamerlane's Boys 18

Chapter 18 – Thanksgivings

(Kashan, Persia, March 1393)

Vissarion, continuing to display not only his resplendent boyish beauty but also his profound wisdom, was the prime factor in securing Tamerlane’s successful rapid recovery from his mental breakdown. The illness had been caused by the conqueror’s intense love for his boys and acute fears whenever they were endangered, which seemed to happen regularly despite everyone’s best efforts to avoid such distressing occurrences.

Vissarion, now 16 but looking at least a couple of years younger, organised Tamerlane’s boys so effectively that no-one else ever truly knew the nature of the conqueror’s ill-health. Disclosure could have encouraged enemies, both internal within his master’s entourage and external, to rise in revolt.

Vissarion initially spread the news that Tamerlane was exhausted, in need of a lengthy rest and that his master had issued orders that he was to be looked after and visited only by his boys during this period. The young Georgian added menacingly that the conqueror would, however, be prepared to forego his repose if he was needed to repress trouble.

Vissarion was so convincing that internal and external peace prevailed throughout Tamerlane’s convalescence, for no-one anywhere wanted to anger the dreaded conqueror by disturbing him, knowing from example what terrible retribution might follow.

This attitude extended to Tamerlane’s physicians, whom Vissarion frightened off by advising that his master had declared that, for mere rest, he did not require their attention. As all were constantly terrified for their lives whenever they treated the man for any minor ailments or wounds he might pick up, none were unhappy to learn of this.

Certainly, none of the doctors were bold enough to query the young Georgian’s instruction to keep way. They appreciated full well how the conqueror would probably react to anyone having the temerity to argue with his beautiful eunuch catamite, especially as the boy had so recently almost sacrificed his own life to save that of his master from an assassin’s knife.

Vissarion also demonstrated once again other burgeoning organisational abilities, for the administration of Tamerlane’s vast empire had to carry on. Without reference to his genuinely resting master, the young Georgian delegated the necessary powers to a council of the conqueror’s most loyal and proficient generals and advisors.

Vissarion had suggested untruthfully that this arrangement was at the command of Tamerlane himself. The council, however, was sometimes too scared to make very important decisions without consulting the conqueror, being wary of what he might do if he disapproved of the agreed action once he recovered. Counsellors had been beheaded previously for proffering poor advice or taking inappropriate steps.

Vissarion was aware of this and volunteered to submit the council’s occasional requests for guidance to Tamerlane. In fact, the young Georgian, not wanting to disturb his master, then made these very important decisions himself, sometimes after consulting Arman if they related to military matters.

Arman was still considered to be one of Tamerlane’s boys, despite now sharing a tent with his new lover, Sibur, rather than that of his previous paramour. Vissarion trusted the young Armenian to provide good advice on army issues, despite only being 16 years of age. The young Georgian had known for a while that his closest friend was a natural soldier, and was happy to trust the youth’s instincts.

Vissarion and Arman had reluctantly agreed that Sibur should be denied knowledge of the truth relating to the conqueror’s condition. However, this decision had not been made as a result of any distrust of the young man, but because they instead wanted to protect him from the consequences if the actions of Tamerlane’s boys eventually proved disastrous.

Meanwhile, 12 years old Nicolai and 10 years old Rezan concentrated all their efforts on tending to Tamerlane’s every need, helped whenever possible by Vissarion and Arman, with one of the boys always guarding the entrance to their master’s tent to prevent unwanted visitors. Such splendid teamwork, expertly supervised by the young Georgian, a situation none of his friends argued about, having recognised his aptitude in such matters, gradually bore fruit, with the conqueror increasingly regaining more and more of his mental faculties.

Vissarion eventually chose exactly the right moment to acquaint Tamerlane with what had happened both to the man himself and elsewhere. The conqueror’s response is best summed up by the fact that all four of his boys received long loving hugs of genuine thankfulness for all they had done.

Vissarion and Arman were then particularly delighted to be told that all the actions they had taken, and the guidance they had submitted to their master’s council on his behalf, were considered by Tamerlane to be better than he himself could have produced. The young Georgian and Armenian did wonder at first whether the conqueror might have been deliberately kindly exaggerating in order to flatter them. However, they were disabused of this notion by the clear look of intense happiness and pride in the man’s eyes, as he recognised that his vast empire had effectively been ruled very well for a couple of months by two 16 years olds.

It was early March when Tamerlane finally emerged from his tent to perform a formal inspection, on horseback, of his pristinely arrayed army. The cheers from his many soldiers were deafening, as the conqueror rode up and down their ranks, flanked by his four proud boys.

Afterwards, many commented that they had never seen Tamerlane healthier or happier, something that did not bode well for his enemies or those lands he wanted to conqueror in future. However, their leader currently had other thoughts on his now mended mind.

Tamerlane now wanted to fulfil his promise to Vissarion and Arman, made two months earlier at the celebrations held to commemorate their 16th birthdays. The conqueror had then undertaken to return to the homelands of the young Georgian and Armenian as soon as spring arrived, to give appropriate thanksgivings for their continuing key parts in his life. He now intended to fulfil this pledge forthwith.

