It was as if Katerina had turned on the light switch and had indicated the elephant in the room, the obvious that had been staring them all in the face, but that nobody had consciously dared to acknowledge.
Each of the assembled group mourned for the child, in their own way, but while wondering about his fate and the possible connection of Elli’s dream with it, felt hopeful as well for the child’s survival.
Someone had to put flesh and bones on Katerina’s theory and take it to its logical conclusion. Elli put the situation into perspective.
‘It seems to me that we need to pull our resources together and not keep anything from each other. These are the things we need to do. One, we need to locate the stolen Likureian icon. Two, we need to know whether there was indeed an impostor on the throne during those last few weeks, although it will be very difficult after all this time. Three, we need to find out what happened to the child. Four, we need to assist Giorgos with his search for the tomb of the last Emperor. There is a possibility that the search for the child’s fate could be connected to the tomb in Cappadocia and the search for the last Emperor’s final resting place. Five, when I was recently in Mount Athos in Greece, a monk, the librarian at the Monastery of Pantokrator showed me a very old manuscript called the Book of the Pallanians which relates to the legend of the last Emperor and something called the Temple of Wisdom, whatever that is, but there are unfortunately some missing pages. It looks as if someone ripped them out. We need to find them.
‘And there is something else. Carrying out these missions will be dangerous. We are dealing with a powerful enemy, called the Ruinands. Legend and stories handed down in my family has it that there has been a long war between the Ruinands and the Pallanians who eventually became the Order of Vlachernae. It seems that it has fallen upon me to end this drawn out war. I will need your help. The Book of the Pallanians will be our guide. But please be prepared and forewarned. We are embarking on a mission, a journey that will test your scepticism regarding belief in supernatural events. Iraklios and I are the current keepers of the secrets of our family going back to Eleni and her sons in the 15 ^th century A.D.
‘That was, as far as we know, the last time, apart from now, that the war between the Pallanians and the Ruinands was taking place. Since then neither the Pallanians nor the Ruinands have been involved in active warfare. But things have changed. We have seen a few events that tell us that the war has started again. The ancient rivalry between the two groups has been reawakened and this time it’s going to be the final reckoning. We really need to finish this now, once and for all. We will be assisted in our mission by powers that we can use, not born of magic, but technology. These powers are temporary and they only allow us to use certain devices to catch glimpses of the past by travelling back in time for short periods. It is a technology we cannot abuse as it has side effects, and possibly future consequences, if improperly used. We can only use these devices for so long, otherwise they will kill us. But we have no other way of defeating the Ruinands. However, these powers will not be a substitute for using our brains. The source of these powers is one of my family’s best-guarded secrets, which I will not reveal just yet. It’s better if you don’t have this information for your own safety and for the purposes of our mission of course, in the event that you are captured by the Ruinands. Once the mission is completed, we will put those powers to sleep permanently.’
Ariana turned to her granddaughter.
‘Katerina, open the cross around your neck.’
‘It opens? It has always looked perfectly solid to me.’
Katerina looked down as if she had not seen it before, surprised at the thought that this simple cross that had graced her neck since she were twelve was hiding a secret. She was almost afraid to touch it, as if it had suddenly come to life, pulsating like a beating heart, as if it would leave burns on her skin.
She unclasped it and almost dropped it on the floor, as if it had suddenly become too hot to handle, a glowing inferno on her skin, burning through all the way to her heart that felt like breaking and that would never mend. She suddenly felt very upset about the child that was lost all those years ago.
Inside the cross was a chip the size and shape of a coin, but thicker, with a glowing amber stone in the middle of one of the facets. Elli continued.
‘Katerina, as the current holder of the cross, you will need to carry out this part of the mission. Today it is the twelfth of September. What you need to do has to be done on the fourteenth of September. You need to go to Constantinople. Once you arrive go and see old Dimitris who will help you with the task. You will need to go to the Ayia Sophia Church. You will have to stand on the Eastern side of the gallery and hold the chip when the sun is setting. As the light goes through the windows of the dome and hits the Eastern side, you will then see an inscription that will appear on the mosaic next to you. You will need to repeat this at dawn when a different inscription shall appear. Dimitris will help you interpret the inscriptions.’ Elli turned to Aristo. ‘Aristo you are to accompany Katerina to Constantinople.’
The next day Elli arranged for the booking of two seats on the flight to Constantinople via Athens.
CHAPTER 21
Constantinople (Istanbul)
Present day
It was still daylight. The plane was ten minutes from landing in Constantinople and the city came into view. It spread beneath them in all its glory and both Katerina and Aristo held their breath as the familiar monuments jumped up at them seeking their attention and worship, most important and most beautiful amongst them the Church of Ayia Sophia.
Their heart skipped a beat. They landed in the city of dreams in a thin veil of thorny rain. They checked into the Pera Hotel, in the former European Quarter of the City, on the Northern shores of the Golden Horn.
Selected members of the Order of Vlachernae were covertly watching their every step, ready to intervene, if required. Katerina and Aristo found old Dimitris’ house in the shadow of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in the Fanari district.
But three other men not of the Order were also watching their movements.
Katerina was about to knock on the door when she noticed that it was open. Katerina and Aristo cautiously stepped inside. It was dark inside as all the shutters of the windows were closed and no lights were on. There was only faint light streaming in through the gaps in the shutters.
Aristo tried a switch, but nothing. Upon entering the small sitting room, their eyes, that had started to adjust to the gloom, caught sight of a bundle near the fireplace and they approached for a closer look. It was the lifeless body of an old man. Katerina heard a noise coming from the far corner of the room and turned. She saw two eyes looking back at her. She went closer and peering into the semi-darkness, saw that it was a boy of about ten years old.
‘Aristo, over here.’
A voice broke through the eerie silence. ‘Please don’t hurt me. I’ve done nothing wrong. I won’t say anything. I promise.’
‘We won’t harm you.’ Katerina said gently. They saw the boy’s shoulders starting to relax and the tension dissipating. ‘What’s your name?’
‘Marios.’
‘I am Katerina and this is Aristo.’ They both smiled kindly to the boy and he visibly relaxed. Katerina indicated the body. ‘Marios, is that Dimitris?’
‘Yes.’
‘What happened?’
‘I help him with things. He sent me to get some bread. I came back and I was giving him his change when there was a gentle knock on the door. We had no reason to suspect anything was wrong, so I went to open the door. I hadn’t finished asking them what they wanted, when they pushed their way in and shoved me to the floor. They then went for Dimitris and strangled him.’