‘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.’
‘Oh? What about?’
‘We’ll explain soon enough.’
There was a brief silence, as they all seemed to defer to Elli. She looked at Ariana.
‘We do apologise for barging in like this and at such a late hour. However, there is something we want to talk to you about. We wanted Giorgos’ opinion on something too. So finding you both here is very convenient.’
Nobody interrupted. They all waited. You could taste the tension in the room. Not just because of the new arrivals, but there was something else hanging in the air already, something was going on before they arrived. Elli felt it. And so did the others. Ariana and Elli sized up each other as people in powerful positions do.
They both were matriarchs of their clans, with long histories. What those eyes had seen. A respectful understanding passed between the two women as only between such two great women could.
‘Ariana, I want to ask you about Katerina’s cross. We think we recognise it, but we are not sure.’ Elli paused. Ariana waited. ‘We believe that cross is identical to the one given to the newborn heirs of the Byzantine Imperial family. It could be a copy of course, but it could also be an original.’ Elli looked at Katerina.
‘Grandy, I’ve told Elli about the tradition regarding this cross.’
Elli continued. ‘Ariana, we know the cross is very old. We don’t know how old it is or whether it is a genuine Imperial cross. That’s where Giorgos comes in. We hoped that he may be able to verify its authenticity.’
Giorgos, who until now had been sitting like the others in silence, made a move to take the cross from his sister who had already unclasped it. His mind was already processing what his grandmother had told him and even though the story was not finished, he was subconsciously already connecting the dots. Ariana did not let him complete the process.
‘That will not be necessary. That is indeed the Imperial cross.’
Ten pairs of eyes turned to her in shock. They were all thinking of what had not yet been said. Their minds were travelling in all sorts of weird directions and assumptions.
Elli dreaded the truth. Was Katerina’s family descended from the child or from the child’s nanny who may have stolen the cross? Is that how they knew about the icon and the ring and came to have the cross? Or, and this was the most outrageous possibility, were they connected with the kidnapping somehow, maybe through the nanny who may have assisted with that, or… was it possible… were they descended from the kidnapper? She did not utter any of this speculation, but like the others she waited. Ariana continued.
‘My family name is Vendis. My ancestor was Sotirios Vendis who lived in Constantinople in 1453.’
Now that had not come up in the check on Katerina’s family that Elli had carried out. And there was the matter of her ancestor’s, Eleni’s, son, Michael, having married the daughter of a Sotirios Vendis, Leyla. That certainly was not a coincidence. The two families were distantly related.
What other secrets were hiding in their past? Elli thought she knew everything. The inner circle of the Order of Vlachernae and all that.
Ariana continued. ‘The Vendis family was one of the most prominent in Constantinople. Sotirios Vendis was the head of the family and part of the Emperor’s inner circle. About a month before the city’s fall, he started to observe a change in the last Emperor’s behaviour. It was subtle, but he had known the Emperor well and for a long time and he was one of very few who could see it. He began to become concerned. The Emperor’s behaviour in public was credible — nobody seemed to have noticed anything different or strange — but in private he was becoming increasingly erratic, a different person. And it was not just the expected different persona of a public figure like the Emperor.