Ruben looked at his hands, now stained with ink, with a regretful expression. "Tarsus," he said, abruptly changing the subject.
"Occupied by a group of newly arrived Normans," Vardan said immediately. "They are ravaging the lands of the Armenians, slaughtering our soldiers. It's said the Normans in Cyprus..."
Vardan was about to continue when Ruben cut him off.
"I know all this," Ruben said coldly. "That Norman named Eric."
"The meticulous Eric. His father was a Norman bandit who ravaged Southern Italy, the infamous Giscard," Vardan said. "Thanks to Father Pireg."
Just a week ago, he had received a report that a band of Normans had suddenly appeared on the plains of Cilicia. They were expanding rapidly and unstoppably along the Cilician coast, ruthlessly attacking Ruben's recruitment parties. They tortured the party members in a most gruesome manner, their dismembered bodies hung alongside those of the Turkic people on either side of the road, left for the crows to peck at.
