The boardroom was deserted and Katerina went to the window to take in mouthfuls of the glorious view of the harbour, the Harbour Bridge, the Opera House and the Northern suburbs. Her nostrils twitched, taking in the molecules of the smell of sweet-smelling leather wafting from the chairs set in place around the long dark mahogany table.
Her thoughts turned to the forthcoming meeting. It could be difficult. Andrew was not an easy man to deal with and was extremely astute. He missed nothing and was always out to smell the slightest weakness, fear or hesitation, and exploit it, shamelessly, to his advantage, as he had always done throughout his life.
He was a stickler for detail. His antennae were wired to the most minute deceit. And he would expose it, take the culprit by the scruff of the neck and let him fall down useless and worn out, not literally, but that was how it felt like when one got on the wrong side of him.
That was when such a person ended up submitting to Andrew Le Charos’ force of will and leaving with one’s tail between one’s legs. Proper pecking order was established once more. The balance of power in Andrew’s favour was reaffirmed.
For all of these reasons and then some, he had become insanely successful, against all the odds, despite being an outsider in a foreign country. Did he ever let his guard down? That was doubtful, though Katerina wondered whether he could keep it up non-stop. She had this image of him barking orders growling all the way to his bed at night or at any time. She smiled. She would need her wits with her, she thought.
At that moment the door flew open and Andrew was standing in the doorway.
‘My dear, it has been a long time. It’s good to see you.’
He went forward to embrace and kiss her on both cheeks. She thought of a tiger, first licking the air and smelling her prey before he went in for the kill. Actually it had not been that long since they last saw each other. It was during her recent trip to Australia. They caught a glimpse of each other from afar at a restaurant. She was in no mood for hypocritical small talk, so she politely acknowledged him with a curt nod and he responded in kind.
‘I see you have not touched the drinks tray. What can I get you? Some water, perhaps?’
‘I’m fine thank you.’ She turned to the window. ‘I’ve always loved this view.’
‘So have I. I know exactly what you mean. It is the top of the hill you know. You can’t get a better view of the city, except from the Sydney Tower or on your approach …’
‘… to land at Sydney Airport.’
‘You do like to finish my sentences, don’t you? Now, tell me, why were you smiling back there when I came in?’
‘Oh. It was nothing. I was only thinking of Diana and how invaluable she must be to you. She certainly is very impressively efficient.’
She bluffed, but knew she sounded convincing. She could not start the meeting by admitting the truth, now could she?
To her relief, Andrew believed her and thought the same.
‘She sure is. What news of the family in Cyprus?’
‘They’re all fine, busy as ever.’
‘Will you join an old man for lunch to keep him company and maybe hold me from devouring the whole calf, tail, legs and all, as my darling wife kept telling me, chastising me about my healthy appetite? What’s wrong with a healthy appetite, I ask you? It’s not just survival. It feeds the mind and the soul, too, I’ll have you know.’ He said this last part of the sentence in the Australian brawl. ‘And I’m very proud of this stomach.’ He brought his hand to pat his abdominal area as he said that.
‘So, shall I let the cook know there will be two for tea? It truly will be a pleasure to have you.’
She almost laughed out loud. Him? Chubby? That was something. He did like his silly jokes sometimes. He was as trim and athletic as he had always been, with hardly any loose fat on his person, in fact in much better shape than a lot of the young people she knew.
And as for the “old man”, that was hardly an accurate description. He was only sixty-two, after all. Why, though, did it always sound as if he was acting a role? She could hardly refuse the invitation, though, and nodded her assent.
‘I’d loved to.’ She crossed her fingers in her mind as the words left her lips, hoping she sounded whole-hearted and keen, in contrast to how she really felt. And who knows? She may enjoy it and pick up some gossip.
Besides her uncle was a very interesting man, a larger than life personality and tremendously entertaining companion. She would not pretend to fit the larger-than-life- category or a level playing field next to someone of her uncle’s calibre. But these days maybe she did in more than one respect.
Perhaps she was a match for him after all, with less experience but sharp and young and nimble in the bargain too. But first to business and then to feast.
‘Excellent. You’ve made an old man very happy.’
Katerina thought of a snake, a viper. Some snakes very often loved to have prey many times larger than themselves. Large was not a term that could apply to her, which meant that she would probably be a tasty morsel, an appetiser to tease the taste buds in anticipation of the main course. Snakes liked a good meal and to digest it slowly, laughing all the way to the deepest recesses of their digestive system.
