Eagle Byzantium

Votes requested 555555

+++++++++

The next morning, the rain stopped, and the chirping of birds could be heard faintly from the eaves. The maids began to tiptoe around the hall, lighting incense to dispel the damp and cold air. Anna was still sleeping sweetly on the couch behind the swaying curtain.

Gawain lowered his head and rubbed it on the hilt of the phosphorescent sword, and his eyes were almost unable to open.

A long shadow fell on him. Gawain raised his eyebrows. It was Queen Irene standing in front of him. She nodded slightly at him, expressing her great satisfaction. "It seems that Anna's condition can be stabilized. I heard about your concern for the eldest princess yesterday. With a warrior like you guarding her, Anna can get a rest."

Gawain stood up and bowed to the queen.

"Leave this to me. Go to the Sarabria camp as soon as possible and take the army that His Majesty promised you, and set off for Italy!"

"Oh, there's more." When Gawain left, the queen suddenly remembered and reminded him to stop, then smiled and said, "I will send an officer to deliver a gift to the camp soon. It's specially given to you by Anna."

In the Sarabria camp, the guard officer was already standing there in amazement, looking at the huge armor placed in the center. It was indeed the "holy armor" carefully forged in the imperial royal armory. It was in a strong Persian style, lined with gorgeous leather, and covered with light and sturdy armor plates on the outside, shining with dazzling brilliance. The elbows, shoulders, and ribs were all protected. Then Gawain saw that on the iron helmet, there was a "feather ornament" made of ox horn pieces and beautiful red feathers - the shape of an outstretched hand.

"Red Hand Squadron..." Gawain raised his hand, stroked the feather ornament, and murmured.

"The princess and the queen sent someone to deliver it personally." The voice of the guard began to waver, and he couldn't help but be extremely excited.

"Diogenes, we will set off from Sarabria tomorrow. It has been seven days since the date agreed with the Amalfi Chamber of Commerce." Gawain said.

Hearing this, the guard's eyes flashed with a trace of unnaturalness, and he walked to the table to sort out the documents and told Gawain, "Now the emperor has made another decision. The Holy Monastery of Gallipoli is actually the base of the remnants of the Paulicians. The deacon was publicly executed and burned to death in front of the Grand Palace by His Majesty."

"What about the property of the Holy Monastery?"

"It was accepted by the secular patron appointed by the emperor in advance and incorporated into the Imperial Property Department." The answer of the guard was not beyond Gawain's expectations.

At this time, outside the tent, Sabina's proud neighing attracted Gawain's attention. He walked out and saw Sabina, who was deliberately showing off her beauty in front of him: she was wearing a fine linen vest and a silver-plated bridle with small purple tassel bells on it. On the bridle, she also had the same "red hand feather ornament" as her owner. She was raising her tail and running back and forth in front of Gawain again and again...

In the Brahena Palace, Anna dreamed of many things in this dream that lasted almost six hours, about the past and the future, but temporarily put aside the horrible scene she saw. She opened her eyes and saw that the shadow of the curtain was still there, so she smiled with relief, but she felt something was wrong in an instant: this shadow was thin, not Gawain's.

She hurriedly got up, without even having time to tidy up her hair, and lifted the curtain in a loose nightgown.

It was her mother sitting there.

And her father stood at the next column.

So the words on his lips were swallowed, and it was obvious that the parents were confronting each other.

"Why didn't you give John's custody to me, but to Malena?" After seeing Anna walk out, Irene cried and protested to Alexius.

"The Patriarch has approved this matter, and my mother also sent a letter from the monastery. She said that for the sake of the peace of the empire, the heirs should be raised separately. That is the fairest thing." Alexius' words did not reveal his own attitude.

When Irene was about to protest, the emperor interrupted her, "As the queen, you should take the trouble to find a new engagement partner for Anna instead of making trouble here and disrupting the originally peaceful order in the palace."

"Queen? No, I'm not the queen. I'm just a mother and a wife. I have the right to love and hate." Irene was extremely resentful, as if the golden and broad road in front of her was once again submerged by the endless bitter sea. "Queen Mother, Patriarch. You only present one-sided statements to them unilaterally. The Queen Mother is in the monastery, and the Patriarch is deceived by you in the Cathedral of Holy Wisdom. Has anyone listened to my thoughts?"

"Shut up!" Emperor Alexius was furious, "Watch your words, even if you are the queen."

"I repeat, I am not a queen." Irene's chin trembled, and she supported Anna tightly, "You always think that my family is an ally of Komnenos, and you treat me like a business Cold and calculating as a partner, I have suffered enough over the years, I have suffered enough Wearing the masks of "Emperor" and "Queen", we are performing extremely clumsy tricks in this palace built with hypocrisy, deceiving others and deceiving ourselves. If we cannot deceive others, we must deceive ourselves. Who knows? When he was twelve years old, he was as big as Anna, In the Thrace hunting park, when I secretly saw you riding a horse-drawn bow and shooting a deer, I became that deer in my heart. Now I no longer have that feeling, no more. My heart is already like a cave in the Thracian mountains. The wind blows past, only Leaving behind a shrill roar, there was no flesh and blood, just layers of stones, empty and meaningless!" After saying that, Irene's face changed drastically, she knelt down and held her head, her shoulders twitched and turned into a low voice! The eunuchs and maidservants around were all at a loss as they screamed.

Alexios didn't answer anything, and he didn't know what to say, so he could only glance at Anna, then turned around with complicated emotions and left surrounded by the guards.

Check out the 16-9 book bar to see the correct version!

Later, Anna held her mother's shoulders and cried, begging her mother not to continue mourning, "I will respect any arrangement you make."

"Will you also become that kind of cave?" Irene smiled bitterly, with tears in her eyes, and held her daughter's hand.

At this time, the leading maid came over quietly and said, "This is given to you by the emperor's guard, Your Royal Highness."

Anna unfolded the paper, and there was a line on it, "Sarabria, start working this evening, don't forget the city wall."

After the rain ended, the late summer wind was cool, and a rainbow hung above the Brachna Palace. Anna ran up the steps, step by step, stepping on the colorful water that reflected the colors, and climbed up to the palace against the northwest mountains. She held the tower at the corner of the city with her hands on the battlement, and the hair on her forehead was blown to both sides. Her body was still weak after recovering from the illness, so her eyes could not react to the sunset light coming from the front for a while.

However, in the wilderness of Sarabrea below, Tecopo mercenaries wearing helmets and uniforms, flying red flags, carrying bows and arrows and quivers, passed by her in a mighty manner. .