Siege

by Jack Hight

'I am Lucas Notaras, megadux of Constantinople,' Notaras replied. 'I have come on behalf of the Emperor Constantine to deliver his response to the sultan.'

  'Very well,' Halil replied. 'You must remove your weapons.' Notaras unbelted his sword and handed it to the janissary leader. The giant man began to search Notaras, but Halil waived him off. 'I will search him personally, Ulu,' he said. He quickly searched Notaras, patting his sides and feeling under his armour. When he had finished, Halil waived Notaras forward. 'Follow me.'

  Notaras followed Halil into the tent. The floor and walls were covered with thick carpets, and the space was well lit with braziers and lanterns. On the far side of the tent the sultan lounged upon a divan, surrounded by generals in dark-grey armour and advisors in robes of gold and scarlet. Janissary guards lined the sides of the tent. Ulu followed Notaras inside and stood directly behind him. Halil motioned for Notaras to stop some twenty feet from the sultan. The grand vizier then spoke to Mehmed loudly in Turkish. Notaras understood nothing but his own name.

  When Halil had finished, he turned and addressed Notaras in Greek. 'It is customary to kneel before the sultan.'

  Notaras frowned. 'I am megadux of the Roman Empire. I kneel before no man but the emperor.'

  There was grumbling from all sides at his response. Ulu leaned forward and growled in Notaras's ear, 'Bow before the sultan, dog.'

  Notaras stood his ground. Ulu began to draw his sword, but the sultan waved him back. 'Let him be, Ulu,' Mehmed said in Greek. 'If the megadux will only kneel before his master, then so be it. He shall kneel before me soon enough. Now tell me, what message do you bring from the emperor?'

  'The emperor will not surrender,' Notaras said. 'Nor will he ever serve you. He does ask, however, that you give safe passage to any women or children who wish to leave the city.'

  Mehmed laughed. 'The emperor refuses my offer, and yet he makes demands.' The smile fell from Mehmed's lips, and when he spoke again his voice was harsh. 'There will be no safe passage. The people of Constantinople have had their chance to flee. When Constantinople falls, my soldiers will be given two days to sack the city. That is our law. I cannot change it. Tell that to your emperor. You may go.'

  Notaras did not move. 'I have not finished. There is more that I must tell you, but I must speak to you alone.'

  'Alone?' Mehmed retorted. 'Do you think me a fool? Whatever you have to say, you may say it here.'

  Notaras glanced around the room at the men lining the walls. He would have preferred to speak to the sultan in private, but what he had to say would become known soon enough. And besides, most of the brutes in the tent probably did not speak Greek. 'I wish to make you an offer, Sultan,' Notaras said. 'You have seen how strong the walls of Constantinople are. The people of Constantinople are equally strong. They will fight to the death, and your army will be broken upon our walls.'

  Mehmed sat upright. 'You speak of an offer, and yet I hear only insults,' he snapped. 'What is it that you wish to say? Speak quickly, Megadux, before I lose my patience.'

  'I can show you a way into the city.'

  'And what do you seek in return?'

  'The emperor is a fool to reject your offer,' Notaras said. 'I am no fool. I ask for that which you offered the emperor: the territory of the Morea to rule as emperor.'

  'Is that all?'

  'I ask also that the Orthodox Church be allowed to remain in Constantinople and that the monk Gennadius be made patriarch. He is a wise man. It is he who showed me the way into the city.'

  'A pity that he is not here, then,' Mehmed said. He paused, studying Notaras. The seconds passed, and Notaras could feel sweat beading on his forehead. If the sultan did not accept his offer, then all was lost. Finally, Mehmed spoke, but not to Notaras. 'What do you think of this offer, Halil?'

  'I know of this monk, Gennadius. He is the one who warned us of the attempt to burn our fleet,' Halil replied. 'He can be trusted. I think that you should consider the megadux's offer.'

  Mehmed nodded and turned back to Notaras. 'I have heard of you, Megadux. You have a reputation.'

  'Then you know that you can trust my word.'

  'What I have heard,' Mehmed continued, 'is that you would do anything to protect the Roman Empire, even sacrifice your life. Yet now you offer me Constantinople. Why?'

  'I fought for the people of Constantinople,' Notaras said. 'They have betrayed their faith. They have betrayed me. There is nobody left there to fight for.'

  'Not even the emperor?'

