A/N: So here's a monster of a first chapter. I say first because this is going to have two.
And yeah, I had way too much fun researching for this one. I apologize for all the extra information in here.
Because it will bug me, I need to note that the last name of le Mercier ("The Merchant") didn't really appear in France until the High/Late Middle Ages. And the name of Pisapia was stolen from the current Mayor of Milan. I don't really know where the name Cavinato came from. I could have used Mocenigo, but then I'd want to tie that into the actual Mocenigo family and I couldn't do that.
Okay, rant done, I don't own that which you recognize.
If Gunther was entirely honest (and he wasn't often, it left you open to attack-vulnerable) he sometimes wished that he could take someone with him during the long trading excursions that he was forced to accompany his father on. Then he would have someone to talk to, someone to tell stories to. And if he could bring anyone at all, he would bring Jane.
He would spend time with her on the ship, talking at her as she was sick over the rail and darting out of the way when she swiped at him, laughing and talking to the sailors on the short journey to Harfleur in Frankia.
And there, he would translate for her, the shouting in French that would confuse her and echo over her. He would call out greetings to those he knew and introduce her to his friends in Harfluer, a girl called Eldesendlis and her brother Henri. He would translate for them until they had to get onto the ship and sail down to Paris.
In Paris he would take Jane to a bakery where he would buy her a pastry with a flaking crust unlike Pepper could create. He would take her to the Saint-Étienne cathedral and show her its beautiful façade, perhaps take her inside.
He would tell her about Louis and how he had once dared Gunther to go into the catacombs being built under the city and how he had, just to prove he could. (He would not tell her of the nightmares he had for months about the smell and the sight of the rotting bodies piled on top of each other since the cemeteries could hold no more corpses.)
He would walk with her through the busy streets and tell her of the time he had seen a body fished from the Seine River. He would take her to the slums. He would tell how he had many friends there, and when she looked at him with that regard that told him that she didn't believe him, he would call out in French, and see those there turn to him with smiles as bright as they could smile, proving her wrong.
He would tell of the story he had heard, about how Paris was named for the Trojan prince, how his nephew had escaped the Greeks and had founded this city, the ancient ancestor of Emperor Charlemagne, Astyanax of Troy. She would roll her eyes and claim that he was lying, and he would throw a taunt towards her intelligence and she would retaliate and it would be just like home.
He would steal a little bit of the wine that his father bought, and let Jane have a taste. As far as he knew, she had yet to have any wine, and when she spat it out, disgusted by the taste, he would laugh and take a drink himself. He would take her to the home of Peppin le Mercier, his best friend in Paris, he would introduce them and snort at Peppin's attempt at English, but refusing to translate when he started to try and flirt with Jane. She would be lost but would smile when Peppin frowned or made faces at Gunther when he didn't translate.
Peppin would take them to his family's stables, and offer to take them riding. Jane would accept, and Gunther would have to go with them. The two of them would laugh at him, yes, but it wasn't his fault that Peppin kept giving him the horse that didn't behave for anyone. They would ride out of the city and into the country around it, Peppin would tell of how he and Gunther had once been riding with their fathers and something startled Magnus' horse, rearing and throwing the man off. Jane would burst out laughing, snorting and Peppin would laugh his own tittering laugh—like a bird who found life unimaginably amusing.
Jane would want to stay, but Gunther would tell her that Paris wasn't the half of it. He would ride with her in the back of the wagon as they made their way out of Paris and down to the pass in the mountains, talking about Paris and Harfleur. Perhaps he would teach her a bit of French. He would give her no reason to hate him.
When they reached Lyons, he would tell her how the Christians here in the time of Rome were nearly all martyrs, they had suffered, especially under the Emperor Septimus Severus. In the few days they were there, he would take her to the Amphitheatre of the Three Gauls, the Roman theater that still stood in the city.
He would tell her of how much a shame it was that they weren't there too long, he would tell her of all the wonderful things they were missing for having little to no time in the city. He would continue to tell her of these things as they continued on to the pass in the mountains that would lead them to the Italian peninsula.
When they reached the pass, they would stay and rest. When they did, Gunther would take Jane up to his favorite place up in the mountain, where you could see for miles all around. He would point out the tiny dark dot and tell her, "That's where we're going. It's a town called Turin." They would stay up there for a while, wandering about the rocks, but they would return to the trading party, and probably get lectured about the dangers of bandits. Jane would point out that they were both training to be squires and their escorts would have to concede to that point.
They would travel for the next day or two until they reached Turin. Turin was there they would rest, they'd spend three days or so there, and Jane would never again take sleeping in a bed for granted. He would let her know that now that they were in the Italian peninsula, most people would speak Vulgar Latin, maybe Greek, but not so much in the way of French anymore. Jane would nod, she spoke some Latin, she would be fine.
