|Evening of February 26 - 1249 - Hall in the Blachernae Palace, Constantinople - Attila |
"We celebrate the arrival of our great guest: Attila, King of Jerusalem!.>> said the Emperor to announce the evening banquet that had been organized in my honor.
After a few seconds of applause, everyone began to eat.
The banquet was rich in dishes, overflowing with food from everywhere.
The table was rectangular and also very long (perhaps too long, considering the number of people celebrating).
Finally, I found myself eating good food.
The Emperor sat at the head of the table while I was on the opposite side (so were we both at the head of the table?) along with Rasha.
On our side, there were many nobles of Constantinople, enjoying themselves as if there were no tomorrow.
So, I began to eat the food; it was delicious. I didn't want anything else.
When I started to feel full, I decided it was time to look around a bit and see if I could recognize anyone.
And indeed, I was not mistaken.
To my great surprise, I saw again a person I hadn't seen in a very long time, whom I had almost completely forgotten.
I'm talking about Constance, Emperor Frederick's daughter, who was sitting next to the Emperor.
In fact, now that I think about it, Constance was indeed given in marriage to Emperor John to seal the relations of détente between the empires (but also between their respective religions) and thus to be officially recognized as "friendly empires."
A classic political marriage.
When she noticed I was looking at her, she turned away and did her best not to meet my gaze again.
I don't understand the reason, but I accept it passively. Meanwhile, Rasha was eating in a very amusing way.
How can I explain it? She ate in an elegant way (or at least she tried), but she couldn't because of her haste in doing so.
After about an hour, the Emperor approached and said to me:<
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We stood up and left the banquet and returned to the balcony.
From there, you could see all of Constantinople lit up with nightlights.
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I replied:<>
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I had to reflect for a few seconds to answer this question:<
The Emperor made a silent grimace, then said:<
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After my words, the Emperor remained silent.
I continued:<>
I replied: "<
After a moment of silence, the Emperor extended his hand and said:<
I shook his hand gratefully.
After a few minutes of peace, the Emperor said:<
<>
The secret discussion continued throughout the evening.
After that, everyone went to sleep.
|Morning of February 27 - 1249 - Blachernae Gate, Constantinople - Attila |
After last night's evening, I stayed in bed with Rasha for a while.
Once we had breakfast, the carriages for the return were ready.
<
<
We shook hands, after which Rasha and I entered the carriage that would take us to the port.
<>
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Constance, who had been there from the beginning, didn't say anything, watching our departure in silence.
Well, it doesn't matter much.
|Morning of February 27 - 1249 - Blachernae Gate, Constantinople - Attila |
After about ten minutes, we reached the port. Once we got off, we headed towards the ship that we had moored.
<
<> I replied.
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When we arrived in front of our ship, we were astonished to see that the entire crew remained on board.
After they saw us, they all came down to meet us.
I said:<
One of them stepped forward and said:<
I replied:<
While the sailors were gathering their few important belongings, I said to Rasha: <
After she sighed, she replied: "<
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She looked at me and said:<>
After everyone gathered their things, we proceeded into the port, until we saw the grand ship granted to us by the Emperor.
It was enormous and beautiful. Perhaps one of the few jewels of the imperial navy.
My crew was integrated with the existing one. And so, we set off for Acre, leaving the marvellous Constantinople behind.
It was at that moment that I returned to the real world.