  'The city will be better ruled by you than by Constantine,' Notaras replied. 'He turned our defences over to a Latin and sold our city to the pope for nothing. He has sealed his fate. I would rather live under the sultan than under such a man.'

  'Very well. Show me the way into the city. If you can offer me Constantinople, then you will have everything you ask for and more.' Longo and Constantine stood on the wall above the Golden Gate, their eyes fixed upon the distant tent of the sultan. Sphrantzes and Dalmata had joined them, and they all waited in silence. Sphrantzes bit at his thumbnail, while Dalmata fingered the hilt of his sword. Constantine gripped the wall. Longo stood with his hands clasped tight behind his back. Finally, Notaras emerged from the tent. His polished armour flashed in the sun, making him recognizable even at this great distance. His horse was brought to him, and Notaras mounted.

  'He is safe,' Constantine said. 'Thank God for that. The megadux is a difficult man. But he is brave, and his men love him. I do not know how we would have replaced him.'

  Longo merely nodded. Notaras was not out of danger yet. A dozen mounted janissaries surrounded him and led the megadux some twenty yards from the sultan's tent. Then they stopped. 'Look,' Longo said. 'The sultan.' Mehmed had emerged from the tent, and all around him Turks were kneeling. A horse was brought to Mehmed, and he mounted and joined the group around Notaras. Together, they all set off at a trot, riding towards the walls of Constantinople.

  'Perhaps the sultan is honouring the megadux by escorting him from his camp,' Sphrantzes suggested.

  'Or perhaps Notaras is being led to his execution,' Dalmata countered grimly.

  The group of horsemen had passed the Turkish fortifications now. They stopped just short of the range of the Christian cannons, turned to their left, and began to ride parallel to the walls. They were close enough now that Longo could make out their gestures. Notaras seemed to be pointing to the walls as he rode.

  'What is he doing?' Constantine asked. Notaras brought his horse to a halt opposite the point where the single Blachernae wall met with the Theodosian double walls. A huge round tower stood at the juncture of the two walls. 'It is there,' Notaras called back to the sultan, who sat astride a horse some ten feet away. He pointed to the dark wedge of space formed where the curve of the tower met the Blachernae wall. 'There is a sally port called the Kerkoporta hidden by the curve of the tower. It allows troops to emerge and surprise anybody who is attacking the Blachernae wall.'

  'That is all you have to show me?' Mehmed called back. 'What good will this do?'

  'If you attack just before dawn in two day's time, I will see to it that your men find the door unlocked and unguarded,' Notaras replied. 'From there, your men can enter the city. They will attack the defenders from behind, and the city will fall.'

  Mehmed rode his horse closer to Notaras. 'How do I know that this is not some trick? I see no door. Perhaps you hope to have my men ride into an ambush.'

  'The Kerkoporta is there,' Notaras insisted. 'Come closer and I can point it out to you.' After a pause, Mehmed spurred his horse forward, so that he was now only a few feet from Notaras.

  'Where is it?' the sultan asked.

  Notaras leaned over and pointed with one hand, while his other hand slipped inside his armour. 'There.'

  'Yes, I see it!' Mehmed said. The words had hardly escaped his lips when Notaras pulled a pouch from inside his breastplate and flung the contents at the sultan. A white cloud of powder enveloped Mehmed. He collapsed in his saddle and t
hen fell from his horse, shaking and coughing violently. At the same time Notaras was pulled from his saddle from behind. He landed hard on his back, and before he could move he found Ulu's curved sword inches from his face. Out of the corner of his eye, Notaras could see that Mehmed had stopped moving. Notaras heard cheering coming from the walls of Constantinople. He smiled, then Ulu kicked him hard in the side.

  'You will pay for this, dog,' Ulu growled. 'You will wish that you had never lived.' Halil had watched as Mehmed's motionless body was taken back to the sultan's tent, and then he had called a meeting of the army's generals for that night. Now, he watched from behind a curtain as one by one the generals filed into his tent. Only Ulu was missing. The generals shifted uncertainly and talked in hushed tones. They needed somebody to take command, Halil thought, to tell them what to do. They would be grateful to Halil for seizing power until the next sultan was of age. Halil let them wait a few minutes more and then entered.

