In the spring of the following year, the dry southerly winds rose from Anatolia, and they swept across the plateau, and the shepherds drove the horses and sheep into the shady mountains, and the strong flowers and plants began to bloom, and in two months they were about to spread the whole land, and the wind kept going, but when they reached the long Pontus Mountains in the north, they were blocked by their solid arms, and under the teeth-biting inky peaks and verdant steep slopes, the various merchant houses on the high terraces of Trabzon Churches and workshops are lined up, people from all walks of life on this ocean come and go, chimneys emit lively fireworks, and merchant ships of all sizes are moored in the blue-black and quiet water, and the upper part of the mast is wrapped with a light mist from the Yukexing Sea. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

On the edge of the terrace, next to the peak, in the three-storey cave "Monastery of Our Lady", in the vaulted hall, the old general Theodoro is taking out a letter made of parchment, the border is with icons and drawings drawn by craftsmen, inside is dense text, and at the bottom right is the seal of the princes of Rus', "The bastards Polovtsi (Cumans, that is, Kipchaks), who crossed the river and attacked our castle before the snow melted in the spring, destroyed all the cave monasteries under the city, and forced the upright monks to renounce their faith, But no one complied, and hundreds of monks were martyred, beheaded with sabers, burned at the stake, and shot monks and peasants as stacks of arrows. Gabuyas, they have burned down even the 'Red Palace' on the hill outside Kiev, where our ancestors lived, like locusts that cover the sky and the sun, and we beg you to return the three hundred young attendants (the personal soldiers of the princes of Rus') and a thousand foot horsemen that were sent to you last winter, otherwise in the future the mongrels of Polovtsy will capture your Kherson, and in the bazaars there the Rus and Roman captives will be strung together and sold into slavery......"

"The Emperor's means." The old general rebuked him with a sigh of rage, threw the letter on the table, and then turned to his wife, Marianne, who was sitting on the couch by the wall, and said, "He is trying to get the Komaloi to burn the land of Rus, and then urge me again and again to go south to attack Gawain in Tarsus, to break up my forces, to disrupt my disposition, and to make me exhausted." ”

"And you're always going to overthrow Komnenos, aren't you?" The beautiful lady of Alanya descent on the couch asked softly and cautiously.

Theodoro glanced at his wife, then paced two steps, turned his back to her and looked out at the sea view, and muttered, "My grudge with the emperor cannot be resolved, and all his courtesies to me are expedient measures for each other. After Komnenos seized the throne that year, the Norman Robert . Guiscut, who supported Emperor Mikhail and your sister's son Constantine, crossed the sea and invaded Durazo, to which I responded; Later, when the Rus' and Pechenegs embraced Romanus's untruthful son, Leo, I also helped - in fact, the Emperor hated me to death, and it is for this reason that although the Emperor has a deep relationship with your sister, it is impossible for the entire Komnenos family, including Alexios himself, to put your sister in the position of Empress again. ”

The old general said this in order to make his wife understand his pain in immediately starting the army - "Although you and Marlena are sisters, the emperor and I will never be able to coexist."

But after a long silence, Theodoro still did not hear a word from Marianne, and finally turned back in wonder, but saw that Marianne on the couch had an indescribable face, as if she had a fever, her cheeks were red and white, and she also held a brown paper roll in her hand, and the sea breeze poured in through the windows of the monastery caves, and the paper scroll in Marianne's hand was blown back and forth, like a raven-colored rain butterfly.

"What's wrong, Marianne?"

"My husband, now you have to make a decision."

Theodoro strode forward with concern, took the roll of paper from his wife's hand, opened it and looked at it twice, and then closed it urgently, trembling all over.

At the edge of the archway steps, the loyal armored squire stood erect with a peacock feather helmet in his hand, watching all this, not knowing what was happening, and waiting anxiously for the old general's orders.

"Inform the whole army, including the Rus' mercenaries, to hurry towards Amisus and the New Caesarea Gate! If the Rus' ask what the motive is, they say that in the port of Amisus, I will send them back to Kiev by boat. With that, a platoon of heralds hurried down, and Theodoro then took the squire's helmet and tied it to his silver-haired head.

Marianne, dressed in fluttering clothes, jumped off the couch, and at once half-knelt between Theodoro's arms, and raised her face with tears streaming down her face, "If the Gabuyas family and Trabzon are involved in this matter, I don't know how to atone for my sins." ”

"Marianne, my wife, what does this matter have to do with you? It is because your husband is destined to be a lion on the snowy peaks of the mountain, and when my army reaches the city of Pravel, I believe, I believe, that in the end, everything will be settled with the banner and the sword! The old general affectionately lifted his wife, kissed her, took the golden-handled sword from the chamberlain, hung it on his belt, and walked down the long staircase down the monastery.

On the second floor of the large pier below, many merchants from the city of Iconium surrounded Theodoro in a noisy manner, and the leader of them held out a beautiful box, "What kind of message do you bring, O crows that Gawain has released to peck at carrion?" It's catastrophic, or it's auspicious. The old general's finger stretched out and touched the smooth and elegant edge of the box.

Several merchants opened it, and the flash of gold and precious stones caused Theodoro's face to move back slightly.

Inside was the crown of the lion, the crown of the lion, carefully re-polished and inlayed, which Gawain removed from the top of his head, employed twelve goldsmiths, and carried it by a close merchant and sent it to Trabzon according to Magrundius's strategy.

"The Patron is willing to support you on the Holy Shield of Christ, and if His Highness sends an army to Pveral, the Patron is willing to attack the cities of Anglas and Germanico before the Emperor to crush the tyrannical rule of the Komnenos in this empire. The Patron was then willing to divide the empire equally with His Highness, with the two sides bounded by the Harris, Sakarya, and Mendrais rivers. The merchant holding the box whispered earnestly, craned his neck and said to the old general, who Theodoro described as "crows", both as money chasers on the trade route and as spies and messengers of Gawain.

Theodoro laughed patheticly, and then many of the merchants held the box in their hands, like a multitude of swords stretched out, and forced the old general in the middle, with constant flattering words. On the terrace of the cave of the monastery, Marianne held on to the stone pillar, closed her eyes fiercely in the wind, and touched her forehead against it, her mood fluctuating in tension...... (To be continued~^~)