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  Now the Emperor had to overcome a further challenge. He had believed after the recent reinforcement of the city that the Turkish fleet was not a factor. Constantinople was safe behind the sea wall and apparently able to receive relief fleets that could ram their way through the inferior and inexperienced Turkish fleet. Now the situation had drastically changed. Now the Turks would have ships directly in the inner harbor of the city.

  With ships within the Golden Horn there were three additional problems. First, the sea chain was effectively neutralized. While the chain kept the two Turkish fleets from uniting, it did nothing now to protect the Golden Horn. Second, the Turkish Fleet presented a threat to the mixed Italian and Greek fleet within the Horn. This fleet had served as a buffer if the sea chain fell, and also had already proved effective at protecting the chain and shepherding the relief fleet to the city. Third, a large chunk of additional sea wall was now open to a potential attack by the Turks. This meant that Constantine and Giovanni would have to pull additional men out of their razor thin defenses to defend the sea wall along the Horn from the possibility of a sudden attack.

  Did God hate him? Must each victory be met with an immediate defeat? He had been so excited when the fleet came through. And then the news that perhaps Mehmet had decided to evacuate the city. This apparent miracle turned into horror when Constantine realized what was really happening. Instead of fleeing, Mehmet was once again adapting and overcoming a weakness. Constantine forced himself to be calm. His life was essentially defined by overcoming and adapting to disappointment. He could deal with this turn of events but it was time to figure out how.

  “Loukas my friend,” said the Emperor. “You were exactly correct. The road was for porting these cursed ships into our back yard. How do we deal with the problem?”

  “My Lord, we need to attack this fleet and destroy it as quickly as possible. If we do not, they will probably destroy the sea chain or attack the city.”

  “I understand the problem, Notaras,” responded Constantine, a bit irritably. “I need solutions, not a recitation of the obvious.”

  Notaras bowed and Constantine realized he was letting his strain show through. He smiled and put a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “I am sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you. Of course your advice and thoughts are important to me.”

  Notaras smiled in return. “It’s no matter my liege. I would suggest we attack the Turkish Fleet at night with our fire ships, and destroy it.”

  “When would you suggest we make the attempt?”

  “We have to do it right away my Lord. We do not really have the men to guard the sea walls, and if we let them get settled they might launch a surprise attack on our fleet.”

  “Do you think them capable?”

  “They certainly performed poorly the other day, but that does not mean they will continue to do so. We cannot risk the loss of our fleet. If we were defeated in the Golden Horn, I don’t know how the city could survive. Our sea walls are thin and feeble compared to the land walls, if there are substantial troops ferried over, we would not be able to hold them back, not with the forces we have available to us.”

  “Sphrantzes, what do you think?”

  “Does it matter what he thinks? What does he know of the Navy?”

  Constantine saw Sphrantzes stiffen. “Notaras, I’m tired of your . . .”

  “Enough!” interrupted Constantine, tiring of the two men’s constant infighting. “I want to hear from Sphrantzes.”

  “I agree with Notaras, so long as he is successful. A failure with substantial losses would be worse than doing nothing.”

  Constantine considered the issue. Sphrantzes was right, if they lost a portion of the fleet on an attack, they would be even worse off than they were right now. Still, he could not allow the Turks free reign in the Horn. “Notaras, mount the attack.”

  “Yes my Lord.” Notaras bowed and quickly departed.

  Sphrantzes also soon departed to check on the status of the land walls and check in with Giovanni. Constantine stayed through the afternoon and early evening, watching the preparations at the harbor. Notaras was doing his best to keep the preparations secret, ordering that only one ship be prepared at a time so that the Turks were not alerted that a general naval attack was being prepared. Sphrantzes reported later in the evening that he was unable to locate Giovanni. Perhaps the Italian leader was out inspecting forces in another part of the city.

  Evening fell into darkness. The preparations were gradually completed and Notaras was ready to go. He was personally leading the attack. Constantine positioned himself on a rooftop near the harbor with a commanding view of the Golden Horn. Sphrantzes and Giovanni joined him to watch the attack.

  Slowly and almost imperceptibly in the darkness, they could make out their ships slipping off the dock and into the Horn. Ten shadows. There was very little sound and no light. Constantine wondered how Notaras would keep the ships from colliding with each other in the darkness. He hoped everything would go well. Soon the ships were fading into the darkness and they had to simply wait.

