The Venetian Gambit by Martin Archer

Author:Martin Archer [Archer, Martin]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-01-08T16:00:00+00:00

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"Only two prizes have come in since Monday and there is still no sign of the Venetian fleet."

Harold made the announcement as he came into the forward castle and sat on one of the castle’s two three-legged stools. It had been hastily vacated by Roger, my apprentice, as soon as Harold and his apprentice came through the door.

"And for the past three days not a single prize has come in that sailed from Venice. Every prize that has come in since Monday was headed north because its captain did not know we were here."

"Aye, you are right, Uncle Harold. We knew it was bound to happen and now it has—the Venetians know we are out and have begun keeping their transports in the harbour until we are gone. But where are their galleys?"

That was my reply as I looked up from where I was sitting on the castle’s other stool looking at a chess board. I was happy to see Harold and get the latest news. Sitting around idle every day was very boring.

Harold, of course, did not know the whereabouts of the Venetian fleet any more than I did. But he had been talking to the captains of the captured prizes and did have some encouraging news about Venice.

"The men on our recent prizes all say the same thing—that there are only one or two galleys in Venice, but that the city’s harbours are full of the shipping that made it north past our galleys.

“According to them, the shipping is waiting there because they are afraid of sailing in the Adriatic until we are gone. And, as you might imagine, the captured captains all say they should have listened to the warnings they were given and waited with them.

"They also say that the main Venetian fleet has not returned since it sailed earlier in the year to help the Greeks take Constantinople. The word on Venice’s streets and in its taverns is that the Venetian fleet is in Messina waiting for a treasure ship bound for Rome.

“And that is not all. One of our recent northbound prizes, the cog carrying shipbuilding lumber to Venice that Charlie Caine brought in yesterday, came through the Messina Strait. Its captain says he saw several dozen Venetian galleys patrolling the strait or anchored in the nearby harbour."

I smiled and agreed with Harold that it was good news, and then shared the corroborating news I had heard that morning when I visited the market to once again pretend I was not French.

"It is rumoured in the market, several of the merchants told me again this morning, that the Venetian fleet is still waiting for us at Messina because they heard we are sailing to Rome with a fortune in prayer coins. They say the Latin Empress is sending them to the Pope because his prayers were so successful in her fight with the Greeks.

"But here is what is interesting—the merchants now seem to think we are here in an effort to lure the Venetian fleet north so the galley carrying the Empress’s coins can slip through to Rome unmolested.

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