The Emperor Awakes Read online

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places and events are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Copyright © 2011 Alexis Konnaris

  All rights reserved.

  ISBN: 1466287438

  ISBN 13: 9781466287433

  eBook ISBN: 978-1-61914-884-0

  Library of Congress Control Number: 2011915811

  CreateSpace, North Charleston, SC

  Alexis Konnaris grew up in Cyprus. After graduating from Magdalene College, University of Cambridge, with a Bachelor of Arts in Law, he worked for several years as a lawyer in Cyprus and in England. The Emperor Awakes is the author’s first book.

  Contact Alexis:

  [email protected]

  Follow Alexis on Twitter:

  @AlexisKonnaris

  To my mother, Erma (1950-2009), who was the inspiration and driving force behind this book and without whom this book would not have been written.

  Mum, your fighting spirit lives on.

  I love you.

  CONTENTS

  TITLE PAGE

  COPYRIGHT PAGE

  CAST OF CHARACTERS

  CHAPTER 1: Forest of Valens, near Constantinople 4th May 1453 A.D.

  CHAPTER 2: Limassol, Cyprus Present day

  CHAPTER 3: Limassol, Cyprus Present day

  CHAPTER 4: Cappadocia, Asia Minor (Modern-day Turkey) Present day

  CHAPTER 5: Monastery of Pantokrator Mount Athos, Northern Greece Present day

  CHAPTER 6: Constantinople 28th May 1453 A.D. (Eve of the Fall)

  CHAPTER 7: Constantinople 28th May 1453 A.D. (Eve of the Fall)

  CHAPTER 8: Constantinople 29th May 1453 A.D. (The Day of the Fall)

  CHAPTER 9: Constantinople 29th May 1453 A.D. (The Day of the Fall)

  CHAPTER 10: Smyrna, Asia Minor July 1921 A.D.

  CHAPTER 11: Sultan’s Palace Edirne (Adrianoupolis), Eastern Thrace 24th April 1453 A.D.

  CHAPTER 12: Edirne (Adrianoupolis), Eastern Thrace 21st May 1453 A.D.

  CHAPTER 13: Cappadocia, Asia Minor June 1453 A.D. (After the fall of Constantinople)

  CHAPTER 14: Smyrna, Asia Minor July 1921 A.D.

  CHAPTER 15: New York Present day

  CHAPTER 16: New York Present day

  CHAPTER 17: New York Present day

  CHAPTER 18: Athens, Greece Present day

  CHAPTER 19: Limassol, Cyprus Present day

  CHAPTER 20: Limassol, Cyprus Present day

  CHAPTER 21: Constantinople (Istanbul) Present day

  CHAPTER 22: Constantinople (Istanbul) Present day

  CHAPTER 23: Constantinople (Istanbul) Present day

  CHAPTER 24: Constantinople (Istanbul) Present day

  CHAPTER 25: Limassol, Cyprus Present day

  CHAPTER 26: Athens, Greece Present day

  CHAPTER 27: Alexandria, Egypt 287 B.C.

