‘I arrived in Larnaca less than two hours ago and I’m back for good, or, at least, until the next project. And do I need a reason to visit my grandmother?’
‘You certainly don’t. You don’t need to give advance notice either. It’s just that I was not expecting you, that’s all.’
‘I’m not interrupting anything, am I?’
‘No, not at all. Come in. Go to the sitting room. I’ll ask Alina to prepare some coffee for us. I’ll only be a moment.’
Giorgos walked towards the sitting room and Ariana Paresteris turned to the direction of the kitchen where she found Alina busy preparing the marinade for the lamb that would be the following day’s centrepiece for lunch. Alina looked up as Ariana entered the kitchen.
‘Mrs Ariana, I thought I heard Giorgos’ voice. I thought he was still in Athens. I didn’t know he was back. Is everything alright?’
‘Yes. And it seems he may back for good. I know it’s late, but you know his crazy schedule. If he can spare a moment for his grandmother he will use it to visit me irrespective of the time and, perhaps, crossing a couple of continents in the process. And I am glad for that. You know how much I love him. He’s very precious to me. We’ll be in the sitting room. Alina, bring us some coffee, would you?’
‘Yes, Mrs Ariana.’
‘Thank you.’
Ariana left the kitchen and walked back to the entrance hall and from there to the sitting room. Upon entering she noticed Giorgos’ worried and pensive expression before he looked up and smiled at her giving her his full attention.
She walked briskly to the sofa facing Giorgos and sat down. She did not want to allow him the opportunity to hesitate as she sensed that he was debating with himself how to broach a difficult subject.
She decided to save time and to make it easy for him so she avoided further pleasantries and went straight for the jugular. Seated in the late evening coolness of the sitting room, Ariana turned to her grandson.
‘I raised you and I know you as if you were my own child. Something’s troubling you.’
‘Yes. You know about my project, don’t you?’
‘Your quest for the last Emperor’s tomb, yes.’
‘We found something in Cappadocia.’
‘Not the tomb? But why have you not told me before? Why has it not been on the news?’
‘We found a sarcophagus and a well-preserved body, but we don’t know yet for sure. But that’s not why I’m here. Do you remember James Calvell?’
‘You were together at university. I remember you being inseparable, practically Siamese twins back then. He’s the deputy director of the Metropolitan in New York, isn’t he?’
‘Yes, he is. A few weeks ago he found something or rather an expert restorer of Byzantine icons came by a hidden compartment in an icon. Inside he found a ring.’
Ariana blinked. Her face was ashen.
‘You know what I’m talking about, don’t you?’
‘I do. It’s about my donation isn’t it?’
‘Yes. You donated two icons, right?’
‘Yes.’
‘One of them was stolen a few weeks ago. There was an attempt to steal the other one as well.’ Ariana’s face was suddenly mapped with enough lines to compete with the surface of the moon, her jaw almost dropped to the floor. ‘But thankfully, James had the foresight to ask John, the restorer, to produce good copies, which John did in record time, and which were put there in place of the originals. The originals were placed in a safe place. We still have them. They are at the Metropolitan under very sophisticated lock and key. But I’ll tell you about that later. Grandma, why haven’t you ever told us about this? Especially me. You know about my obsession with the last Emperor.’
‘Because it is a long and very sad story. It’s something about our past that was regrettable and shameful and my ancestors and I thought we could protect you from it. But, obviously, we were wrong. The truth would have come out eventually. It always has a habit of outing itself, in spite of even the most elaborate precautions.’
Ariana looked at the far wall lost in thought, then down at her lap and then she raised her head, looked deep into her grandson’s eyes and began her story. ‘It’s something that happened in 1453 in Constantinople, a few weeks before the city fell to the Ottomans of Mehmed II. The last Emperor had a child. The mother died at birth. That child was a son and he was the heir to the throne of Byzantium. Of course it was not expected that he would ever ascend to the throne. Only a blind and deluded person could not see that the Empire was finished, that it was only a matter of a very short time before the city fell to the Ottomans.
‘However, that child was doted on and protected as if he was the most precious thing in the world. And he was precious. He was the son of an Emperor after all, part of a proud line, going back through different dynasties and generations all the way back to Constantine I, the Great, and, more specifically, one of the sons of Theodosius the Great who upon his death presided over the split of the Roman Empire to the Eastern and the Western Empires respectively. On 4 ^th May 1453, the child and heir was kidnapped from the Palace of Vlachernae. He was never found. However, the icon and ring that were stolen with the child found their way to my ancestor, Sotirios Vendis.’
The doorbell rang. Alina opened the door and was surprised by the illustrious group standing in front of her. There was Elli, Iraklios, Katerina and Aristo. Alina recognised Katerina and greeted her.
‘Katerina, it is good to see you. And Mr Aristo, it’s a great pleasure.’
‘Alina, it’s good to see you too. This is Elli, Aristo’s mother and this is Iraklios, Aristo’s uncle.’ Elli and Iraklios politely greeted Alina. ‘We’d like to speak with my grandmother, please.’
‘Yes, of course. Please wait here.’ Alina walked to the sitting room and knocked on the door. Ariana called her in.
‘Alina, what is it?’
‘Mrs Ariana, Katerina and Mr Aristo are in the hall. Aristo’s mother and his uncle are with them as well. They want to see you.’
‘Please show them in.’ Alina went back to the hall. Ariana turned to Giorgos.
‘Quite a gathering. It must be important. I wonder whether it has something to do with Katerina and Aristo. Do I hear the bells of upcoming nuptials? So much excitement and all in one night. What a treat for an old woman. And to think I was only looking forward to a quiet evening in front of the television watching my favourite and mostly depressing soaps.’ Giorgos laughed and Ariana laughed with him too. ‘We’ll finish the story later.’
There was a knock on the door and Ariana called them in. As the door opened, Ariana and Giorgos rose and smiled warmly to the incoming crowd. Introductions were made and Ariana asked them all to sit down. Katerina was surprised to find Giorgos there.
‘Hi, brother. This is a coincidence. We were just talking about you.’
‘Oh? What about?’
‘We’ll explain soon enough.’
There was a brief silence, as they all seemed to defer to Elli. She looked at Ariana.
‘We do apologise for barging in like this and at such a late hour. However, there is something we want to talk to you about. We wanted Giorgos’ opinion on something too. So finding you both here is very convenient.’
Nobody interrupted. They all waited. You could taste the tension in the room. Not just because of the new arrivals, but there was something else hanging in the air already, something was going on before they arrived. Elli felt it. And so did the others. Ariana and Elli sized up each other as people in powerful positions do.
They both were matriarchs of their clans, with long histories. What those eyes had seen. A respectful understanding passed between the two women as only between such two great women could.
‘Ariana, I want to ask you about Katerina’s cross. We think we recognise it, but we are not sure.’ Elli paused. Ariana waited. ‘We believe that cross is identical to the one given to the newborn heirs of the Byzantine Imperial family. It could be a copy of course, but it could also be an original.’ Elli looked at Katerina.
‘Grandy, I’ve told Elli about the tradition regarding this cross.’
