Patricia Taylor
Stories
11
Chapters
3,604
Words
1.6 M
Comments
0
Reading
5 d, 16 h
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"Anymore things interesting they have brought with them?" "Yes, your grace." The scout went forward kneeling towards John Hunyadi passing him a letter. "This was found in this man's pouch and is the only thing worth looking at." The King Regent torn open the envelope revealing the letter inside written in perfect Ottoman court calligraphy. "Dear my old friend Durad…. How have you been? It has been a number of years before we last met… I have received the rasp berries that you have delivered to me…-
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Meanwhile, in a distance around five hundred Roman miles away, a confrontation that is deemed to be remembered in this crusade as the signature battle is still ongoing at Belogradchik, Vidin, between the faction of the Crusaders led by the king regent of Hungary John Hunyadi, and the despot of Serbia, Durad Branković confronting the most notable general of the Ottomans, Zaganos Pasha. The fortress marks such a significant geographical importance that is built right on the place where if anyone would…
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"Befriend a distant state and strike a neighboring one" - The Thirty-Six Stratagems "This is freaking absurd!" Antonius threw his drum stick onto the table but immediately picked it up whipping its dirty area and taking another bite before continuing. "This is ridiculous! Have you two ever heard of this crap before?" Anjelo jeered at the message under the light of fire from stove. "This is like the King of the Alermanians granting a vessel the duke of Milano, or the Roi de Francia appointing his…
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"Understands both your enemy and yourself, and you shall go into war with no fear of returning with a defeat." - "Art of War" By Sun Tzu, chapter III 'Attack by Stratagem' "What if, let's say, just if, I reject this…" Constantine stood up slowly from his throne, went down the stairs and took the scroll from the ambassador's hand. "This piece of indeed 'generous' proposal by your Grand Vizier? Did he ever say that anything will happen to my city and my people?" The ambassador gulped and responded by…
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"Nulle terre sans seigneur" "No Land Without a lord" "You mean… Granting it to Antonius? But you know that is not possible right?" Constantine rejected George Sphrantzes' advice instantly by instinct. The Prince Islands, is a group of nine islands in around six kilometres south from the city of Constantinople in the Sea of Marmara just off the coast of Anatolia. With the nine islands adding up to a total of around six Roman square miles it is undoubtedly one of the smallest islands in the known…
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"The most formidable fortress always begins crumbling down from within its walls." - Anonymous Constantine climbed up from bed the next morning at around six with a pair of panda eyes suffering from insomnia. It is a natural instinct for a monarch, especially the emperor of the Romans whose court never lacks the element of intrigue and coups lurking in every bit of air people breathe, to always be fully aware of any minor political movements inside the city, he definitely does not want any popular…
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"Equo ne credite, Teucri. quidquid id est, timeo Danaos et dona ferentes." - Virgil, Aenid, Book II Antonius went back to the Port of Prosphorion, the port where he started his stories in this city. The port, still busy as it always has been ever since the siege ended, seems to not have much difference from the same port when Antonius first arrived here a year ago. Perhaps the only difference is where ever he goes around the port now, sailors salute him, children cheers skipping around him singing…
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"A single death is a tragedy; a million deaths are a statistic" - Uncle Joe Nothing happened, of course, no supernatural phenomenon, no striking lightening, no mysterious words coming from no where… Nothing changed, quiet chamber is still quiet after Antonius completed his question, and his mind is still filled with doubts, about himself, about the world, and about the God. The liturgy ceremony outside the chamber is now slowly coming to an end as the believers slowly begin to venture out of the nave…
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The old bearded clergy did not utter a word, instead he handed over a crosier to a fellow clergy letting him organise the ceremony, then stepped down the side stairs into the narthex. A while later, a nun approached Antonius asking him to meet the Ecumenical Patriarch in the quiet chamber for a chat. It is then that Antonius realised that the ashen goat bearded old man that used to treat Giovanni's injuries back then has became the next Ecumenical Patriarch after the previous one Athanasius II's…
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"We no longer knew whether we were in heaven or on earth… nor such beauty, and we know not how to tell of it" - Primary Chronicles; Kieven Rus' conversion to Orthodoxy Inside Hagia Sophia. Antonius could not describe the scenery he saw inside the Hagia Sophia, even the strongest word expressing the beauty and wonders of structures lost their power inside the Basillica. Poets, travelers, wrights who ever had the luck to travel to Constantinople and be an audience of this ancient old monument…
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