The Emperor Awakes (35 page)

She breathed a sigh of relief. It was written in the ancient Pallanian language that she could read with the special implant she had had inserted in her palm, an implant powered by a special fuel only she knew about.

Giorgos watched her with bated breath on the edge of his seat. When he saw the tension in her face starting to relax he felt relief washing over him together with the coursing of elation through his veins. He was dying to ask Elli what the inscription said, but did not want to interrupt her.

After a while she looked up, her eyes filled with tears. She had never seen Elli showing so much emotion before. She always saw her as this tough business-woman always in command of herself and everybody around her, always in perfect control of every situation, the rock that everybody, including her family, relied on, especially at times of confusion, distress or hardship. Words struggled to pass her lips, which quivered uncontrollably.

‘It is a very sad story. The woman in the tomb looks as if she is the abducted child’s mother. She died soon after as a result of her grief. Her restless soul is still roaming around us seeking her child and will not rest until she is reunited with her child. And she is grieving for her husband and father of the child too. She is looking for his body, his last resting place. The father’s soul is also not at peace and is looking for her. Only by bringing all three of them together will they rest in peace.

‘Giorgos, this is what we have to do, now more urgently than ever. That’s what it says here. It sounds similar to the passage Katerina and Aristo saw in Ayia Sophia on the second day.’

Giorgos had become very excited. His curiosity got the better of him. ‘Is there anything else?’

Elli stared at him amused and feigned shock at what she pretended to have been a thoughtless question. ‘One tragedy is not enough for you? You want more?’

Elli’s fake sarcasm went right over Giorgos’ head. ‘I’m sorry. But does it mention any names? The name of the father, perhaps, that of the mother?’

‘The mother, the woman in that tomb in Cappadocia, is Eleni Symitzis. The father is Konstantinos XI Palaiologos, last Emperor of Constantinople.’

Giorgos stared at Elli in disbelieving shock. ‘Eleni Symitzis? Your ancestor?’

‘It must be. A DNA test would settle that. There is enough material for a good DNA sample from the woman’s body in Cappadocia, is there not?

‘Yes, I believe so.’

‘I’ll give you a sample as well for comparison to confirm her identity.’ Elli paused. ‘Giorgos, I need to tell you about a recurring dream I’ve been having for a while now.’ She told him about her gruesome dream with the woman’s body in the tomb and the woman pleading and the child appearing and the screaming. ‘Do you see the similarity with my dream?’

‘Elli, how long have you had this dream for?’

‘A few months now.’

‘Elli, do you think it’s connected to the body we found in Cappadocia and the child?’

‘It must be. The dream must have been trying to tell me about this tragedy and what we have to do, but, even though I suspected that its recurrence should mean something important, I did not have enough real evidence till now to take it seriously, let alone to interpret it, to understand its meaning and piece it all together. And, Giorgos, we need to find the last Emperor’s tomb. We will need to compare DNA from the descendant in Crete, the body in Cappadocia and myself.’

‘What about DNA from the descendant?’

‘We can get a couple of hairs from him and some saliva.’

‘OK. Who’s going to Crete?’

Elli had already made up her mind on the next course of action. ‘I think Katerina would be the best person. It is more likely the man will open up to her than anybody else. I don’t think that even he would be able to resist her charm and air of innocence. I’ll speak to your sister. I’m going to send Aristo with her to protect her.’

‘You are not going to give her exactly that as the reason for Aristo going with her, will you? She won’t like it. She may think you don’t believe she’s capable to fend for herself and take care of herself.’

‘Of course not. It’s going to be for company, and also that two brains are better than one. But also we have to make her understand that we are in a dangerous game now with deadly and ruthless enemies and we should not be stupidly proud or deludingly complacent. I have no doubt she has enough common sense to see the sense in that.’ Elli paused. ‘Giorgos, your priority now is the location of the real tomb of the last Emperor and of course the real body of the last Emperor. You will not be alone in this. We will all help you with information obtained through the Book of the Pallanians and its tricky-to-interpret pages.’

CHAPTER 39

Ayia Galini, Southern Crete, Greece
Present day

The old man would give nothing away about who he was and where he had come from. He had always worked this barren land like his parents before him and his ancestors before then. But he had lived in a crazier world in what seemed like another lifetime now. He was trying to forget.

A rickety old car was descending along the narrow road dropping into what looked like a village set for a play on a stage straight out of a Greek theatre. Now, is there a more idyllic and peaceful place in the world? At least there wasn’t one for the people who lived there and those that came to visit.

Katerina and Aristo stopped and asked for directions. They found the house and parked outside. They got out of the car. Aristo stayed by the car. Katerina tentatively knocked on the front door.

When the door was pulled open, she was trans-fixed and frozen to the spot. This was not what she had expected. Facing her was a pair of bright blue eyes with a piercing gaze set on an angelic face. This man could not have been more than somewhere in his twenties. She had been expecting an old man.

‘I am sorry to have disturbed you. I must have made a mistake. I should go. Goodbye.’

Katerina turned to leave, but hesitated, as she did not hear the door close. She sensed that the man was still standing there watching her. She had already decided to turn and go back when she heard the man’s voice.

‘Please, wait.’

Katerina was startled by the strength of that deep voice. She turned to face the man, but did not move, and refrained from uttering a word. That deep voice was still echoing in her ears.

‘Who are you?’ he asked softly. He could not believe his luck. What was this divine creature doing on his doorstep? Where had she come from? It was clear she was not from these parts. She must have lost her way, he decided, hoping that she had not.

