And so onto the death of the Sultan. Cem (or Jem, if you’re looking him up, or sometimes, Djem, or Dzem, even) is neither a hero nor a villain, though I pushed him towards the latter to begin with. Cem is something of a folk hero to some in Turkey, and probably had a better claim on the throne than his half-brother Bayezid. Certainly if you read documented sources, Cem comes over towards the end of his life as a rather sad but noble figure. The words I put in his mouth are paraphrased from words documented as his, and go a long way to explaining him.
Cem’s death is a matter that will probably never be adequately explained. He suffered symptoms I describe, and declined in the timeframe I gave. Whether it was a natural death - a good many very intelligent folk have propounded various possible fatal illnesses - or a murder is still a matter of debate. I have not here mentioned Cem’s food taster, whose survival is sometimes cited as proof that he was not poisoned, or indeed that he was involved in a poisoning himself. But, given that I have implicated members of his entourage, that is all something of a moot point.
So I tied Andreas and Cem together with a poisoning that neatly solved it all, and gave Skiouros his way out of a horrendous dilemma. Do you think he would have pushed that sword point down on the bed? I am still not sure! Certainly it would have been a difficult scene to write from his perspective.
In relation to Cem, I would just like to thank the master of Istanbul research, John Freely, whose excellent book Jem Sultan formed a chunk of my research, following on from two other of his books I have used before, and also Mandell Creighton’s informative History of the Papacy during the Period of the Reformation, Vol 3. Along, of course, with the usual slew of excellent research texts, such as Osprey’s informative works on Condottiere and Italian Medieval Armies, Brandenburg’s Early Churches of Rome, D’Onofrio’s Castel Sant’Angelo, Sabatini’s Life of Cesare Borgia, and many others.
So now Cem is dead, and Skiouros’ vengeance is played out, however he might not have expected. And so, why did I not end the tale here?
For three main reasons.
Firstly, this is the Ottoman Cycle. The first three books have taken Skiouros around three quarters of the Mediterranean (admittedly via America), but this cycle ends where it begins, and for proper closure, I think we all know that Skiouros has to go home.
Secondly, there are so many threads left untied. Lykaion’s head still rests in a church in Crete and his spirit (or the figment of Skiouros’ imagination that has become him, if you prefer) does not yet rest. Don Diego de Teba is an interesting character I am not done with, and there has been an undercurrent throughout the series involving the Romani that needs to be explained, from the old witch at the beginning, to a beggar/sailor who has steered Skiouros for years now. I was asked after The Priest’s Tale what had happened to the Gypsy, and I tipped a wink in the direction that Cingeneler - the name Kemal had used for his new second in command - was a Turkish name for the Romani. He was always fated to return, and his future is tied in with the remaining plot of the cycle.
And thirdly, as with these books so far, a deal of the plot is driven by the interesting events of the time, and there are more to come yet.
As a last note, I will apologise to a few of you out there who will be riled by the deaths of Nicolo and Orsini. There were reasons for both - as well as the rest of my rather high body-count this time - but I will not go into detail until the story ends. But in addition, this tale, so much more so than the two that came before it, was a really dangerous one. The perils and odds faced by the friends have been intense. That they might breeze into the palaces of Popes and Kings and murder a very high-profile hostage without any losses, and then bound away like the heroes of Boy’s Own Adventure was just too utterly unrealistic to contemplate.
Yet Skiouros goes on, with Parmenio at his side, and other figures loom in the wings, waiting to join them.
So, Skiouros has been a thief and prevented disaster in Istanbul.
He has been a priest and travelled the length of the world.
And now he has been an assassin, walking in the courts of the mighty.
Skiouros will return once more in The Pasha’s Tale, concluding the Ottoman Cycle in 2015.
Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed this journey as much as I did.
Simon Turney. May 2014.
If you liked this book, why not try other titles by S.J.A. Turney
Interregnum (Tales of the Empire 1) 2009 *
For twenty years civil war has torn the Empire apart; the Imperial line extinguished as the mad Emperor Quintus burned in his palace, betrayed by his greatest general. Against a background of war, decay, poverty and violence, men who once served in the proud Imperial army now fight as mercenaries, hiring themselves to the greediest lords. On a hopeless battlefield that same general, now a mercenary captain tortured by the events of his past, stumbles across hope in the form of a young man begging for help. Kiva is forced to face more than his dark past as he struggles to put his life and the very Empire back together. The last scion of the Imperial line will change Kiva forever.
Marius’ Mules I: The Invasion of Gaul (2009) *
It is 58 BC and the mighty Tenth Legion, camped in Northern Italy, prepares for the arrival of the most notorious general in Roman history: Julius Caesar. Marcus Falerius Fronto, commander of the Tenth is a career soldier and long-time companion of Caesar's. Despite his desire for the simplicity of the military life, he cannot help but be drawn into intrigue and politics as Caesar engineers a motive to invade the lands of Gaul. Fronto is about to discover that politics can be as dangerous as battle, that old enemies can be trusted more than new friends, and that standing close to such a shining figure as Caesar, the most ethical of men risk being burned.
Other recommended works set in the Byzantine & Medieval worlds:
Strategos - Born in the Borderlands by Gordon Doherty (2011)
When the falcon has flown, the mountain lion will charge from the east, and all Byzantium will quake. Only one man can save the empire . . . the Haga! 1046 AD. The Byzantine Empire teeters on full-blown war with the Seljuk Sultanate. In the borderlands of Eastern Anatolia, a land riven with bloodshed and doubt, young Apion's life is shattered in one swift and brutal Seljuk night raid. Only the benevolence of Mansur, a Seljuk farmer, offers him a second chance of happiness. Yet a hunger for revenge burns in Apion's soul, and he is drawn down a dark path that leads him right into the heart of a conflict that will echo through the ages.
Gisborne: Book of Pawns by Prue Batten (2014)
In a world where status means power and survival depends on how the game is played, two people, one a squire wronged in life and one a noblewoman, are drawn together by lust and a lost inheritance in twelfth century England. Guy of Gisborne is a man with secrets, Ysabel of Moncrieff, a naïve and opinionated noblewoman whose world comes tumbling down like the stones of a mighty cathedral on the death of her mother. Gisborne is ordered to Aquitaine to escort the young woman home to attend to her grieving father and whilst travelling, she discovers Gisborne’s secrets are not just connected with his family but with the throne of England. And with revenge.
Suddenly Ysabel is confronted with the fact that history can be shaped unconscionably by those in power and that she and Gisborne could lose their lives.
* Sequels in all series also available
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