  CHAPTER 28: Alexandria, Egypt Present day

  CHAPTER 29: Pergamon, Asia Minor (Modern-day Turkey) Present day

  CHAPTER 30: Mystras, outskirts of Sparta Peloponnese, Greece Present Day

  CHAPTER 31: Constantinople (Istanbul) Topkapi Palace Museum Present day

  CHAPTER 32: Present day

  CHAPTER 33: Sydney, Australia Present day

  CHAPTER 34: Limassol, Cyprus Present day

  CHAPTER 35: Sydney, Australia Present day

  CHAPTER 36: Limassol, Cyprus Present day

  CHAPTER 37: Monastery of Pantokrator Mount Athos, Northern Greece Present day

  CHAPTER 38: Sydney, Australia Present day

  CHAPTER 39: Ayia Galini, Southern Crete, Greece Present day

  CHAPTER 40: Elli’s private island retreat, Mount Ellothon Aegean Sea, Greece

  CHAPTER 41: Valchern Corporation Headquarters Limassol, Cyprus

  CHAPTER 42: Constantinople (Istanbul) Present day

  CHAPTER 43: Limassol, Cyprus Present day

  CHAPTER 44: Monastery of Pantokrator Mount Athos, Northern Greece Present day

  CHAPTER 45: Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia Present day

  CHAPTER 46: Limassol, Cyprus Present day

  CHAPTER 47: Limassol Castle, Limassol, Cyprus Present day

  CHAPTER 48: Limassol, Cyprus Present day

  CHAPTER 49: Limassol, Cyprus Present day

  CHAPTER 50: Limassol, Cyprus Present day

  CHAPTER 51: Limassol, Cyprus Present day

  CHAPTER 52: Limassol, Cyprus Present day

  CHAPTER 53: Le Mirabel (Ruinand underwater city) Marathon Bay, Greece Present day

  CHAPTER 54: Le Mirabel (Ruinand underwater city) Marathon Bay, Greece Present day

  CHAPTER 55: Ten thousand metres above the Aegean Sea, Greece Present day

  CHAPTER 56: Limassol, Cyprus 21st May Present day

  CHAPTER 57: Present day

  CHAPTER 58: Present day

  CHAPTER 59: Cyprus Present day

  CHAPTER 60: Cyprus Present day

  CHAPTER 61: Cyprus Present day

  CHAPTER 62: Cyprus Present day

  CHAPTER 63: Limassol, Cyprus Present day

  CHAPTER 64: Limassol, Cyprus Present day

  CHAPTER 65: Limassol, Cyprus Present day

  CAST OF CHARACTERS

  Symitzis family :

  Elli: current head of the Valchern Corporation, matriarch of the family, elder sister of Iraklios, and mother of Aristo and Vasilis

  Aristo: Elli’s eldest son and brother of Vasilis

  Vasilis: Elli’s youngest son and brother of Aristo

  Iraklios: businessman and Elli’s younger brother

  Eleni: head of the family in the 15th century, and mother of Michael and Mark

  Michael: Eleni’s eldest son and brother of Mark

  Mark: Eleni’s youngest son and brother of Michael

  Zoe: head of the family in the early 20th century, Antonios’ elder sister, and mother of Manuel, Nikitas and Stephanos

  Antonios: businessman and Zoe’s younger brother

  Zozo: Antonios’ eldest daughter

  Manuel: Zoe’s eldest son, and brother of Nikitas and Stephanos

  Nikitas: Zoe’s second son, and brother of Manuel and Stephanos

  Stephanos: Zoe’s youngest son, and brother of Manuel and Nikitas

  Markantaskis family:

  Andros: businessman, head of the family, husband of Anna, and father of Giorgos and Katerina

  Anna: Andros’ wife, and mother of Giorgos and Katerina

  Giorgos: archaeologist, son of Andros and Anna, and brother of Katerina

  Katerina: businesswoman, daughter of Andros and Anna, and sister of Giorgos Ariana: Anna’s mother, and grandmother of Giorgos and Katerina

  Others:

  Madame Marcquesa de Parmalanski: leader of the Ruinands

  Mrs Manto: Antonios’ housekeeper and cook, grandmother of Manto below Mrs Manto: Elli’s housekeeper and cook, granddaughter of Manto above Andrew Le Charos: Australian businessman of Greek descent

  Ducesa de Mori Astir: wealthy socialite James Calvell: deputy director of the Metropolitan Museum in New York

  John Halland: restorer working for the Metropolitan Museum in New York

  Alexei Sumarov: director of the Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia Spyros: abbot of the Monastery of Pantokrator, Mount Athos, Greece

  Aggelos: librarian of the Monastery of Pantokrator, Mount Athos, Greece

  CHAPTER 1

  Forest of Valens, near Constantinople

  4th May 1453 A.D.

  He had committed a heinous crime, but his ruthlessness had ebbed away as he crossed the woods. The silence that shrouded everything ar
ound him would have been welcome had he not had blood on his hands, the blood of a governess to an innocent baby. He did not mean to do it. It was an accident. She got in the way. He had lifted the baby from his crib and was all packed up and ready to go when she appeared at the door, no doubt on her usual round to check on the baby.