  'Greetings,' he began. 'I have called you here tonight to discuss what must be done in the wake of the sultan's death. These are dark times, but we cannot let ourselves forget the task at hand. The army is uncertain. We must show the men strength, despite this tragedy.'

  'What are you suggesting?' Ishak Pasha asked. 'That we continue the siege even after the sultan's death?' Halil nodded. 'But how will we get the men to fight? Some of my men have already begun to pack.'

  'My men have no stomach for a fight either,' added Mahmud Pasha, the bazibozouk commander. 'If I order them to fight, I will have a mutiny on my hands!'

  'You are wrong, Mahmud Pasha,' Halil replied. 'If we let the men go, then we will have mutinies and chaos. Think! If we disband the army now and retreat, then we will be weak and defenceless. The Christians armies of Hungary and Poland are waiting for just such an opportunity to strike, and who knows if we can rally men to a child sultan? But if we stay and defeat Constantinople, then all the world will know of our strength.'

  'But the men will only fight for a sultan,' Ishak Pasha insisted.

  'And they will,' Halil said. 'They will fight for the memory of Mehmed. He began this siege. It was the great work of his reign. He would want us to see it to the end, to take vengeance for his death. Tell that to your men.'

  'And who will command the attack without a sultan?' Ishak Pasha asked.

  'I am the grand vizier,' Halil replied. 'It is my duty to rule until the next sultan is of age.' He met the eyes of the men around him, challenging them to question him, but none of the generals spoke. 'Very well, then. It is decided. I…' Halil was interrupted by the arrival of Ulu. 'What is it?' Halil snapped.

  'The sultan wishes to see you, Grand Vizier.'

  'The sultan?' Ishak Pasha asked. The other generals began to whisper amongst themselves. The blood drained from Halil's face. He felt as if he might be sick.

  'What do you mean? The sultan is dead.'

  'No, he lives,' Ulu replied. 'And he requests your presence immediately.'

  'Very well. Tell the sultan that I will be there shortly,' Halil said. 'Generals, you may go.' As the generals filed out, Halil hurried into the inner chamber of his tent. He grabbed a sack of gold coins and poured it into a dish. It was customary to bring a gift when called suddenly into the sultan's presence. If the sultan wished merely to speak with you, then the gift would be a welcome reminder of your value. If the sultan was angry, then the gift might save your life. Halil only wished that he had something more lavish to bring.

  As he stepped out of his tent, two janissaries grabbed his arms and pinned them behind his back. The dish fell from his hands, spilling coins everywhere. Ulu stepped forward and pulled a black cloth sack over Halil's head. The world went black, and Halil began to scream when a brutal punch to the stomach cut him short. The janissaries dragged him away, limp and unresisting. They were gone before the last of the coins had stopped rolling. When the sack was removed, Halil found himself face to face with the sultan. Halil was lying on a table, his hands, feet, and head tied down so that he could not move. Mehmed was standing over him. The sultan was pale, but other than that he looked no different than he had that morning. Halil swallowed nervously.

  'What is the matter, Halil?' Mehmed asked. 'You look as if you have seen a ghost.'

  'The poison,' Halil managed. 'How did you survive?'

  'Have you not heard?' Mehmed asked, smiling. 'It is a miracle. Allah favours me. All my men believe it to be so. They are sure that now, with Allah on our side, the walls of Constantinople will fall.'

  'But I saw the megadux attack you,' Halil insisted. 'I saw your body. You were dead.'

  'Perhaps you only saw what you wished to see, Halil.'

  'Me?' Halil protested. 'But surely Your Highness does not believe that…'

  'Silence!' Mehmed snarled. He then resumed in a more even tone. 'I do not wish to hear any more of your lies, Halil. But you will tell the truth soon enough. You will tell me everything. Isa will see to that.'

  'Isa!' Halil exclaimed. He had thought Isa dead. If he were alive and here, then Halil was doomed. Isa would have told Mehmed everything. 'Do not believe anything he says, great Sultan. He is an assassin. You cannot trust him.'

  'I trust nobody,' Mehmed said. 'But Isa saved my life. He gave me the antidote even before the megadux tried to kill me. He also told me about you and Sitt Hatun, about your child Selim. No, Isa is not the one who has betrayed me.'

  'Lies. I never betrayed you. I swear it,' Halil pleaded. 'I knew nothing of the megadux's plot. I dealt with the monk Gennadius only to defeat Constantinople.'

