The Emperor Awakes (43 page)

Giorgos checked topographical surveys and unearthed plans that showed a series of catacombs under the Medieval Quarter. A name jumped out of the page. Mount Zalakas near the village of Trimiklini, about a twenty-minute drive North of Limassol. He wondered whether it was just that the water came from that area, it was known for its fresh mountain water after all, or whether that place had further significance.

He found that there used to be a Byzantine church on the site of the Church of Ayia Napa in Limassol, a church that was knocked down to make way for Ayia Napa at the end of the 19
^th
century. The old church was built around 1453 A.D. and was dedicated to Ayios (Saint) Konstantinos and Ayia (Santa) Eleni. It couldn’t have been a coincidence. Giorgos and Katia tried to locate any plans for the old church or any reference to its construction, some clue as to a connection with something underneath, but they drew a blank. Any such records that may have existed would have disappeared, unless …

Giorgos remembered the book of the construction of the structure and he combed through it again with Katia for evidence of the construction of the old church. And, sure enough, there it was staring them in the face, details for the construction of a small building with icons and a holy table and frescos. That sounded like a church to them.

Their only hope of access would be through Limassol Castle about a couple of hundred metres to the West, far enough to hide its connection, if any, but close enough to have provided the access to a possible underground structure. Giorgos and Katia got the plans of the castle and studied them for any unusual previous structures incorporated into it. But the plans of the castle did not indicate anything that resembled what they were looking for.

They had to get on site. They obtained permission from the Cyprus Department of Antiquities within a couple of days and got down to it. Little did they know that their movements were being watched and there was also that elusive traitor to complicate matters.

Giorgos and Katia went to Limassol Castle and studied every surface. They found that materials that looked to have come from another, earlier building, had been used in its construction. They were especially intrigued by a whole wall in the lower part of the castle that seemed to have been much older than the castle itself. It seemed to have been hastily built, perhaps to cover something. The wall stared back with naked intent, challenging them.

They sent bits of the stonework for analysis and it came back as the composition of the particular cement like mortar and stone that the Byzantines used in the construction of the Church of Ayia Sophia in Constantinople. The most interesting part of all was that the wall was dated to the middle of the 15
^th
century, too close to the magic 1453 date to be a coincidence.

The apparent coincidences were stacking up. That could only mean that they were indeed based on fact and led to the truth. Giorgos and Katerina were starting to believe that they were on the right track.

Giorgos had brought special tools and carefully started to drill holes in the wall hoping to hit an open space behind it. He started to sweat. He wiped his face with the palm of his hand and then rested it on the stone next to where he had just drilled. The sweat dissolved the dust that had built up and revealed a symbol.

He stared at it. It reminded him of something. He was sure he had seen it before. And then he remembered. It was the Imperial insignia that was on the Emperor’s ring that was hidden inside the icon that was in the Metropolitan Museum in New York. He made a mental note to ask James Calvell to send him the two items that were still locked up in James’ secret vault near his office at the museum.

He looked at the stone again and started to drill a hole. He knew he had hit a vacant space when the echo of the drilling bounced back at him. Katia had gone outside for a quick smoke. Suddenly a part of the stone started to move revealing a small niche.

He carefully put his hand inside and felt something, a small object. He brought it out. It was a small bust with the likeness of the Emperor. As he was handling it, checking the bottom and the sides for any writing, for a clue, he must have pressed something, because the top opened and a small scroll came out. He was about to unfurl it when he heard Katia’s footsteps and he quickly put it in his pocket to check its contents later.

He didn’t know why he instinctively did that, but it was too late to reveal it now without betraying himself. If he took it out of his pocket, it would be as good as telling her that he did not trust her. Little did he know that he would later be thankful that he put the scroll in his pocket. He held the bust pretending to be studying it.

‘Katia, come over here and have a look at this.’

Katia examined the bust, her brow furrowing in concentration. However hard she tried, though, she didn’t know what to make of it. She stared at the bust, then at Giorgos and then back at the bust. She seemed as perplexed as he was.

Giorgos decided to take advantage of the brief silence to throw her further off the scent, hoping that she wouldn’t notice the hole at the top of the bust that hadn’t closed completely after the scroll came out. In addition to that, he couldn’t resist teasing her.

‘Now, I don’t want to risk your wrath, but I will express my professional opinion and stake my reputation on it.’

‘And we know how little that is.’

Giorgos made a face at her. ‘Anyway, as I was saying, if you look at the bottom here it seems to spell out the name of the last Emperor, Konstantinos XI Palaiologos. And it does seem to be his likeness, if the frescoes at the only surviving room from the Palace of Vlachernae in Constantinople are to be believed. However, although this thing appears to have Byzantine influences, it appears to be too well crafted to have come from any other place than the Imperial Court’s master craftsmen. And yet I cannot see the seal that you would have expected to see under the base. And …’

Katia’s impatience got the better of her and she cut him mid-sentence. Her fiery eyes bearing down on him made him feel as if his face and his hair had been cinched by the fire spitting out of them.

‘Well, you may have a point there, but remember that the Imperial Workshops became rife with corruption and redolent with the complicity of the Imperial Court during times that money in the Imperial Treasury were scarce.’ Her voice spat irony. ‘Some of these illustrious master craftsmen, as you called them, had a very profitable sideline to make up for the shortfall by selling some of the product coming out of the Imperial Workshops at a lower quality and without the Imperial seal. The spanner in the works is that this bust is of a very high quality.’

‘That’s not bad reasoning. I’m impressed.’

