Chapter 576: Death of Giovanni Giustinianni
Giovanni and Thomas have finally met again in peace, after days of confrontation, but it seems like the roles have change between them.
Giovanni is the defeated one now, while it seems that Thomas has emerged as victorious, with this magical reinforcement by the senate he got.
It is obvious that despite the fact that Giovanni has succeeded militarily, but he has failed in the unseen battlefield called politics. He has no idea on where did these senators that ought to be in Achaia and Mesembria suddenly turned up here with an unseen amount of wealth, how did his old friend Innocentius managed to convince the stationed troops in Mesembria to abandon the city and sneak back to the city, why did the Genoese in Galata not give him a heads up on this intel, why didn’t anyone in the city tell him about this?
Giovanni does not know, but he has not given up his struggles as he made a scorning laugh filled with detest, stared at Thomas and said slowly but steadily. "You know, I feel sorry for the citizens of Constantinople, for I am far too weak from stopping them in having another corrupt, irresponsible tyrant landing his arse on the top of that throne that was sat by the only emperor I pledged loyal to, I feel sinful simply by looking at that damn face of yours."
A slight smile appeared on Germanicus’ face, but it soon vanished.
Thomas’ face came beaming red, he tried to pull out his horse whip and slash the face of the man he hated so much before him, but he soon failed due to the severe lack of strength from the days of starvation and dehydration and fell onto the ground. The mercenaries behind him hurriedly came to lift him up, and even cleaned his robes off the dirt, even smiling at him asking if he is okay, behaving in a totally different manner like what they were just a day before, with obvious reasons.
The smile on Germanicus’ face became even more obvious as he witnessed the commotion going on right before him.
He made a few claps, passed some dry nuts and his wine to Thomas, ignored the mercenaries behind who is trying to salute him with an ingratiating smile, and watched as the later gobbled down his offerings. After all of that is done, he spoke softly before Thomas. "My lord, I will now surrender this man to you, whatever you wanna do with this man... is completely up to you, we will not interfere."
"Thank you, lord Germanicus." Thomas Palaiologos panted heavily as he finished with his business, suffering from a bit of fatigue as he leaned on his mercenary. "I shall definitely reward you heavily once I ascend to the throne... You are going to be the next Grand Admiral, no, the next Grand Doux, I, no, we shall build the Imperium Romanum into an empire that no one has ever seen before! But right now, my loyal Germanicus, I will need you to help me control the senate... Make sure that the senate stays loyal to me as well."
"Yes, my lord." Germanicus bowed slightly and walked away with his guards and the other senators, leaving only Giovanni there tied up in ropes with totally no respect at all at this nobleman, but Thomas did not seem to care about this, for he now only has the traitor Giovanni in his eyes.
"My lord," the mercenaries approached Thomas once again, wearing the same ingratiating smile as before. "Would you like me to kill this traitor for you?"
"No, I’ll do it myself," Thomas replied, his eyes filled with flames of revenge. "This man will pay for his sins and crimes to me with his blood spilled on the ground. I’ll be the one to do it in the name of the Autocrat and Basileus of all Romans."
Giovanni, tied up with ropes, sneered and taunted the monarch staring at him. "Really? But you know what, Thomas? My blood will only cleanse this land of its sins, which were caused by none other than you and your people. My blood will be absorbed by the earth quickly because it’s pure, while the blood of you corrupt people will always remain on the surface and turn into a stinky, rotting puddle of mud."
"Shut up! Shut up!" Thomas roared with bloodshot eyes as he pulled out his dagger and frantically stabbed Giovanni’s chest, again and again, but to no avail. Thomas was now too weak to pierce through Giovanni’s thin leather Armor - he was like a child playing with a twig.
Giovanni burst into wild laughter, filled with disdain and mockery, but also tinged with a hint of sadness and sorrow. He was a hero, no doubt, having saved thousands of lives, but he had also killed thousands in his service to the state. He was revered and respected, but now he found himself tied up like a traitor, being stabbed to death by a corrupt and evil monarch without the ability to resist. Giovanni closed his eyes, accepting his fate, with a pathetic grin on his face.
None of the mercenaries came forward to help their lord; they merely leaned back, eager to watch the spectacle unfolding before them. They had already lost respect for their leader.
Thomas gave up, he pushed Giovanni onto the ground with all of his strength, sat on top of his rival, raised his blade high up in the air, and plunged it right down towards Giovanni, missing his head by an inch, but still managed to stab the blade into his chest, with all the power and weight he has got, and a roar in the process, and the scarlet red blood of Giovanni getting pumped out of Giovanni’s bulging chest, getting splattered all over Thomas Palaiologos’ distorted, resentful face, making him look no longer like a nobleman born in the purple, instead a demon from the under world covered in nothing but dark red.
Giovanni has lost the ability to speak.
But still, he lifted up his head, asserting his remaining bit of dominance over the little tyrant before him, squeezed a smile on his face staring at Thomas, with a line of blood flowing down his chins, tried to say something but failed, and then lied down never closing his eyes, forever.
Giovanni Giustinianni is now dead at the age of forty seven, finally, after decades of blood shed he finally get to rest in peace in heaven, or hell, depending on the decision of Jesus Christ.
It is just as if his fate has already been decided by God, his family prospered by the trade from Constantinople, he was born listening tales of Constantinople, he gained his ranks defending Constantinople, he became a nobleman by pledging his loyalty to the imperator of Constantinople, he formed his beloved family in Constantinople, and he eventually spilt his blood in Constantinople.
Thomas struggled to get up from the still warm body of Giovanni Giustinianni, he tried to spit but he found that there is nothing in his throat apart from blood, with no idea whether it is his blood, or the blood of the man before him.
His hands, stained with blood, began shivering violently, not because of the guilt of killing a person of course, but because of pure exhaustion and joy. In fact, he is so exhausted that he began rolling on the floor, panting heavily, and laugh in the intervals.
"I... I am invincible! I... I am the emperor! I am the Basileus! Long live my reign!"
The mercenaries behind hurriedly went forward to get their master up from the pool of blood, treating him with now again with a totally different set of attitudes. The image of this man went from a loser who is going to get his life in jail, to the possible victor of the political struggle, and now to the most potential successor to the Greek throne. And with his image the same goes for the reward that shall be offered to these mercenaries, for helping their master to achieve his life goal.
The other mercenaries came out of Hagia Irene as well, awed by what has just been going on before their eyes. The man, Giovanni Giustinianni, whom people from both the Latins and the Turks feared the most, has now been slain, laying lifelessly on the ground, with all of his blood now getting absorbed into the Earth leaving a dense red paint on the dirt. Immediately the way these mercenaries look at Thomas became different as well, slowly they got down to their knees one by one, looking at Thomas with awe, and exclaimed.
"Long live the empire! Long live your majesty!"
Thomas Palaiologos bursted out into a chain of wild laughter leaning on the shoulders of the two guards. He has been ordering his men to address him as ’his majesty’ since years ago, but it is only today did he finally know the amount of prestige, pride and honour that comes with the name.