Gunther would keep his sword out the whole while that they rode to Milan, keeping it balanced on his knees. Jane would look at him questioningly, and he would tell her that bandits often roamed the roads here, and he would very softly tell her of the time that he had killed a bandit. It had to be done and it had kept his father alive. Jane's brow would furrow, but she would nod. She would take him much more seriously in sparring than she had before.
The trip to Milan was long, and so he would offer to spar with her in the evenings. She would be wary, but she would accept in the end. They would practice every night, and it would make both of them feel more comfortable, trading insults just as often as blows. Here, Gunther's "dirty tactics" were normal, encouraged even—do whatever it took to stay alive—and he would win a match just as often as Jane.
Once they reached Milan, he would introduce her to his friends there, Augustus and Isabella Pisapia, just two years older than Gunther and married. They would love Jane, Isabella insisting that they take her to see the city. She would take her to the Basilica di Sant'Ambrogio and the ruins of the Roman bathhouse. They would buy pastries and tell Jane all about the beauty of their home city. Gunther would have to help his father, so he would leave Jane to his friends, let her see whatever they wanted to show her.
He would go with her to the Basilica again on the Sabbath, beside her for the service. She would likely be surprised by the difference between the Rites, but Gunther was used to the Ambrosian Rite and would enjoy hearing what she had to say about it. Afterwards, he would return to the inn they stayed in, just talking to her for the rest of the day, letting her enthuse about whatever she had seen and offering his own stories and experiences about the same. He knew that Jane would love Isabella and Augustus just as much as they would love her. Isabella would bid them farewell when they had to leave, kissing Gunther swiftly and kissing Jane in the same way. Isabella needed to show fondness through physicality, and hopefully by the time they left, Jane would know that and be used to it.
When they left Milan, Jane would ask where they were going next, already entranced by Italy. Gunther would smile and let his father answer shortly, "Venice." She would look absolutely enchanted by the idea, asking Gunther all about it—what was it like? Would they know anyone there like Milan or would it be rather impersonal like in Turin? He would answer her questions, and she would have more than enough questions to last until they reached the city.
He would tell her about how they were recently beginning to build the city so as to be on islands just in the ocean, canals replacing roads. He would tell her about how stupid the idea was, how the city would sink. She would likely take the other side and they would bicker about it. Their fight would last until they reached the villa of the Cavinato family. His father would meet with the father of the house and they would discuss business and the like, and Gunther would be free to meet his friends Giovanni Cavinato and his sister Lucrezia. Giovanni was to marry when he last saw him, so he would meet his new bride just as Jane would. But he knew that she was from Byzantium, so he would have to speak Greek with her, or perhaps she spoke enough Vulgar Latin that he wouldn't have to.
Gunther would take Jane with him as they went to the market, taking her to the Byzantine traders, where they were selling perfumes and jewelry and other such things. He knew one of the traders, he was Gnostic, and he found himself leaning more and more to the man's belief system. He would let him tell Jane about the Gnostic belief system, mostly about the Gospels of Mary Magdalene and of Judas Iscariot, maybe even that of John the Good. He wasn't sure how Jane would react, but he would finally have someone to discuss these new thoughts with. He would buy a few of the perfumes and perhaps buy Jane a bolt of the colorful silks that they sold. No, no, he would buy her some silk. She would take it, after declining it a few times, and marvel over how it felt like someone had woven water together into cloth. He would smile and she would keep it a secret from his father, not that it would be difficult.
They would wander through the streets of Venice, and he would take her to one of his favorite places, a public courtyard with a fountain that splashed just enough to keep someone cool on a hot day if they sat on the rim of the fountain's basin. Birds loved it as well, and if you tossed out a bit of food, they would swarm down upon it. They would sit there for a long while, watching the birds come and eat, talking or not.
Venice would be wonderful, full of the elegance that remained from mighty Rome and populated by wonderful people who kept relations with the people of the wealthy and strong Byzantine Empire. Jane would be amazed, and Gunther would remind her of the silk, a way for her to always remember the city. She would smile at him for it, and they would join the caravan going to their next destination.
They would pass through the town of Legnago on their way, there the merchants would pay a few knights or foot soldiers to accompany them. The soldiers in Legnago were mercenaries. They kept the farmers in the area safe, but they didn't have the same code of honor that was being pounded into Jane and Gunther's heads. Gunther knew for fact how many illegitimate children there were by the soldiers in the farms around.
Jane would ask why they even came there as the merchants assured protection and they walked along the Adige River, and Gunther would tell her of the danger of being a merchant, how any excursion was courting death. He would remind her of how he had killed a man. She might respect him more with that fact reminded every so often.
"Why are they even here?" Jane would ask, referring to the soldiers in the farming community.
