Chapter 526: The Death Knell
Constantinople.
Near the sea walls by the Golden Horn, a peck of seagulls ascended from the skies, with their usual enthusiastic and lively chirps, scourging the surfaces of the seas for their next meal, casting an unique sight of the blues and silvers in the horizons.
Suddenly, a series of striking sounds of bell broke the peace, scattering the sea gulls away temporarily before they came back hunting for their preys again. The bell rang for three strikes before it quietened down again.
It is a death knell.
Many stopped what they are doing in their hands and looked upon the North of the city, knowing that the time has finally arrived for ’that man’ to leave.
The palace of the Blachernae seemed to be extraordinarily crowded today, more than ever. It is packed with clergies donned in blacks and ladies with their faces covered with a shallow mask. In the centre there is a bed, and on the bed lays an old man quietly, covered in a thin layer of linen silk and both of his hands folded before his abdomen, looking like he has fallen asleep.
The Autocrat and Imperator of the Romans, Constantine XI Dragases Palaiologos, has laid to rest and summoned back to God on the night of first of April, year 1462, just as the Spring season arrived on to this land. His servant discovered that the Basileus has deceased when he grew suspicious that he has not whined or groaned in agony for more than an hour and checked it out. The Basileus spent his last day of his life still in pain, but still he passed on rather quietly to the higher form of life at the age of fifty eight years old, ending his long reign of thirty four years.
The clergy, or maybe it is more respectful to address him as the Ecumenical Patriarch Gennadius II Scholarius, stood in the middle before the emperor and another man, Giovanni Giustinianni, singing his rhythms of prayers.
"... Virgo singularis,
inter omnes mitis,
nos culpis solutos
mites fac et castos.
Vitam præsta puram,
iter para tutum,
ut videntes Jesum
semper collætemur.
Sit laus Deo Patri,
summo Christo decus,
Spiritui Sancto
tribus honor unus....
Amen"
The crowd sat down, apart for one man.
It is Giovanni Giustiniani, he changed the direction he is facing, and slowly kneeled down in the direction of the Ecumenical Patriarch. The later stared at the man with a complicated look, but still he lifted a small sword – too small to be used for actual combat, with a signina of the Vergina Sun casted onto the blade’s grip. The Ecumenical Patriarch placed the small ceremonial blade onto Giovanni’s hand, dipped his hand in a small jar of the holy water, sprinkled towards Giovanni and then swept two of his fingers across Giovanni’s wrinkled forehead, before leaning down and whispered before Giovanni’s ears. "All of our lives are dependent on you now, general."
Giovanni stood up, he has become the centre of attention in this place, as what the Ecumenical Patriarch has just handed him symbols the right of command for the guards formation of Constantinople. In other words, the emperor has granted Giovanni all the troops of Constantinople before he passes on. Many could not understand on why the emperor made such a decision at the very last moment when he is still awake, giving such an important post to a foreigner.
Maybe it is because the emperor knew that both of his brothers are totally uncapable to take up this job?
Who knows?
Nobody really cares about the emperor already now, for all of them have a few common questions in their minds.
Who is going to be the next emperor? Is it going to be the two brothers in Achaia, or is it going to be...? The rebelled Caesar in Thessaloniki? Or maybe, just maybe, the man right before them?
Who is Giovanni going to support? Will the Ottomans in Bulgaria come back? Will Thessaloniki attempt to storm the city during the chaos? Will Zaganos cross the straits again?
There are way too many uncertainties in the future.
No matter what, the emperor of Constantinople has passed. He came to the throne taking over a wrecked and fragile state, and when he passes, he leaves on another fragile and unstable state still encircled by danger and threats from all directions. Many call him a superb ruler, some has already started suggesting awarding Constantine with the tile of ’the great’. But many sniggered at this idea pointing out that the emperor did not bring any changes during the decade of his reign, especially after he ended his campaign for Mesembria in an utter failure costing the life of himself.
Before he came, the citizens of Constantinople is afraid of their lives, after he goes, the citizens of Constantinople are still ridden with danger. This too can be seen from the trend of the population of Constantinople. When Constantine came to the throne, the population of Constantinople is roughly sixty thousand people, after the siege of Constantinople, the population stagnated at roughly twenty thousand people, and after ten years of recovery, the population fell back to forty thousand people. Many inhabitants who have migrated to other cities, with mostly being Thessaloniki, are yet reluctant on settling back to where they came from.
But in the eyes of Giovanni, this old man he has worked with for ten years might not be a great king like the emperor who bear the same name a thousand years ago, he might just be an ordinary man pushed to this position in a tough time. Though what Giovanni can see that this man is a modest man who lived his fullest to fulfil the dream he had last time trying his very best to make this state to function like a normal country. Some might say that he failed miserably, but it is mostly because he is restrained by the crippling state, and the never ending internal strife between the nobles of the empire.
The history of the Roman Empire flipped into a new page, that is still blank.
Who is going to become the next emperor?
What is going to become of the empire?
How long more can the empire continue existing?
Nobody knows.
...
Back in Epirus, the city of Ioannina.
The protest has been ongoing for more than a whole night, and it is already showing the trend of becoming more and more violent.
It seems that there is a trait common among not only human beings, but all animals, that is the negative emotions can be spread to a wide range in a relatively short time when a large crowd of people are gathered together. It started with just a few men, then it became a small crowd clashing with the troopers, then the situation escalated even further with many residents bringing out simple weapons and violently clashing with the troopers resulting in casualties from both sides.
Then did the regent start to panic as he stepped out of his room and started calling for his guard commander, but the latter is nowhere to be found.
The clashes between the guards and the civilians are almost going out of control with the number of casualties and deaths already spiralling up. Till this point of time the regent still has no idea on why are these folks so furious, he doesn’t get it, why, why are you so angry, just for a hundred men being stuck outside the city? Is it worth it for all these troubles? The regent tried to step out onto the balcony that the Sanjek used to speak and address his citizens and announced to all the protestors downstairs that he has heard their requests and is about to open the gate for the people outside to come in and return to their families.
But it has already been way too late.
The mass public began throwing rocks at the regent, with one precisely hitting the regent on his forehead, causing blood to start dripping down his face. The regent shouted in pain and ran away from the balcony, trying to wipe the blood off his face in the process. But instead, more blood started showing up and slowly it began to affect the sight of the regent making him unable to open his eyes. For one moment the regent has almost thought that he has lost his vision as he is barely able to observe the things around him by opening his eyes slightly.
Suddenly, the regent’s hands came into contact with something – it felt like a man, wearing armour.
"My honourable guard commander, is that you there? Is that you there? Have you came finally to save me?" The regent is rejoiced, as he continued moving his hands feeling the armour of the man.
"Yes."
"Quick!" The regent shrieked. "Go and kill those rogues outside! They have rebelled against me! They deserve to be punished! What are you still waiting for!"