Her uncle was immensely more experienced and a smooth and very effective operator. Katerina thought he was planning to lunch on her and digest her twice in the space of a few hours and then spit out the unsavoury parts, but she would not give him the pleasure. It was a long time ago that she was that young girl running around hiding behind cabinets, chairs and lampposts, safe in the innocent and misguided belief that nobody could see her.
Andrew on his part knew that he could not underestimate this young woman who had proven to be a formidable businesswoman and at such a young age.
Andrew picked up the phone, dialled, said a couple of brief words in what she recognised as Mandarin into the phone and then hung up. He made his way to the table, sat down and gestured for her to join him.
‘I have been thinking and I have a proposition to make to you and your father. I presume that you are aware under what circumstances I left Cyprus to come here.’ Katerina nodded. ‘I can sense your scepticism, but believe me when I say that my intentions are entirely sincere. Katerina, I am not getting any younger. Andros, Anna, you and Giorgos are all the family I’ve got left. It may seem cold to you now, but try and see it from my perspective. I had been so preoccupied with survival and then initial success which spurs you to build on success after success, that it’s only now that, having achieved so much, I have, upon reflection, realised that it’s not enough, that it was time, if not, strictly speaking, going back to the fold – only a black sheep in the family would say that – at least to mend the bridges and make up for the past, for the lost years gone and lost moments which would be impossible to recapture.
‘I want to chase away any leftovers from the bitterness that made me leave what was my home.’ Katerina said nothing. She felt there was more. ‘I plan to visit you in Cyprus soon. I’m planning a tour of the European and Middle Eastern operations to coincide with that.’ Katerina raised a quizzical eyebrow. ‘I assure you it’s not the other way round. Seeing your family is the reason I’m going there.’ He paused. ‘Katerina, I can also see a lot of synergies between many of our respective operations. I can open up many markets for you, especially in Asia. You can do the same for me in Europe and the Middle East. It’s a win-win situation. Both our groups will emerge strengthened from such an alliance or cooperation, if you prefer, for lack of a better term.’
Katerina still kept silent. The silence lengthened. He had clearly finished his monologue. She was too busy absorbing and processing the information and pondering what she’d just heard to comment. It was simply too much 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 4th 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 4th 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 good Greek family. Amidst the uncertainty and confusion of the siege of Constantinople, Mark never got the chance to contact his mother or brother to let them know. Unfortunately, on his way back to Constantinople, Mark was, apparently, ambushed and killed by bandits and never got to tell them about his find and the last chance was lost.
‘How this letter, which he must have written before he died, survived and ended here, I don’t know, assuming, by the way, that it is genuine, which by the look of it, it must be. I did a bit more digging and came up with various documents indicating that some of my predecessors at the monastery had been following the boy’s progress. But the trail unfortunately went cold somewhere in the 1890s.’
‘Aggelos, does the letter give us the name of that family that took the boy under their wing?’
‘It’s Palantis. I don’t know whether it still exists. It could be that it changed due to marriage, if there were no male descendants, or there may be no descendants left at all.�
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‘I’ll try and find out. I’ll put my people onto it. I know the right person to carry out that kind of research.’
* * *
Later, Elli called Giorgos and explained what she wanted and suggested the computer hacker that James Calvell used recently to find out the identity of the donor of the icons to the Metropolitan. Giorgos said that he’d call James to arrange it.
CHAPTER 38
Sydney, Australia
Present day
It was a magnificent hot day. Atop the Sydney Tower, the restaurant was doing brisk business as usual at lunchtime.
As it was so close to the Central Business District, it was a favourite spot for the overstressed city boys and girls, the people who wielded the power to make or break companies, cities, countries; the people who everyday handled or played with tens of billions of dollars’ worth in every currency, commodity, stock or other asset class under the sun, a sum many times the GDP of most countries.
Next to one of the windows overlooking Darling Harbour on one side and the Opera House and Harbour Bridge on the other, were two men, deep in conversation, their amazingly tasty and beautifully decorated dishes untouched, while a wine bottle was sitting in one corner with the remains of a very expensive wine.
One of them was Andrew Le Charos, the other Jonathan Milos, the head of the security company Gruller Associates, a front organisation for the Madame Marcquesa de Parmalanski, leader of the Ruinands.
Andrew looked straight into Jonathan’s eyes. ‘I want to see her. I believe we can come to a mutually beneficial arrangement.’
The Emperor Awakes Page 24