  'No, you plotted with Gennadius to kill me so that your son could rule in my stead. You betrayed me, and you will suffer accordingly.'

  'But I have given you the key to the city!'

  'Indeed?' Mehmed asked. He leaned forward until his face was only inches from Halil's. 'Speak truly now. Is the plot with the monk Gennadius real? Will the Kerkoporta be unlocked and unguarded as the megadux said?'

  'Yes,' Halil said. 'I swear it. You may kill me if I lie.'

  'The megadux says differently. He says that it was only a lie so that he could get close enough to kill me.'

  'The megadux is a fool, Gennadius only used him as a tool.'

  'I see. And how do I contact this Gennadius?'

  'There are tunnels…'

  'The tunnels have been destroyed, Halil,' Mehmed said. 'If that is all that you have to tell me, then I have no further use for you.'

  'No, please!' Halil begged. 'There is another way. Spare my life, and I will tell you.' Mehmed nodded, and Halil continued. 'The megadux, he can deliver the message.'

  'The megadux will be dead before another day passes.'

  'Exactly. His dead body will bear the message,' Halil explained. 'Gennadius is a monk. If he performs the burial, then he will find the message.'

  'And if someone else finds it?'

  'Then you will have lost nothing. But you have everything to gain if Gennadius does help you.'

  'Very clever, Halil. We will see if your scheme works.' Mehmed stepped away from the table so that Halil could no longer see him. 'Isa, he is all yours,' Halil heard him say. 'You may do as you wish but do not kill him. I wish to reserve that pleasure for myself.'

  'No, wait!' Halil screamed. 'You said you would spare me!'

  'You of all people should know better than to be so trusting,' Mehmed said, and Halil heard him walk away. A second later Isa appeared over Halil. He held a bowl in his hand and was slowly stirring something.

  'Do you know what this is?' Isa asked.

  Halil ignored him. 'Help me, Isa,' he pleaded. 'Set me free. I will give you money, women, lands.'

  'This is a special poison,' Isa continued as if he had not heard Halil. 'Eaten, it is fatal…'

  'Please, Isa, listen to me,' Halil said. 'I can give you anything you want.'

  '… but placed on the skin, it acts more slowly.'

  'Damn you, Isa,' Halil cursed. 'If you will not help me, then you can go to hell. I do not fear yo
ur poisons. Death does not frighten me.'

  Isa shook his head. 'This poison will not kill you, Halil, but it will make you wish for death.' He took a brush from the bowl and dabbed a small amount of the poison on to Halil's forehead. Halil felt nothing at first, then there was a tingling that grew in intensity until it was a burning pain, a live coal set on his forehead. He began to scream.

  'Make it stop! Please, Isa! I'll do anything, anything you want!'

  'I only wish for you to suffer as my family suffered,' Isa whispered in his ear. 'That, Halil, is all I want from you.'

  Chapter 22

  MONDAY 28 MAY 1453, CONSTANTINOPLE: DAY 58 OF THE SIEGE

  As the sun rose the next day, Longo stood on the inner wall of Constantinople and inspected the progress that his men had made reconstructing the rampart before the Mesoteichion. With the sultan's cannons silent, it was the first chance that they had had in weeks to properly address the damage there. Longo had spent a sleepless night at the walls, urging his men to work and keeping an eye on the Turkish camp. The last that he had seen of the sultan, he had appeared dead, killed by Notaras. Rumours were rampant in Constantinople that the siege would now be lifted. Longo was not so sure.

  A sound in the distance caught Longo's attention, and he looked out to where a procession was just leaving the Turkish camp, marching to the beat of a drum. At the head of the procession marched a troop of around fifty janissaries. Bringing up the rear was a regiment of Anatolian cavalry some one hundred strong. Between them rode a single rider in distinctive red and black armour. Two long chains trailed from the rider's saddle, and at the far end of those chains, half-walking and half-dragging, was Notaras, still dressed in his ceremonial armour. Longo knew immediately what he was seeing.

  'William!' Longo called down to where William was overseeing the placement of additional cannons on the rampart. 'The Turks are going to execute Notaras. Hurry to the palace and inform the emperor.'

  The emperor arrived a few minutes later, with Dalmata and Sofia by his side. Longo and Sofia exchanged a look. 'She should see this,' Constantine explained to Longo. 'Notaras was her betrothed.'