After that, Brother Elpidios, the couriers stopped coming for a while. Justinian didn't know exactly what was going on, up there by Kherson. I don't think he ever did know, not really. I know I didn't, not then. I've pieced it together, bit by bit, from things I've heard over the years here in the monastery.
The Khazars hadn't sent enough men to be sure of licking Mauros. Like Justinian says, he didn't have enough to fight them and the Khersonites both. They all called a kind of a truce to try and sort things out.
While the truce was on, Bardanes got out of Kherson and ran off to Ibouzeros Gliabanos. Somewhere around then, Mauros and his soldiers figured out that they weren't going to be able to take Kherson, not with the Khazars' troops so close. Mauros knew what would happen to him if he went back to Constantinople without taking the place. Justinian had been very clear about that, hadn't he, Brother? Not quite so clever as he thought he was, eh? So Mauros declared for Bardanes.
I suppose it would have been about this time that Helias heard what Justinian had done to his children, and to Zoe, too.
Ibouzeros Gliabanos made Mauros's men swear an oath that they wouldn't hurt Bardanes no matter what. He also made them pay him a nomisma a man, for the privilege of not having to fight his soldiers. Once they'd done that, he gave them Bardanes, though after that everybody called him Philippikos.
Like I told you, Brother Elpidios, nobody in Constantinople knew all the whys and wherefores. All we knew was that Mauros wasn't sending back any more reports about how well things were going. He wasn't sending back any reports at all.