The Emperor Awakes (17 page)

‘Mother, uncle, what is all this about?’

‘We will explain in a while.’ Elli said as she took the pendant in her palm and stared at it, before handing it to Iraklios. He studied it carefully for a while in silence. The others did not break that silence and waited. Elli prodded Iraklios.

‘Iraklios?’

‘I believe this is the cross.’

Aristo became impatient. ‘Would you please tell us what’s going on?’

Elli nodded and looked at Iraklios.

‘Katerina, how did you come by this cross?’

‘It was given to me by my grandmother when I was twelve. Why?’

‘Did she tell you how she came to have it?’

‘She said it was her grandmother’s, and her grandmother’s grandmother’s before her and so on, that it had been a family tradition for the cross to be handed down from grandmother to granddaughter at the age of twelve and it has been so for many generations going back a few hundred years.’

‘Do you know exactly for how long?’

‘Not exactly Would you like to talk to my grandmother?’

‘Yes, we would. I would be grateful if you could arrange it.’

Aristo joined in. ‘But, Iraklios, won’t you tell us what it’s for? Why is the cross so important?’

‘That cross is not a usual cross. Look at it carefully.’

‘It looks valuable, but otherwise I don’t see anything special about it.’

‘If it is what we believe it is, that cross has a story. That cross was a gift to each newborn heir to the throne of Constantinople and we have evidence in historical accounts that shows drawings of that same cross.’

Katerina looked puzzled. ‘But couldn’t anyone who had seen those drawings or the cross itself have reproduced the design?’

‘It is possible, I suppose, and that’s why we need to speak with your grandmother. She may be able to shed light on this matter. But for verification we will need the cross to be examined by an expert, an archaeologist who specialises in this period and more specifically the Palaiologos dynasty and the last Emperor.’

Elli knew the answer. The thought passed through Katerina’s mind as well, but at that moment did not properly register. ‘Katerina, I think your brother would be the right person to examine the cross and confirm this.’

‘Giorgos?’ Katerina was still confused. ‘Yes, of course. You are right. But would he not have mentioned something about it all these years? After all I have been wearing it in full view for sixteen years.’ Katerina said, her tone pregnant with doubts, and a strange feeling of guilt she couldn’t shake, as if she did something wrong and she had to fix it.

She looked at Elli with eyes full of unanswered questions, hoping for a satisfactory explanation, for help to extricate herself from her predicament.

Elli saw Katerina’s suddenly furrowed brow and felt a bit uneasy for worrying this lovely young woman sitting opposite her, only a few minutes earlier relaxed and nonchalant making pleasant conversation. She wanted to try and put Katerina’s mind at some rest at least.

‘It is possible that he never paid real attention. He must have seen it just for what it was, a cross, a gift from your grandmother, a family heirloom. Like when we don’t notice something that is under our nose, perhaps it was the same with this and the thought never crossed his mind.’

‘But he’s always been extraordinarily observant and inquisitive. He would have asked to study it closely.’

‘Not necessarily. He must have become so accustomed to the sight of it that his curiosity was not aroused.’

‘It sounds plausible. I’ll call him and arrange a meeting. But Elli and Iraklios, you are not interested in it solely for its historical significance.’

Iraklios explained. ‘No. If it is what we believe it is, it could be the one worn by the last heir at the time of the fall of Constantinople in 1453. Almost four weeks before the fall of the city, the heir, a child of three years old at the time, was kidnapped from the Palace of Vlachernae. He was never found, nor was a body ever discovered. Nobody ever found out what happened to him. And he was, probably, wearing this cross when he disappeared.’

* * *

At the same time, at his apartment in Athens, Giorgos was on the phone to James Calvell in New York.

‘Giorgos, I’ve got the information we wanted.’

‘Already?’

‘I told you the guy was a genius.’

‘Well?’

‘I think he may have made a mistake. I’ll ask him to run the program again. It must have a bug or something.’

‘James, don’t play games. Just tell me. Come out with it.’

‘Giorgos, the donor of both icons was Ariana Paresteris.’

‘What? But that’s my grandmother’s name. It can’t be. It must be a coincidence.’

‘Giorgos, I’ve asked him to dig deeper. There’s no doubt. It was your grandmother.’

‘But how? It can’t be. It just can’t.’

‘Why not? Why do you find it so hard to believe?’

‘I don’t know. I guess I’m just surprised, that’s all.’

‘What will you do now?’

‘I need to speak to her. I need to see her. I need to know. Now. James, thank you. I have to go. I’ll call you in a couple of days.’

‘Alright. Call me, if you need anything else. I’ll help you with this.’

‘Yes, I know. I will call you in a couple of days when I will know more. I’ve got a feeling there’s more to this story. James, I just had a thought. The icon, the Imperial ring. Do you think all this may be connected to my project?’

‘It’s very possible.’

‘My God, do you know what this means? James, I have to go. You are a good friend. Speak to you later.’

* * *

Giorgos was on the first flight out of Athens Eleftherios Venizelos International Airport. He landed at Larnaca International Airport shortly after seven in the evening and took a taxi straight to Limassol and his grandmother’s house.

It was just before nine o’clock at night when Giorgos found himself knocking on his grandmother’s front door. She opened the door herself and, hiding her initial surprise, her face opened up with a huge smile for her grandson. She pulled him into the entrance hall and into her arms and they exchanged kisses.

‘My darling Giorgos. It’s so good to see you. When did you get back to Cyprus? And what are you doing here at this time?’

‘I arrived in Larnaca less than two hours ago and I’m back for good, or, at least, until the next project. And do I need a reason to visit my grandmother?’

‘You certainly don’t. You don’t need to give advance notice either. It’s just that I was not expecting you, that’s all.’

‘I’m not interrupting anything, am I?’