  Why did she have to put up a struggle and start screaming? She had to be silenced otherwise the whole plan would have been shattered before it had even started. He had lost the element of surprise and the screams had cost him his head start.

  It was a long way to the rendezvous point. He would not make it there. But nor did he want to make it there. He had disobeyed his master’s instructions to avoid bloodshed. And now he could not return to his master to complete his mission and deliver the precious cargo. He had to flee. He knew what his punishment would be if he had gone to his master with the blood of an innocent bystander on his hands.

  He cursed under his breath and shook his head from side to side. He hated losing the rest of his payment. Yet it was better to be alive and with a bit of financial comfort than wealthy but dead. He decided his best chance was to hide in the forest of Valens, which was close enough to Constantinople to reach it under the cover of darkness and large and dense enough to disappear in it with his trail lost before dawn. Little did he know that things would not turn out to be that simple.

  On that particular night, a quiet and usually deserted forest would become particularly lively and he would be caught in the middle, a silent witness who would unintentionally slip.

  He was sweating profusely even though it was a cold night. Surely whatever predatory animals were out there would smell his fear. In the inhabitants of the woods he saw spies everywhere. In the shadows that jumped behind every tree, bush and rock he saw an army ready to pounce the moment he stumbled.

  The full moon was his enemy, bathing everything in bright light. But then again he was a master of disguise. He knew how to become one of those shadows he was so afraid of. He was on heightened alert. His fear became his ally and he relished it. It was a game of life or death. He was thirsty and hungry. He had not eaten since that morning. That was since he had left Constantinople.

  He had seen lights of inns in the distance, but he could not afford to stop. His disfigurements would betray him. His was not a face and body you could forget. People would only need to lay eyes on him once before he got imprinted on their memory and became the subject of drowning nightmares, ravishing one’s mind both as terrifying daydreaming and as terror-drenched sleep. He opened the flap of his bag and checked on the baby. He was fast asleep. He was a fearless little thing. He had slept the whole way.

  He had to get him to a nursing mother soon. He could not afford to let this little treasure and ticket to his future die in his hands. His daydreaming shattered as abruptly as it visited him as he remembered his current predicament. He had burned that bridge now, hadn’t he? He tapped the leather wallet hanging from his belt and breathed a sigh of relief when he felt the solid mass of the icon and the ring with the royal insignia hanging on the golden chain.

  The setting moon would briefly provide the best cover and opportunity for him to reach his refuge. He had a small window before dawn broke. The woods were already waking up and the first birdsong punctured the stillness and the different frequencies pulsated through the air, momentarily distracting his ears, and caressed the trees and animals that begun to stir.

  He became even more alert. And it was then that he caught that small sound carried by the wind. It was the most imperceptible of sounds, but unmistakable. Those were hoofs. He put his ear to the ground and frowned. Four horses. They were coming from the East. Was it a party pursuing him or was it unrelated? He looked for an inconspicuous hiding place. Immediately he thought of the baby in his arms. He could not afford to be betrayed if it awoke. But he could not let it go.

  In the time that it took him to debate his options, he heard a second set of horses coming from the opposite direction and approaching fast. He had no time to run. So he left the path and couched in a gap inside a large bush and waited. He was not a devout man, but he prayed.

  The two groups almost collided as they came around the bend. They stopped just in time in a tangle of hoofs, legs and dust and stared at each other. It would have been a face off, followed by a violent battle, were it not for the shock of the chance encounter. The head riders dismounted with the hand ready at their side where their swords hung. Yet as they moved closer to each other the tension was already dissipating.

  One group was Ottoman, the other Byzantine. They sized up each other and bowed respectfully. In the current environment this behaviour was mystifying. The hooded figure held his breath and watched through the openings in the branches. He was trying hard to make out what the two head riders were talking about.

  ‘Salam elekum, Suleyman, God is one’, the Byzantine said.

  ‘Elekum salam, Michael, Allahu Akbar’, the Ottoman replied, with not the slightest hint of surprise let alone shock at his supposedly mortal enemy’s respectful greeting.

  The two men embraced warmly and kissed. Without a further word they walked together to a clearing just off the path. Riders from both groups laid down rugs and started to prepare coffee, which they would serve to their leaders once they had settled down to their chosen spot inside the clearing.