Tamerlane, however, might have had second thoughts if he had realised the dangerous adventure that would ensue, with the gorgeous 12 years old Muscovite, Nicolai, at the forefront of the action.

(Moscow, Principality of Muscovy, same time)

Elyena, daughter of Ol'gered, grand prince of Lithuania, was screaming. “Please don’t take him,” she shrieked as the Mongols dragged her crying 8 years old fourth son, Yaroslav, from her arms. Her husband, Vladimir Andryeyevich Khrabrii, since 1358 appanage prince of Serpukhov, a city to the south of Moscow, stood nearby, doing and saying nothing.

As usual with the subordinate princes of Rus, Vladimir and his family were required to be in Moscow for the annual visit to the city by the Mongols, conducted to permit their boy hostages, second sons of important local nobles, to return temporarily to their kith for two reasons. The first was to prove that the lads were still alive and being well looked after. The second was to re-establish familial bonds that would discourage their fathers and elder brothers from supporting future dissension against Khanate suzerainty.

Vladimir’s inaction was caused by several factors. First, he was expecting the taking of another of his boys once the Mongols had recovered from their dreadful bloody mauling by Tamerlane’s forces, having been careless enough to lose their original hostage, the prince’s second son. Second, he fully knew the terrible consequences for himself and the rest of his family, comprising his wife, eldest son, Semyon, third son, Andrei, and youngest sons, Ivan and Fedor, if he resisted. A seventh son, Vasilii, would be born to compensate for this further loss a year later.

The pretty blonde, blue-eyed 8 year-old was soon in one of the Mongols’ many wagons, being led to the forests far to the southeast of Moscow, where his abductors' semi-permanent encampment was based. He had been chosen as a hostage in place of the older Andrei because he was healthier than the rather sickly third son, who would normally have made the journey.

(Etchmiadzin, Armenia, May 1393)

Arman was of the Islamic faith. He had been born into the ruling family of Armenia, which had been conquered by Muslims. However, most of the people of the ancient nation were Christian. The country had actually been the first in the world to adopt this belief as the state religion, after the conversion of King Tiridates III by St. Gregory the Illuminator in AD 301. The Roman Empire, under Constantine the Great, would follow a couple of decades later.

The local predominance of Christianity was evident by the many churches and monasteries that dotted the countryside, although the Islamic presence was also signified by a number of mosques, not least in Arman’s birthplace, the capital, Erivan [now Yerevan]. However, Etchmiadzin, in the valley of the Araks River in the southwest, is the country’s religious centre. According to the chronicler, Agathangelos, St. Gregory, soon after converting Armenia, had a vision of the Son of God, appearing as a heroic figure of light surrounded by a mighty angelic host. Jesus struck the ground with a golden hammer, indicating the place where the Mother Cathedral of the nation was to be established.

The name ‘Etchmiadzin’, literally ‘where the Only Begotten descended’, refers to this episode, and the local monastery is the seat of the Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians. The cathedral within its walls is believed to be the oldest in the world. However, many of these ancient Christian splendours had been badly damaged during Tamerlane’s conquest, something he now sought to redress.

Arman despite, or more accurately because of the particular nature of, his Islamic faith, had expressed a desire to see his country and its people have religious freedom. His family had never been intolerant of Christians, respecting their beliefs almost as much as their own. After all, in Muslim theology, Jesus Christ and certain other Biblical characters are considered great prophets.

The attitude of Arman, who was a son of the country’s last Emir, was also influenced subconsciously by the young Christian Georgian, Vissarion, whom he still loved deeply. Accordingly, when Tamerlane asked how he should give thanksgivings for the presence of the beloved young Armenian in his life, the 16 years old gave the same answer as his friend had done in respect of his own homeland.

As a result, Christian sites in Armenia were allowed to be restored and the faith was permitted to be worshipped openly once more. The showpiece was the return of the Catholicos to the religious complex at Etchmiadzin, which was being repaired at Tamerlane’s own expense. The conqueror had even summoned a number of expert craftsmen from Samarkand to work on the project.

The Catholicos’ first task, on his return to Etchmiadzin, was to meet Tamerlane to thank the dreaded man formally for his sudden change of policy. However, the patriarch was not ignorant of who was really responsible for the remarkable change in fortunes for his faith, and afterwards sent a messenger to the conqueror’s nearby encampment, inviting the young Muslim to an audience in the monastery.

Arman later left the Catholicos’ presence proudly, recognising that the patriarch’s thanks were truly the best thanksgiving he could have requested from Tamerlane. Tears of joy overwhelmed his lovely sensuous brown eyes, as he looked back at the damaged dome of the cathedral, now engulfed by wooden scaffolding as workmen were starting their repairs.

Arman later actually visited the cathedral, with his close Christian friends Vissarion and Nicolai. As he quietly, and without ceremony, prayed to Allah under the great dome, the young Armenian wondered whether the Muslim God and the Christian One, with whom the young Georgian and Muscovite were simultaneously privately communicating, were, after all, the same.

