to take in all at once. He became concerned at her silence.
‘Will you at least take my sincere offer to your father, mother and brother?’
‘I will. That’s why my father sent me here. To hear you out.’
‘It sounds as if you did not want to come.’
‘I didn’t.’
‘I’m glad you did and I mean you personally. Your father always had a soft heart. He’s a good man, your father.’
‘A good heart that if you hurt, I promise you, I will pursue you and make you pay with my bare hands.’
He did not blink or show any sign of concern at her threat. Empty threats were cheap a dozen and rarely carried through to their logical conclusion. He was not angry. His smile showed his amusement. ‘It’s always a pleasure to see your feisty side. I can see your father’s trust in you and place in his companies is justified.’
Katerina flinched at his charm offensive. But she did not even smile let alone acknowledge his compliment. She wouldn’t give him the pleasure of seeing her blush.
‘When do you fly back?’
‘I’ve decided to stay for a couple days. I’m leaving on Thursday.’
‘Will I have the pleasure of seeing you again before you leave?’
‘Don’t push your luck.’ She gave him a sincere smile, though, when she said it.
CHAPTER 36
Limassol, Cyprus
Present day
The day after the meeting between Katerina and Andrew, Andros, Katerina’s father, received a special delivery, hand delivered by one of Andrew Le Charos’ most trusted lieutenants. The man said that the plane was flying back to Sydney that very evening and would take any message Andros wanted to send back to Andrew.
Andros couldn’t help wondering what merited Andrew going to the expense to send a plane. Even though the cost would be lost-down-the-sofa-and-not-missed loose change for him, nobody looked after his money or bargained harder than a billionaire.
But why didn’t he give the package to Katerina at the meeting? Could it be that he did not want to be seen to have it in his possession and handing it to Katerina? Was it because it would put him or, perhaps, Katerina in danger? Did he really have such noble intentions? What was so sensitive an object as to merit such precautionary measures?
Andros thanked the man and asked him to wait. He called for refreshment for his guest and went to his study with the package. A letter accompanying it gave instructions for the package to be opened only in the event that Andrew Le Charos could not be reached for a week or was dead.
Andros pushed a button and part of the wall panelling moved, revealing a huge safe. He locked the package and letter safely away and the panelling went back firmly into place. As he could not open the package the only message he could give to the man was ‘Your wish will be respected’. He went back to the hall, delivered the message and sent the man on his way. The man lost no time and within seconds he was in a car that had been waiting for him outside and was driven away.
Andros wondered about the contents, but then put any thought of the package at the back of his mind for the time being. Even though he tried to let the matter go for now, in the following weeks it would not be far from his mind.
CHAPTER 37
Monastery of Pantokrator
Mount Athos, Northern Greece
Present day
Elli was booked onto the next flight to Thessaloniki en route to Ouranoupolis and Mount Athos (the Holy Mountain) and the Monastery of Pantokrator.
When she arrived in Thessaloniki, she was swiftly whisked through customs, and a car waiting outside picked her up for the two-hour drive to Ouranoupolis, the last frontier, the last town before the semi-autonomous community of the Mount Athos and its twenty monasteries.
From there, a boat took her around the Athos Peninsula, to its North-Eastern coast and the Monastery of Pantokrator. At the quay, she was met by a monk who led her to the igoumenos or abbot, an old friend. She was of course under disguise, as according to a peculiar and ancient rule of the one-thousand-year-old monastic community there, no woman was ever allowed to step even a toe on the Holy Mountain.
Once inside the abbot’s private rooms, she removed the hood of her cloak. The abbot had been expecting her and he greeted her warmly and, unusually for the monastic community, embraced her and kissed her on both cheeks.
The abbot had not always been a monk. He lived a normal life before devoting his life to God. He came from Cyprus. He was the son of a business associate of Elli’s father. He and Elli were the same age and grew up together in the streets of Limassol. They had remained good friends and loyal to each other ever since and looked to stay lifelong friends, till death do them part. The abbot was intrigued when she sent word requesting a permit to be issued, because she needed to speak to him urgently.
‘Ellitsa mou, my Ellitsa, kalos ilthes agapi mou, welcome my love.’
Ellitsa, the diminutive word for Elli, was a way of showing endearment and familiarity.
‘Now, tell me, to what do we owe this honour?’
‘I need to speak with Aggelos.’
‘Well, you are in luck. As it happens Aggelos is in the library right now. He very often sleeps there with his cherished manuscripts for company. He says they make him feel safe and warm and that he can watch over them like a proud father. Though I think it’s the lack of proper ventilation in there that keeps the place warm and that he craves. Come with me.’
He led her to the library where Aggelos was waiting for them.
‘My dear Elli. Twice you honour us with your presence in such a short time. We are surely blessed. Spyros, why have you been hiding her? I heard she arrived here some time ago.’
Spyros smiled and looked at Elli who wasted no time.
‘Aggelos, what do you know about that child that was kidnapped from the Palace of Vlachernae on 4 ^th May 1453?’
‘My dear Elli, after you left last time I decided to put some order in the shelf where the Book of the Pallanians, that you took with you when you left, was located. I also wanted to check whether there was anything there that was relevant and significant. Until you came here a month ago, that shelf had probably not been touched for years, so I had no idea what I would find there.
‘Well, I did find something interesting. It is a pergamene that was archived near the Book of the Pallanians. It is a letter from Michael and Mark Symitzis to Eleni Symitzis, their mother and your ancestor. You know their story. Mark, undercover as Suleyman, with a group of Ottoman riders was on a reconnaissance mission and Michael was doing the same with a group of members of the Order of Vlachaerne. What it says in the letter is that, on 4 ^th May 1453, the two brothers met by accident in the Forest of Valens outside Constantinople.
‘Yes, that was the same day as the disappearance of the child. After Michael and Mark had gone their own ways, Mark heard a child’s cry coming from somewhere nearby. He went to investigate and found a child. There was nothing with the child to indicate where it had come from, any clue as to his identity. To protect the child it was decided not to take it to Constantinople, but to a safe place, as far away from the hot spots of battle as possible.
‘Mark took the child to Crete, to the village of Ayia Galini in Southern Crete where it was brought up by a