  Constantine chatted nervously with his advisors as time ticked by. Finally he made out a dim light across the Horn. The first ship must have made contact with the Turkish fleet. Another light flickered and then another and another until there were a dozen and then dozens. Something was wrong, the lights were spread out and far too numerous to represent the ten ship fleet of the Greeks. These lights were coming from the Turkish fleet and from the shore nearby. The lights had come on almost simultaneously, not the reaction to a surprise attack. Rather . . .

  “They were warned,” whispered the Emperor.

  “How can that be My Lord?” asked Sphrantzes.

  “I do not know, but they were not surprised. Look at them. They were already on the ships with lights ready. They knew the attack was coming.”

  How had they known? Were they just well prepared for any attack? Constantine could not see how they could have been that prepared. It would be one thing to be vigilant, but having fire ready for each ship, and having the watch fires almost simultaneously appear on what seemed to be every ship was very unlikely. Someone had informed the Turks of what was going on. But who? None of his close advisors would tell the Turks anything. How could it benefit them? They must have had someone watching at the harbor. Had any small boats left ahead of the fleet? Perhaps someone snuck through the land walls? That seemed highly improbable. There must have been a spy in the harbor, or perhaps in the Horn on a small boat keeping a lookout. Whatever the reason, surprise had not been achieved, and surprise was essential.

  Cannon fire and flashes of light could now be seen and was followed by the delayed reports over the water. They watched silently, helplessly, as the battle lit up the opposite shore. Eventually the flashes began to fade away and then all was silent. They waited for what seemed an endless time in the darkness for their ships to reappear. Finally Constantine could make out first one then two shadows reemerging from the darkness. Two ships total.

  They rushed down to the docks as the vessels pulled in. They were battered and pitted from cannon fire. Constantine saw with relief that Notaras’s ship was one of the two and his admiral soon jumped down onto the dock.

  “They were waiting for us. I do not know how, but they were ready for us. We crossed the Horn completely quiet and in the dark. There is no way they could have known we were coming. Then, almost at once, fires were lit on the ships and I could make them out. They were packed with Turkish soldiers, armed to the teeth, cannon primed. We were betrayed.”

  “Betrayed, or was this a simple failure?” asked Sphrantzes. “With no disrespect Notaras, you should have anticipated that they might be prepared. Why did you not retreat immediately when you saw they were ready for you? Now we are down eight critical ships. We cannot afford such losses. You should have done your job, or brought your ships home. You have done neither and now we are in a critically weak position. How can we defend against an attack now? You should be replaced! Yo
u have cost us the city!”

  Notaras turned red faced and lunged at Sphrantzes, striking him hard in the cheek and sending him flying to the ground. “You bastard Sphrantzes! Is it not enough I have lost so many ships and men? Must I endure your foul accusations? What do you know of battle, you spineless worm? You whisper your poison to the Emperor but you do nothing to save the city!”

  “Hah. At least I do not hand it over to the Turks! You have as much as done so with your foolish attack. You attacked with far more ships that our Italian friends had when they entered the city, and you have lost eight ships when they lost none. Perhaps we need an Italian leader for the fleet. They know the worth of their ships and do not give them up so easily.”

  “You are truly an idiot. How was I to turn my ships at the last moment? We were already prepared for battle. I was prepared for the possibility that they would see us coming and have time to prepare some quick defenses. I was not prepared for an ambush. No one could have saved those ships. Certainly not a court lackey like you!”

  “Enough!” shouted Constantine. “I’ve had enough. This loss is terrible, worse than anything I could have expected. Let us not make it worse with accusations that will only harm our cause. Notaras my friend, get some rest and we will evaluate things in the morning. Set a close watch on the Horn though to assure they do not counterattack in the night. Sphrantzes, come with me, you have done enough harm here.”

  They rode off in to the darkness, picking their way through the city along with sea walls as they traveled back toward the palace.

  “My Lord, I’m sorry I lost my temper there. There is just so much at risk.”

  “I am not angry. Perhaps those things even needed to be said. I agree with you that Notaras should have not depended so much on surprise. There are traitors and spies in the city. He must know that. He should have been ready for anything.”

  “Thank you my Lord, but it gives me no pleasure to be right in this. What can we do now?”

