The clock was ticking the final countdown to the city’s midnight hour of its last day.
Michael had no time to waste. He came straight to the point. ‘Your Majesty, I’ve come for the child.’
‘The child is gone.’
‘What do you mean ‘gone’?’
‘Taken, kidnapped, abducted, dead or alive. Who knows?’
I could not believe my ears. How could he sound so flippant? Where was the desperation, the panic for the loss of his flesh and blood and heir?
‘Please tell me what happened.’
‘The child disappeared from its crib on the 4 ^th May.’
‘And why have we not heard of this? Why have you not asked for our help? How could you have kept us in the dark about this when all we’ve ever done was to fight for this family? In spite of your family’s hatred of us, you should not have allowed it to cloud your judgement. Forgive my impertinence, but you are being flippant about this matter. You have forgotten the most important thing here. The empire is almost gone and the city too, but the child is the hope for the future; that we may still have time to save. But we need to act quickly, even if I fear we may already be too late, however much I hope that that is not the case.’
I could not understand it. If he did not care for his child, which in itself was strange, could he not want to ensure the continuation of his bloodline and its right to the legacy of an empire under a different form or re-establishment?
The doubts about the success of my mission and the Emperor’s ear and allegiance had fleeted back to gnaw at my heart. The future was not secure, as I had hoped it would be.
I, the appointed conduit of the Order to help an Emperor, if not to save the city then under a veil of secrecy so as to avoid draining the defenders’ moral, to complete the final preparations to save what we could, at the same time as defending the city to the end, suddenly realised that my remit had just expanded; I had to instil some sense into whom I had found to my surprise to be an increasingly deluded Emperor, a person transformed and unrecognisable.
I knew I was close to failing. I had to try to turn the situation around. I had to find out more about this disappearance of the child and heir.
As I was ready to resume my questioning, the Emperor beat me to it. ‘You are only a boy. What do you know of the life of an Emperor?’
It seemed as if the Emperor was deliberately trying to rub me the wrong way for whatever reason, perhaps for his amusement. ‘Your Majesty, forgive me, but there does not seem to have been made much progress in the transfer of the treasures of the city to the chosen secure locations. We cannot risk leaving all of these behind; these manuscripts, these valuable works of art, many much older than the City itself have been safeguarded for over a thousand years. We cannot let the efforts of our predecessors so unceremoniously and recklessly go to waste. We have to think of the future generations and their heritage, their and the world’s rightful legacy.’
‘What use are they to us now? Maybe the Ottomans will make good use of them now to go with their new acquisition. They belong with the city after all. How can they be wrestled away from their home and be denied their rightful place?’
I could not believe I was hearing this nonsense coming out of the Emperor’s mouth. I could not believe I was witnessing this defeatist attitude.
My uneasiness was growing. ‘But, if we leave them here they will be looted, melted and destroyed. You know what will happen to the city once it falls. Chaos will ensue and even the Sultan will not be able to stop it for at least a few days.’
‘Michael, since the crusader looting in 1204 not much has been left to whisk away. The last two hundred and fifty years have not left behind enough to be proud of. Compare with all that was lost back then
… well… it does not matter anymore.’
A sense of foreboding was spreading its tentacles across my skin like a plague.
‘Your Majesty, the legacy of the last two hundred and fifty years is itself at least worth saving.’
There was a brief silence as both men dwelt on the critical events that shaped the history of this city and empire.
The Emperor was the first to speak, and, in so doing, destroying our brief reverie in a puff of smoke; a dream ruined.
‘I have been thinking of seeking refuge in Venice. The Doge has offered his help. Of course I shall be taking my family with me and a lot of the city’s treasures.’
‘But your Majesty, Venice is the Empire’s sworn enemy. It was the Venetians, after all, that, opportunistic as they were, used the invitation for involvement in the Empire’s succession matters in 1204 to take the city, loot it and eliminate their most fearsome competitor for the trading routes of the Mediterranean and the Middle East. And being traders through and through, with liquid money running in their veins for blood, the Venetians would only be an ally for profit, nothing else. Once in Venice you will be under the Doge’s control and effectively a prisoner. And as for any treasures taken there, you will never see them again.’
‘I have received assurances and there is no other way. We are surrounded. There is no hope. The Venetian navy will help us to get out of the city.’
‘If you and your family had acted earlier instead of being consumed by your petty squabbles and rivalries, we would not be in this desperate situation we find ourselves now.’
I knew I was really pushing the boundaries of the Emperor’s reverence and patience and was aware that I could be condemned in an instant for being offensive to the face of the Emperor, but it had to be said. There was too much at stake.
I had a very strong hunch that all was not right with the Emperor. My suspicions were growing. This smelled very very wrong. I had to get further reaction to confirm my suspicions. I decided to reveal the other main reason that had brought me there.
‘Your Majesty, there is something else that brings me here. We’re on the trail of one of the two missing Likureian icons. Word has reached us that the icon is being touted around for sale. We are trying to pinpoint its exact location. I would like to pay a visit to the Royal Workshops and speak to the craftsmen. I need information about the icon’s construction to verify its authenticity once it comes into our possession. I would be grateful if you could arrange this visit for later today.’
The Emperor knew that the icon had been taken together with the child twenty-five days earlier, but decided against revealing the fact and playing along with the charade.
The Emperor’s brows rose and his eyes opened wide for the briefest moment, but I saw them. I saw the greed, the ‘ducat’ signs. I saw that I had piqued his interest and had his full attention.
‘That can be easily arranged. Now, tell me more about the information you already have. How did you find out? And where is it? Not in the city, surely?’
‘Yes, we believe the icon may already be here in the city’.
The Emperor’s eyes were changing colours like a chameleon.
‘Here? How can you be sure of that? My dear Michael, we must go and find it at once.’
‘Your Majesty, before I go on… let me say something. Recovering those icons would not be enough. There is something that may be of interest to you. Wouldn’t you want to be remembered as the hero who liberated our people from the catastrophes that befell them throughout at least part of their history? You yourself have always said that “we have an obligation to our people, not only in the present, but for our future generations”, have you not? Well, this is your chance. You have to stay and fight. Be our people’s hero. Let history judge you on that. There is no greater honour, no greater glory. Think of your place in history, your legacy. If you flee now, you will go down as a coward.’
‘Michael, the icon… where is it?’
‘The icon when not properly handled causes unfortunate consequences and even mayhem. We have information of unexplained phenomena occurring in quick succession, which seems too much like the icon’s signature to be a coincidence. We have narrowed the relevant area to…’