‘My name’s Katerina. Is this the house of Konstantinos Palantis?’

‘Yes, but he’s not here right now.’

‘Do you know when he will be back?’

‘I’m not sure, but it would not be long.’

‘I think I’d better go and come back later.’

The man stared deep into her eyes.

‘You know, we have met before.’

Katerina tried to trigger and retrieve the memory, but failed. Maybe he had seen her in a magazine or something and was trying to be friendly.

‘I’m sorry, but I cannot remember you. Can you tell me more about it?’

‘It was all a long time ago.’ He shook his head as if clearing his mind from the memory and coming back to the present. ‘You must have had a long drive.’ He paused and looked towards the car. Aristo was out of sight at that moment. ‘Have you come alone?’

For some reason she could not understand she decided to pretend that she had come alone. ‘Yes.’ As soon as she said it she realised that her instinct, a voice inside her, was warning her not to trust the man standing before her, in spite of appearances to the contrary, his angelic face, literally, coming to mind.

‘Did you drive all the way from Heraklion today?’

‘Yes, but …’ Katerina had to be sure. ‘How do you know Konstantinos Palantis? Do you live here?’ She asked reluctantly, half-embarrassed that she may have offended this young man.

Iakovos smiled a sweet smile and there was no blushing, not the slightest sign of shadiness, absolutely nothing to fuel her suspicions, but only warmth on his face and gentleness in his voice and those startlingly blue eyes, pools brimming with a warm liquid invitation to his heart, but only he knew that.

‘He’s my father. My name’s Iakovos.’ He paused. ‘You can wait for my father inside.’ He stood to one side and held the door open for her. ‘Please, come in.’

Katerina hesitated for a moment. She could not explain it, but she had now come round to the effect of his charm and felt that she could almost trust this man. She didn’t look back for Aristo, so as not to give a hint to his presence. She still wanted to keep that safety net and not raise suspicion, just in case things did not turn out as expected.

If things turned nasty, someone would certainly get one hell of a shock. And besides, at this point she would have been revealed as having lied earlier about being alone.

‘Thank you.’ Without letting her guard down she allowed herself to relax enough so as not to give her suspicions away and followed Iakovos inside.

The house was spacious and full of light streaming in through the numerous windows. The rooms were simply but beautifully furnished with selected valuable pieces, strategically and tastefully placed, and Katerina could see that there was wealth here that tried to disguise itself and present the house as a humble abode.

Iakovos led her into the garden and the most breathtaking view. She was mesmerised and speechless. Iakovos remained silent allowing her to recover her composure. He had seen this reaction before in everybody that came here to this spot and he expected it. He did not want to break the spell.

The garden blended with the horizon and the sea and the sky and it was as paradise would be imagined. But it wasn’t just the beauty of the garden that overwhelmed her. She was surprised to see that this garden reminded her of something she had seen before.

It was like having a feeling of déjà vu. And then she remembered some old photos of her grandmother’s from Smyrna. This garden was an exact replica of Antonios Symitzis’ glorious and precious garden in Smyrna, which the family had to leave in 1922.

‘Would you like some coffee?’ Iakovos interrupted her thoughts and brought her back to the present.

She wanted to stay there longer to admire the view. ‘I’d love some, thank you.’

Iakovos went back inside. After a while and as Iakovos was busy in the kitchen, she heard a muffled sound. She thought she had imagined it and held her breath. She tried to pinpoint where it had come from. There was nothing. Her imagination was playing games with her. It must have been tension or was it some sixth sense telling her that something was not quite right there?

But then she heard it again and it seemed to be coming from the side of the house. She went closer. There it was again. She saw the half-open basement window and stood by it. She looked through the window, but she could see nothing. She tried to open the window, but it would not budge.

Katerina retraced her steps and went inside the house. She remembered having seen a small door when she came in earlier. She went and stood by the door. There it was that muffled sound again. She tried the handle and it yielded to her touch. Behind the door, a series of steps led down to the basement. She saw a light switch by the door and flicked it on. A faint light from a lonely bulb on the ceiling shed some light to show her the way.

She started to walk down the stairs. She reached the bottom of the stairs and found herself in a space lit by a couple of small windows. She saw the half-open window she had seen earlier. It was impossible to tell the size of the space in the almost pitch-black she was engulfed in.

Her eyes slowly adjusted to the gloom. She saw she was in a very well equipped cellar. She went closer to the racks and looked at the bottles. She could just about read the labels. The man living in this house was clearly a connoisseur and no doubt very wealthy to afford this kind of exceptional-looking wine.

Then she heard the same sound and turning she peeked into the gloom. Her eyes were not fooling her. There was someone there. She approached cautiously. A man was in front of her tied up on some pipe. She immediately removed the muffle from his mouth. ‘Who are you?’

‘I am Iakovos.’

‘But …’ She was about to say that Iakovos was upstairs, but then she realised it was no coincidence. She could feel there was something not quite right with the man upstairs. She remembered that feeling of uneasiness she had when she first saw him, even though he greeted her warmly.

It was not just sensible caution on her part nor was it paranoia. She looked at this man closely and saw that his resemblance to the man upstairs was uncanny. She suddenly had no doubt that in front of her was the real Iakovos tied up. She began to untie him her hands moving adeptly.

‘Whoever you are, just leave me here. Run. Get out of here. That man upstairs calling himself Iakovos is a very dangerous man. I’ve seen what he’s capable of.’

‘I’m not leaving without you.’

What’s your name?’

‘Katerina.’

‘It’s a pleasure to meet you.’

‘Likewise. I would have preferred it under different circumstances, though.’