‘Why would someone erase the Imperial seal? I suppose they would do it, if they wanted to fool you into thinking that it was an insignificant artefact?’

‘I guess that could be possible. But why would anyone do that? Unless ….’

Katia went silent, her face reflecting her struggling thoughts. Then her face brightened up, as if divine inspiration just hit her on the head, which wasn’t exactly very often, Giorgos smiled to himself, not without a slight hint of spite.

He silently reprimanded himself. God, his very pious mother would kill him, if she could have known his dark thoughts. “I did not bring you up to be vengeful”, she would say. “Keep silent and turn the other cheek.”

Giorgos pressed Katia. ‘Unless, what?’

Katia looked at him, as if she had forgotten he was there and only just realised, and was annoyed at the intrusion. She wanted him to disappear and she waved her hand, as if he was an annoying fly that was buzzing around her head.

‘Unless it was intended that this thing should be passed off deliberately as a fake, because it was meant to be hiding something or be a clue for something.’

She almost hit the nail on the head, Giorgos thought. He just about managed to keep a straight face and not reveal anything. He believed he had just managed to successfully carry out the deception, when she looked at him as if she could see right through him into his thoughts.

‘What is it? You know something, don’t you? My God, you have found something, haven’t you? Giorgos, stop playing games. Now, come out with it. Tell me. Otherwise …’ She took a challenging stance.

‘Otherwise what, darling?’

‘Otherwise you’ll be sorry.’

‘Oh, I’m shaking in my boots.’

‘Giorgos …’

Now she was positively livid. Giorgos kept his cool.

‘No, Katia, I have not found anything, if you must know. I really haven’t. Would I have dared to hide anything from you, if I had?’

Giorgos’ face was a picture of innocence and challenge in equal measure. He was mocking her and she could see it.

‘Wouldn’t you? Yes, you would. Of course you would.’ Katia felt she should not believe him, but then had second thoughts and she went silent. ‘Then again, I guess not.’ She did, though, shake her head, as if she could not believe her own words, as if there was still something that bothered her, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on it.

During that silence that descended between them Giorgos contemplated the fiery beauty standing in front him, with both her legs firmly planted on the ground, ready to bore holes in it, and her hands at her side, ready to fight the world.

Katia was standing there in that pose, staring at him, for what seemed an eternity. It seemed to Giorgos as if she intended her stare and stance to make him blush and shrink under its intense scrutiny and melt and cower down in shame, like a reprimanded naughty child that just broke the neighbour’s window or stole an apple from the neighbour’s orchard.

He saw it as a challenge for him to confess his undying love and devotion and submission to her, as the ultimate object of his affection and worship and reverence. Wishful thinking on his part, perhaps? Or did she feel the same? Or was it simply that she was obsessed with being adored and worshipped?

There was a deathly silence, an impasse. They were both just standing there facing each other, weighing up and circling each other, like two sumo wrestlers ready to engage. The tension was rising. Who was going to be the first to break the staring contest? Giorgos decided to stop this futile nonsense. He turned away and looked at the bust.

‘I think we should store it in a safe place straight away.’

He started to make his way to the exit. He made a half-turn and looked back at her, his eyes challenging her, and at the same time mesmerising her.

Katia could not move. She felt distress at the effect Giorgos was having on her and at her inability to neutralise that effect. She tried in vain to control her feelings and put a lid on them as she had always managed to do with everyone that threatened to get a bit too close to her for comfort; until now that is. If only she could just ignore that she was frustratingly falling in love with him. That was the main reason of her impatience with him. She was annoyed with herself, because she could not understand this feeling that was forcing her to go wobbly at the knees.

She was afraid, because she was not used to allowing her feelings to roam unprotected like this. She was strong and detached and had, so far, avoided exposing herself to this kind of emotion. That steely “ice queen” veneer had served her well in her professional life, had allowed her to stamp her authority and had earned her respect. She could not risk tainting that reputation. Was this part of her allure? She had never been short of offers and attention. But was that respect enough to solely sustain her?

She did not want to show Giorgos the slightest sign of weakness. She was tough, uncompromising and rude with him, as if to punish him for feeling like this, as if by making him feel worse, it would make her feel better. What she did not know was that she was deluding herself, as Giorgos knew. For her refusal to admit her feelings and submit to them, having tired of sending out subtle signs to make her see sense, Giorgos had decided to feign indifference.

He knew that by not acknowledging his infatuation with her, he frustrated her even further. Maybe it was his way of pushing her over the edge to the chasm of reason, so that she would open her eyes and see the truth that was staring her in the face. Making her life a misery by reciprocating her ‘undying love’, as he liked to describe her rough treatment of him, was apt. She deserved it.

Giorgos had had enough.

‘Are you coming or are you planning to stay there like a frozen statue for all eternity to be unearthed by archaeologists in the future who would be wondering who this fair ice maiden was?’

She made a beeline for him in attacking mode, but he subtly and easily avoided her. Her punch made painful contact with the lovely cool stone of the wall behind him. She winced in pain and holding her injured hand, started to rub it, to comfort it and nurse it back to health.

She followed him like a wounded puppy, but her posture and her expression showed that she would be forever defiant. They decided to call it a day.

CHAPTER 47

Limassol Castle, Limassol, Cyprus
Present day

Outside the castle, Katia relieved Giorgos of the bust and was very pleased with herself for the effect of her powers of persuasion over Giorgos, oblivious to the fact that Giorgos had already extracted what he wanted and did not need the bust anymore. They waived each other goodbye and went their separate ways. Giorgos couldn’t get out of there fast enough. He couldn’t wait to study the scroll.