DIMITRI

  Byzantine Empire 728 AD, Crete.

  Dimitri was a boy who knew only one thing, and he did it well. Tricking. He would find a man in despair over his sickness and give him a supposed medicine that could heal everything. A few seconds after that man would realise it, Dimmitri was all far away with his reward. When he found people gambling around the dark corners of Hania, he took the role of a naive young boy who had never played dice before. He showed his old dice, which were supposed to be a gift from his father before he passed away.

  The men were intrigued by that, and so they offered him a seat at the table. But maybe their interest grew more as he was wearing a golden necklace around his throat.

  When they played with his own tricked dice, Dimitri always won, and none of those drunk men expected anything. Victory for Dimitri the orphan, the trickster.

  Another man came from the shadows, wearing rags to cover his entire body, and showed his dice.

  ‘’Shall we play with these?’’The man asked, and Dimitri felt a strong challenge coming from the strange demeanor.

  So he agreed. And surprisingly, even within panic, Dimitri won.

  The strange man frowned, and everyone laughed, saying that he had lost the chance to win against him.

  ‘’What do you have?’’Dimitri asked with a wide smile, and the man showed him a black coin. He should have expected that this ragged man had nothing more than that.

  ‘’Keep it, don’t need it’’whined Dimitri and walked away.

  Hours later in the night, he found whispers of a painting of the Virgin Mary made by a genius painter that would go to auction that specific night. They were talking about prizes they would put. Each one grew more and more, and made Dimitri laugh with anticipation. If he stole it, he could make it his auction and claim everything for himself.

  He went to the gallery near the port, where the auction was supposed to be hosted, filled with people dressed in rich clothing. Dimitri hoped that one day he would look exactly like them. But only one man could dream that. A boy who was living in an orphanage most of his time and then on the streets should not dream. He could just act.

  He decided to open one of the windows behind the gallery, and then he could see everyone waiting for the painting to appear. But none except Dimitri noticed that someone had locked the door.

  ‘’Where is it?’’A man asked. ‘’Oh, I just want one look, just a glance to see it, please’’

  Clearly, every man in this room had the same thought as if they were all…

  Iconophiles. Dimitri thought, and a slight panic grew around his chest, with now soldiers with torches appearing from the darkness. And people went mad. Mad that they got trapped and were about to get slaughtered. And when a soldier found Dimitri hiding behind a wall, the boy knew he wouldn’t survive that night.

  Stolen story; please report.

  He began to run away with the soldier haunting him down like a dog. Of course, it was a trap. Who would have talked about paintings of the Virgin Mary at this time and age? People who loved the paintings were considered demons, people who shall die or be cast out. That was the order of the king after all.

  Dimitri was never a religious person. Where was God when he needed him the most? Where was he when he left him all alone to fight in this world?

  It did not matter when he found one of the ships that were about to sail, putting cargo by the ropes. He took a deep breath and hid in one of the boxes and waited to be lifted.

  He hated the dark, imagining a creature will appear and suck his soul but in that moment, Dimitri knew that the monster he was aftering him had a torch on his one hand and a sword on his other. He was glad that he found the right idea to hide in a box filled with…

  Wine.

  It was the first thing the men on the ship opened, and their drunk smiles faded when they found a little boy hiding in the cargo of pleasure. The captain grabbed him by the ear and began dragging him away.

  ‘’Thank Lord that we still haven’t sailed or else we would throw you into the sea.’’He said, and was about to get him out of the boat. He would be found by the soldier, haunted, killed, or worse. He had no experience in fighting, had no other talents but tricking. And now, he could do nothing.

  And then, a man yawned.

  ‘’Apologies,’’ He said as he was getting into the ship, and Dimitri recognized the rags and posture. That was the man whom he tried to con. And the man looked at him, forming a wide smile on his face.

  ‘’Oh, you found him’’He gasped.

  ‘’Physician’’The captain gasped and turned on Dimitris’ shaking face. ‘’Where were you all those hours?’’

  ‘’Oh, I haven’t seen Min-’’He stopped talking.’’Crete had been a long time, I just wanted to see it again, and then, I was trying to look for my apprentice'’He moved closer, and Dimitri could now see how tall this man was. He had never seen a beggar like this. And then, he let his raggs down, revealing himself.

  This man could not be a physician. How could he have those scars on his face? And the missing eye? But he was a charming man, and Dimitri could agree with his long, dark curls and perfectly sculpted face. He was surely around his mid twenties, but the way he was standing and gazing around made him look like he had lived more than a century. Bronze skin, it seemed that he was in the seas for a while, or even travelling to faraway warmer lands. His green tunic looked clean and not affordable for any common man, and his dark pants were wide, yet thin, comfortable for traveling at sea for days or even weeks.

  ‘’Your apprentice?’’The captain blinked. ‘’You never told me’’

  The charming man leaned close to the captain as he played with his dark beard.

  ‘’Capetanio now relaxes, I just found him today, and his skills are…’’He made a long pause. ‘’Interesting’’He continued and the captain let Dimitri fall, forcing him to look up to the man who saved his life.

  ‘’We are sailing’’The captain shouted, but the physician kept looking at Dimitri with such interest. He had the scent of expensive oils and the gaze of someone you shouldn’t mess with. Around his neck, there was an amulet made of a gray metal, carving of a shaft that looked like a cross. But why were two snakes wrapped around it?

  ‘’What is your name?’’The man whispered.

  Dimitris’ lips parted.

  ‘’If you want people to buy that, I am your teacher, tell me your name.’’

  ‘’Dimitri,’’

  The man’s brow arched, and he offered his hand to him.’’Nice to meet you, Dimitri. I am Odysseus.’’