  Suleyman breathed a secret sigh of relief at Michael’s self-control in keeping up the pretence and not blowing Suleyman’s disguise in his joy at this unexpected meeting. When they reached the clearing they sat down and conversed in whispers. Suleyman’s real name was Mark and he was more than just an acquaintance of Michael’s. Theirs was a relationship of blood.

  The hooded figure gave up trying to hear their conversation, but kept his eyes on the other riders who dismounted and were rubbing down the horses and giving them hay and water. Strangely there was no interaction between the riders of the two groups, which made the apparent intimacy of their leaders all the more startling.

  Once the coffee was served Michael and Mark dismissed their companions and, only when they were certain that they were out of earshot, did they start their conversation. The matters they had to discuss were not for prying ears. Michael spoke first.

  ‘My dear brother, your disguise has worked. My men were ready to launch an attack.’

  ‘So were mine. I stopped them just in time. And let me tell you it wasn’t easy. In these treacherous times they couldn’t understand why I was denying them their prey. I could see the hatred for me in their eyes. Sometimes I have my doubts about their loyalty. I get the sense I’m feeding mercenaries, with their vicious and ruthless nature bubbling under the surface and kept in check as long as I’m showering them with money and food. Of course in a fight I will need that vicious thirst for blood behind me, fighting my enemy as their enemy and looking out for me, as I hope will happen. If I let them catch even a single glimpse inside my soul I’m finished.

  ‘So I never let my guard down, but I do it in such a way as not to raise any suspicions. It’s a dangerous game we are playing my friend and let’s hope it will be over soon. But until that merciful time I have to watch my back before I slip in an unguarded moment and get carried away to oblivion with the tip of a sword protruding from my chest; nicely skewered and quartered for their dinner. But enough of that. What brings you here in these woods?’

  ‘I’m on my way to the city, but not directly. I plan to follow a wide arc around the city to check on the positions of the Ottoman troops before I make my final way inside with vital information I’ve gathered on my reconnaissance mission. I suspect your mission would take you on the same trajectory.’

  ‘Indeed, but not inside the city. I’ll try and see what kind of subterfuge I can achieve on the outside behind the enemy lines. I’ll try and wreak as much havoc as I can to delay the Sultan and give the city time. But tell me. Why would you risk your life trying to get back in? Why did you leave in the first place?

  ‘Well, to answe
r your second question, I hated being cooped up in the foul air of desperation. It was choking me. As to your first question I have decided to sneak in to persuade the Emperor to let me take his child and heir to safety. I don’t want to use force, if he does not see the wisdom of this decision, but I will not hesitate to do so, if he doesn’t. That child needs to be protected.’

  ‘How are you going to get in with your escort there? I hear the Emperor is in an unfriendly mood and has given clear instructions to hit and kill on the spot upon any unknown presence approaching the city.’

  ‘I’ll leave my carers behind and venture in alone and, hopefully, undetected. I hope to find one of the secret passages leading into the city. I hope someone would be waiting for me to show me the way. I’ve sent word ahead that I’ll be going. I don’t want to risk being killed before I’ve had a chance to have a chat with his Majesty himself. Still in these desperate times that paranoia reigns, I’ll need to be extra careful and suspicious, even if there is someone indeed waiting for me to lead me inside.’

  ‘I’d love to come with you, but I’ve got a slight suspicion that dressed like this I won’t make it within a hundred metres of the walls. And there is the small matter of shaking off my own group of governesses there.’

  * * *

  Michael and Mark. Brothers separated at birth in dangerous times. Chance brought them together. They always had a feeling that there was someone out there listening to each other whilst growing up. They each thought that they had an imaginary friend until one day they had to share a room in an inn far from home. And it was then that they realised that they were each other’s “supposedly imaginary friend”.

  * * *

  At the palace of Vlachernae in Constantinople the discovery of the empty crib and the lifeless body of the governess were enough to briefly overshadow the menace of the Ottoman armies at the gates of the city and distract the Emperor and his advisers from the defence of the city facing impending doom, clearly telegraphed by the movements and positioning of the enemy in a blockade of the city.