Chapter 199: Farewell, Constantinople

"What are you waiting for! Shoot!" 

Nearby, an imperial officer hisses beside the ears of Markos, who is holding a loaded cross bow in his hands aiming towards the strange man yelling in the front. 

Though unable to see the man's face, but Markos can hear and differentiate clearly that this man's true identity is not an Ottoman spy, instead he is non other than the honourable admiral Lord De'Ricci. 

Thus, when the officer asks him, a sharp shooter in the army, to fire, he hesitated out of his pure conscientiousness. 

"Sir! We have no clear orders from the majesty that gives us to right to shoot!" 

"Orders!" The officer cannot believe that his sharp shooter seems to have became dumb for all of a sudden. "Are you out of your mind? Do you know how slow the chain of command works? The messenger riding to the palace waking the emperor up is going to take an hour, and the emperor making a decision passing it back to us is going to take another hour, by then he would have already escaped on those ships!" 

"Sir." The usual obedient Markos decided to do it to another level this time. "We are imperial guards! With no order from the majesty, I shall not shoot!" 

"You…" 

"And I suggest you to not give orders on behalf of the majesty, sir!" Markos said rapidly pulling the arm of the officer. "I am doing this for pure conscientiousness, sir, forgive me. But think about it, even if you killed this rogue by your orders, what if the majesty wants to keep him alive? Remember, if you make a decision and it goes wrong and the Basileus do not like it, you will be the one who shall take responsibility and together with it the charges, but if we follow the rules and wait for the emperor's orders, none of us is going to need to take the responsibility later if anything goes wrong." 

The imperial guard officer hesitated. 

…

A couple of small boats came sailing to the port side fetching Antonius and his gang together sailing back to his fleet that he supposedly illegally stolen from the Roman empire. 

The hostages have been rescued; mission accomplished. 

Then the flags and banners of the emperor started showing up signifying the arrival of the supreme being in the city. 

The emperor stomps his feet in regret, hatred, anger, but in the end all of those emotions turned into fear, as he knows very well, that without the navy and a strong fleet n his own hands, he will not be able have another night of good sleep because as he knows how dangerous to make enemy with a man who knows every thing about the city, its defence, its strategic locations, its every street and corners with the heart of its citizens, combined with a fleet that most of its sailors once walked the city as well can be a tremendous threat to Constantinople. However, to the emperor personally keeping them inside the city is an even bigger threat to his throne, his title and his empire which ultimately led to his decision being made in a mix of disputed mind and lack of confidence that he can keep this beast under his full control.

Thus, this happened. 

The emperor watched, as the fleet on the sea starts turning around, covering those windows with cloth. Others might think that those are merely just some windows, but Constantine knows through his intel in the Orban family's iron works that those are artilleries that Antonius somehow could make them shoot on sea without dismantling his ships. 

Actually, he ought to thank Antonius for still having some mercy on him and his city for not leashing out his fury of getting expelled bombarding the harbour and his troops. 

The keeper of the imperial wardrobe Constantine's trusted friend George Sphrantzes also arrived upon hearing the report. He too stands beside the emperor watching the fleet departing for a while and sighed suggesting to Constantine. "Your majesty, please be more decisive in making decisions next time, we have alright cut the leash on a menace this time, and we definitely would not want to release another such a menacing threat the next time." 

"Thank you, George." Constantine is not angered by such a straight forward advice, for he too knows that this time he is extremely at fault. "Do not worry, I will be more cautious when dealing with your… son in law." 

"Your majesty does not need to worry about me and my daughter." George Sphrantzes replied cold heartedly without blinking his eye. "He is not my son in law, and please be harsh upon him if he makes any mistakes that displeases you, for the good of the empire. We have already lost our navy, and we cannot lose our army."

Constantine nodded hastily. 

Just as they speak, another boat came sailing slowly towards the emperor's flag waving a white flag. 

"Let him come." The emperor lowered the bows of his archers. "Lord De'Ricci have something to say to us." 

It is Julian, he got ashore bowing to the emperor, then passed a letter to the imperial guard, bowed again and went back to the boat sailing towards the main fleet. 

It is a letter from Antonius. 

Here we part, emperor, for I shall set sail to another land without farewell. 

In the North stands the golden imperial city, in the South lies the land of infidels. 

From this point onwards, you have drifted ten thousand miles away from my heart. 

I shall not blame you, for I have gratitude on you making me a noble from pirate. 

I am a humble man, your majesty,

Coming from the seven seas to the City the world desires, and now back to the ocean. 

I appreciate those who helped me in dilemma, I hate those who stab me in the back, but I do not force others to follow my view on things.

Thank me, emperor, for I know what you have been plotting, but I shall pardon you. 

However, here is a word of advice; In the end of the day, intrigues and plots are never the decisive factor. 

O'Farewell, emperor. 

I hope that we shall not meet again. 

I shall remain as your vessel by name, but never expect me to behave like one. 

Please, leave peace to us. 

Farewell, emperor, I shall now set sail freely in the Aegean like a dolphin, 

While you remain trapped in this golden cage called Constantinople.

Good Luck and never see you again.

Antonius De'Ricci.