(Tiflis, Georgia, June 1393)

The summer climate in Georgia, like Armenia, is pleasantly dry and sunny, with low humidity mitigating the high temperatures. Evening breezes blowing down the mountains also provide a welcome refreshing cooling effect.

It was now cool inside the great Orthodox cathedral of Sion in Tiflis, capital of Georgia, the birthplace of Vissarion, as he prayed, with Arman and Nicolai besides him.

The splendid structure dated back to the 5th century and had already been restored by Tamerlane in Vissarion’s honour 4 years earlier, just before the first encounter of the young Georgian and Armenian with Mongols of the Khanate of the Golden Horde. As they spoke to God in their own ways, the boys did not realise that another dangerous meeting with warriors from the forests of the north was imminent.

(North Georgia, July 1393)

Because the restoration of Georgia’s most potent Christian symbol had already been achieved, Tamerlane’s local thanksgivings for the presence of Vissarion in his life concentrated, at the boy’s request, on the repair of churches and return of priests to their parishes. Accordingly, the young Georgian, accompanied by his fellow Orthodox Christian and beautiful eunuch, Nicolai, was allowed by the conqueror to travel to a northerly town with their usual bodyguards to inspect a site where such restoration work was taking place.

Vissarion and Nicolai now felt confident in leaving Rezan to look after their master’s various personal needs. This attitude was reinforced by the fact that Arman had confirmed that he would not only always be nearby to help but also keep a regular check on the welfare of both conqueror and latest catamite.

Vissarion, Nicolai and their bodyguards had camped near to the large church undergoing refurbishment, and the boys had just received a blessing from the newly appointed priest within the holy sanctuary. As the lads subsequently left the sacred building to climb onto their horses, around which their already mounted Muslim bodyguard had remained, a local intercepted them, without menace but holding a piece of vellum.

“Young sirs,” the man announced in Georgian, which, of course, only Vissarion could understand, “I’ve been asked to give this message to Master Nicolai.” The older of the two boys therefore indicated who the young Muscovite was and soon the vellum was resting in the hands of the 12 years old.

The messenger had then rapidly disappeared before Nicolai began to read the document. The young Muscovite never hid anything from his friends and so was unconcerned when the curious Vissarion peered over his shoulder to try to see what was written. However, the young Georgian could not decipher the writing because it was both in Russian and in the Cyrillic alphabet, whereas he used the Mkhedruli.

Vissarion was immediately concerned at his friend’s reaction, as the 12 years old read his message, which seemed, by its immature untidy appearance, to be in a child’s handwriting. Nicolai’s hands began to shake and the boy’s gorgeous face turned deathly white. Dampness also came to his sensuous blue eyes.

“What’s wrong?” a very worried Vissarion asked, in Tamerlane’s Turkish dialect, which they both now shared. “Nothing!” was the very unconvincing, clearly tremulous reply. However, try as he might, the young Georgian was subsequently unable to extract from the young Muscovite anything about the message, which obviously conveyed very bad news of some sort. The 16 years old could not even try to borrow the vellum to have the writing furtively translated because the 12 years old secreted the document carefully about his delightful person, richly dressed for the visit to the church in colourful silk court attire.

Nicolai refrained from actually crying but he remained quiet and morose for the rest of the day, something that was completely out of character. Vissarion was therefore eventually pleased when it was time, after the descent of darkness, for both of them to retire to the tent they shared to sleep. The young Georgian hoped that slumber would help his young friend both to recover from the shock conveyed by the message and finally to report the details. However, his wish was to be thwarted because, when he woke at dawn, he discovered that the young Muscovite had not only exited their canopy but also somehow left their encampment without their bodyguards noticing.

The failure on the part of the bodyguards to detect Nicolai’s departure was perhaps not as surprising as it might superficially seem. After all, the normally highly proficient night watch were concentrating on preventing unwanted intruders from entering their camp from outside, not on containing the boys they were protecting inside.

Fortunately, Nicolai had left a clue behind as to his new whereabouts, for he had discarded his court attire for more practical hard-wearing travel garb. In one of the silk trouser pockets, Vissarion found the vellum with the Cyrillic message. However, it took several hours to locate an interpreter who could read Russian.

When the message was finally read to the appalled Vissarion, his delicious body reacted in a similar manner to that of Nicolai when his friend had first appraised the communication. The young Georgian also quickly appreciated that he and his bodyguards would have to try to resolve the dangerous situation on their own, as he did not want Tamerlane to relapse into mental illness on hearing the terrible news.

The message read:-

“Dearest Nicolai,

These words are being dictated to me by Toqtamish himself, leader of the Mongol Golden Horde. He orders me to tell you that you must surrender yourself to his mercy by returning alone to the church at midnight tonight. If you do not, or attempt any tricks, he will send my head to you in the morning.

Your loving brother,

Yaroslav.”

(To be continued in chapter 19 – ‘Toqtamish’)