"Legnago is on the Adige River," he would say. "Frankia is a large country, goods travel over rivers and land. Legnago grows wheat and rye, things needed to survive in Venice and Verona and Padua, all the cities around. Why are the soldiers here? This is a trade route, this place is close to three of the largest cities in this part of Italy. We're passing through here on our way to Rome, on the other side of the peninsula. Lots of merchants come through this way. So, the sheer number of bandits and thieves on our path are attracted to it. Legnago is the gateway into the center of the peninsula and this is the last real safe place. Does that answer your question?" Jane would stay quiet on the matter. She would look to the mercenaries with wariness, they were there to keep merchants safe, they were there to kill and for no other reason.
Gunther had been spending his whole life around mercenaries and so he wouldn't be at all afraid or wary. He had killed someone once, but he wasn't that ready to protect both himself, his father, and complete strangers from bandits. He could help, but he couldn't do it himself. He would have to talk Jane out of it as well, tell her that she wasn't ready. Perhaps she would listen, perhaps she would stay stubborn about it.
If they were lucky, they would make it to Rome without any need for the mercenaries. They would have to deal with the comments made towards Jane, but there usually were a few women, and when there were more than two, the mercenaries kept quiet.
If they were unlucky, there would be a fight. Gunther knew what to do, pull out his sword, and if there were women, so protect them, if there weren't, keep a hand on his sword or dagger, and hide. Jane would want to help, and if there was a fight, he would probably have to drag her with him, force her head down and shield her with his body, his hand over her mouth just in case. Otherwise, he would shout for her, going to the women and positioning himself before them, holding his sword sure.
Either way, they would likely end up in Rome with relatively minor injuries if any. Jane, whether injured or otherwise, would stand in awe and amazement of the Eternal City. Gunther would assure her that they would see this ancient place, he would promise to show her everything as he had everywhere else.
They would go to the home of their contacts there, there they would rest and if unlucky, they would have their wounds treated. The Breech family's contacts had no children anywhere near the age of Gunther or Jane, they had two sons and a daughter, but the daughter was in a convent as a Sister of some holy order or another, and the two sons were adults, the younger spending most of his time trading in the Emirate of Còrdoba, the elder far too old to want to have anything to do with children.
So, Gunther would take Jane into the city itself. He would introduce her to one of his best friends there, a boy named Faustus. Faustus was shy on first meeting, but would quickly become just as vocal as Jester back home. Faustus would take Jane to their favorite place to find food, a small place run by a Jewish family, they cooked artichokes in such a way that they both were in love with. Jane would adore them too, he knew, and would rage at them both for making her love a meal she could never have again. Gunther would laugh and say that he would bring back some seeds for Rake to grow artichokes.
He would take her to the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls, tell her how the Saint was buried not too far from the holy place. He would take her into the catacombs, he would point out the small painted dolphins, the fish and bread loafs, the image of Jesus. He would tell her of the Saints and Martyrs buried there, and though she would likely ask to go find their resting places, he would remind her that they had to return, and though she would be upset, she would come with him, leaving the dead to their sleep.
He would take her to the Basilica of St. Peter, he would tell her how Simon Peter himself had died on the very ground they stood on, crucified upside down. He would tell her how the apostle was buried underground, and he would tell her these things to see the wonderment grow on her face, shining in her eyes.
He would take her to the market, he would buy her a fine crucifix carved of ivory. She would see him holding it and demand that he return it, she could never accept an ivory crucifix, no matter who bought it for her.
But he would keep it, and when they returned to the home of his family's contacts, the Donazetti family, he would slip into her room silently, lying the small yet important thing he bought her on the bolt of silk from Venice. She would wake and see it, and despite all she had said the day before, she would put it on.
They would return to Kippernium, passing back through Legnago and Venice, back to Milan and Turin, back up through Lyon to Paris. From Paris to Harfleur and then back across the sea, home to Kippernium.
Once home, all that he had shown her, all that he had shared with her would influence how Jane treated him and perhaps how those at the castle treated him. Perhaps with her help he could count them to be his friends. He could debate Gnostic beliefs with Jane and while she waxed poetic about Rome and Paris and Milan, he could pull it back to reality, tell of how things really were.
Yes, yes, that's what he would do if he took Jane with him on the long excursions.
Gunther smiled a smile only to himself as he wandered the markets of Rome. He could hear Latin echoing over him, merchants calling to each other, men and women fighting the fights of lovers, he heard children laughing…he would love to share this with someone. Of course, wasn't that what his fantasy was all about? Sharing this with his friendly rival, his fellow squire?
No, she wasn't here with him. No, she probably would never come with him. But that didn't mean that he couldn't buy her that ivory crucifix over there and wrap it in that piece of red silk he had bought in Venice to give to her upon returning.
And buy it he did. Wrapping it in the red silk, he smiled contentedly to himself. He could just imagine the look on her face when he gave the two gifts to her…
A/N: Yes I brought Legnago into this. In the later part of the early middle ages, Legnago played a pretty important role in military, so mercenaries weren't out of the question. As it is, Legnago is now just a small city just south of Verona.
And no, getting ivory isn't insane. There was recently a discovery of a book from the time that was bound in carved ivory. So it's not ridiculous. So there.