Nine for the Devil

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During the heat wave smothering Constantinople, blades were drawn and blood spilt debating the portent of a series of strange events.

The latest event to exercise the imagination of the sweltering populace was a lightning bolt to the statue of Emperor Arkadios during the same fierce storm that killed three people in their sleep. Loungers at the inn nestled near to the Great Palace between the Hippodrome and the Baths of Zeuxippos, displayed a lively range of opinion, though no inclination to resort to sharp steel to reinforce their arguments.

So far.

“I told my wife lightning strikes inevitably mean disaster,” observed a stout patron.

“Disaster for anyone struck,” interjected a young fellow seated near the door.

The patron studied the blurry reflection in his wine cup as if it might contain a revelation beyond the fact he had a double chin. “What about the beggar in the Copper Quarter who saw two eagles fighting above the Great Church? And a friend of a friend of mine who works on the docks swears he saw a two-headed snake boarding a ship bound for Italy. These are not things to be spoken of lightly.”

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