‘No, not at all. Come in. Go to the sitting room. I’ll ask Alina to prepare some coffee for us. I’ll only be a moment.’

Giorgos walked towards the sitting room and Ariana Paresteris turned to the direction of the kitchen where she found Alina busy preparing the marinade for the lamb that would be the following day’s centrepiece for lunch. Alina looked up as Ariana entered the kitchen.

‘Mrs Ariana, I thought I heard Giorgos’ voice. I thought he was still in Athens. I didn’t know he was back. Is everything alright?’

‘Yes. And it seems he may back for good. I know it’s late, but you know his crazy schedule. If he can spare a moment for his grandmother he will use it to visit me irrespective of the time and, perhaps, crossing a couple of continents in the process. And I am glad for that. You know how much I love him. He’s very precious to me. We’ll be in the sitting room. Alina, bring us some coffee, would you?’

‘Yes, Mrs Ariana.’

‘Thank you.’

Ariana left the kitchen and walked back to the entrance hall and from there to the sitting room. Upon entering she noticed Giorgos’ worried and pensive expression before he looked up and smiled at her giving her his full attention.

She walked briskly to the sofa facing Giorgos and sat down. She did not want to allow him the opportunity to hesitate as she sensed that he was debating with himself how to broach a difficult subject.

She decided to save time and to make it easy for him so she avoided further pleasantries and went straight for the jugular. Seated in the late evening coolness of the sitting room, Ariana turned to her grandson.

‘I raised you and I know you as if you were my own child. Something’s troubling you.’

‘Yes. You know about my project, don’t you?’

‘Your quest for the last Emperor’s tomb, yes.’

‘We found something in Cappadocia.’

‘Not the tomb? But why have you not told me before? Why has it not been on the news?’

‘We found a sarcophagus and a well-preserved body, but we don’t know yet for sure. But that’s not why I’m here. Do you remember James Calvell?’

‘You were together at university. I remember you being inseparable, practically Siamese twins back then. He’s the deputy director of the Metropolitan in New York, isn’t he?’

‘Yes, he is. A few weeks ago he found something or rather an expert restorer of Byzantine icons came by a hidden compartment in an icon. Inside he found a ring.’

Ariana blinked. Her face was ashen.

‘You know what I’m talking about, don’t you?’

‘I do. It’s about my donation isn’t it?’

‘Yes. You donated two icons, right?’

‘Yes.’

‘One of them was stolen a few weeks ago. There was an attempt to steal the other one as well.’ Ariana’s face was suddenly mapped with enough lines to compete with the surface of the moon, her jaw almost dropped to the floor. ‘But thankfully, James had the foresight to ask John, the restorer, to produce good copies, which John did in record time, and which were put there in place of the originals. The originals were placed in a safe place. We still have them. They are at the Metropolitan under very sophisticated lock and key. But I’ll tell you about that later. Grandma, why haven’t you ever told us about this? Especially me. You know about my obsession with the last Emperor.’

‘Because it is a long and very sad story. It’s something about our past that was regrettable and shameful and my ancestors and I thought we could protect you from it. But, obviously, we were wrong. The truth would have come out eventually. It always has a habit of outing itself, in spite of even the most elaborate precautions.’

Ariana looked at the far wall lost in thought, then down at her lap and then she raised her head, looked deep into her grandson’s eyes and began her story. ‘It’s something that happened in 1453 in Constantinople, a few weeks before the city fell to the Ottomans of Mehmed II. The last Emperor had a child. The mother died at birth. That child was a son and he was the heir to the throne of Byzantium. Of course it was not expected that he would ever ascend to the throne. Only a blind and deluded person could not see that the Empire was finished, that it was only a matter of a very short time before the city fell to the Ottomans.

‘However, that child was doted on and protected as if he was the most precious thing in the world. And he was precious. He was the son of an Emperor after all, part of a proud line, going back through different dynasties and generations all the way back to Constantine I, the Great, and, more specifically, one of the sons of Theodosius the Great who upon his death presided over the split of the Roman Empire to the Eastern and the Western Empires respectively. On 4
^th
May 1453, the child and heir was kidnapped from the Palace of Vlachernae. He was never found. However, the icon and ring that were stolen with the child found their way to my ancestor, Sotirios Vendis.’

* * *

The doorbell rang. Alina opened the door and was surprised by the illustrious group standing in front of her. There was Elli, Iraklios, Katerina and Aristo. Alina recognised Katerina and greeted her.

‘Katerina, it is good to see you. And Mr Aristo, it’s a great pleasure.’

‘Alina, it’s good to see you too. This is Elli, Aristo’s mother and this is Iraklios, Aristo’s uncle.’ Elli and Iraklios politely greeted Alina. ‘We’d like to speak with my grandmother, please.’

‘Yes, of course. Please wait here.’ Alina walked to the sitting room and knocked on the door. Ariana called her in.

‘Alina, what is it?’

‘Mrs Ariana, Katerina and Mr Aristo are in the hall. Aristo’s mother and his uncle are with them as well. They want to see you.’

‘Please show them in.’ Alina went back to the hall. Ariana turned to Giorgos.

‘Quite a gathering. It must be important. I wonder whether it has something to do with Katerina and Aristo. Do I hear the bells of upcoming nuptials? So much excitement and all in one night. What a treat for an old woman. And to think I was only looking forward to a quiet evening in front of the television watching my favourite and mostly depressing soaps.’ Giorgos laughed and Ariana laughed with him too. ‘We’ll finish the story later.’

* * *

There was a knock on the door and Ariana called them in. As the door opened, Ariana and Giorgos rose and smiled warmly to the incoming crowd. Introductions were made and Ariana asked them all to sit down. Katerina was surprised to find Giorgos there.

‘Hi, brother. This is a coincidence. We were just talking about you.’