  Constantine hesitated. It was a good question. Now things were even worse. They had lost an important part of the fleet and in losing these ships they had also given the Turks confidence in the Ottoman fighting ability at sea. This would likely encourage them to launch even more attacks and even potentially to attack the sea wall. What could he do? Did he think this was going to be simple, that the Turks would do whatever he wanted them to? He must adapt, as always.

  “We will take a small reserve from elsewhere in the city and station them near the Horn sea walls in case of an attack. It seems we can spare a few men from the sea walls on the Marmara side, since there have been no attacks there yet. I am not going to replace Notaras, but I will order him to have our fleet at a constant state of readiness in case we are attacked again.

  “All sensible ideas, although I think you should replace . . .”

  “I’m not doing it Sphrantzes. Enough.”

  Sphrantzes bowed. “As you wish my Lord.”

  “I am going to do one other thing and I want you to coordinate this. I want you to take a small ship and disguise it with men dressed as Turks. Find a bold captain. I want you to order this ship to sail on the morning tide. I want the ship to head out all the way past the Dardanelles if need be. I need to know when the relief fleets are going to get here. Have them find as much out as possible, then turn around and report in. I need to know how long I need to hold the city before help will arrive.”

  “An excellent idea, my Lord. I will do so immediately. One other question. Do you think the Turks were tipped off we were coming?”

  “I do not know. I would like to know.”

  “I’ll see if I can poke around and find out My Lord.”

  “Thank you George. You are a good friend, even if you’re a little opinionated at times.”

  Sphrantzes smiled. “Nobody is perfect my Lord.” He whipped his horse around and headed back to the harbor.

  Constantine was left in the darkness. Only when his friend was long out of sight did the Emperor turn his horse away from the palace, and ride slowly to Zophia’s. He knew she would be displeased to see him. He knew she would likely turn him away. He had to try. He was falling apart without her. He prayed a silent prayer to God, asking for mercy for his city, and mercy for himself.

  Constantine dismounted before Zophia’s house and knocked softly on her door. There was no answer. He knocked again and eventually she opened the door. She was surprised to see him. He searched her eyes to see what emotions were playing over them. He saw excitement and happiness which quickly turned to a stern glare.

  “I asked you not to come here Constantine. I do not know how clear I have to be.”

  “It’s the end of the world my dear isn’t it? Can I not at least talk to you?” Where did that come from? “The end of the world?” Finally he had said it. He had for so long refused to even think about the situation of the city and certainly tried to keep it from others. Did he really feel it was the end? It was possible he realized. Saying it out loud for some reason made him feel calmer. He wished he could just be done with it. Even if he fell in battle, at least it would be the end of this weary lifetime of disappointment.

  “You do not really mean that Constantine. You will not give up. You do not have it in you.”

  Of course she was right, as she always was. “Can I please come in, just for a few minutes.”

  She paused and he could see the pain in her eyes. “No. I cannot let you. I told you.”

  “Please, I’m begging you. I need you. Just for a few minutes. I promise I won’t touch you.”

  She sighed. “For a few minutes then. And just for tea.”

  She turned around and walked into the kitchen. Constantine followed her. He looked around fondly, feeling so happy to be here. He was overwhelmed with memories. Her smell filled the room. They had spent so much time here. A refuge from all of his troubles. He looked at the roaring fire and the furs laid out before it. He remembered making love to her so many times here. So many different evenings together. Not just being together but talking, laughing, crying together.

  “So how are things? I have not seen any Turks breaking down my door yet, so I assume we still hold the city?” She teased him a little, like she used to, and it made Constantine yearn for her even more.

  “Oh you know, everything is fine. Really no problems at all.”

  “Oh stop it Constantine,” she laughed. “Truly, how are things?”

  “Truthfully, terrible, but not without hope. The reinforcements and food we received from the Genoese has helped. I think our food supplies will last a few more months, by which time the Turks should have left, or we should have received additional reinforcements. The Turks keep battering the walls by day and Giovanni rebuilds them by night. They have not breached the walls again since the first time, and we are managing to hold our own. The sea situation is now a real mess, and we lost a batch of ships. Well, Notaras did.”

  “That sounds like Sphrantzes talking.”

  “What if Sphrantzes is right? What if Notaras is a poor commander?”

  “What of it? How many ships do you have left? And I do not believe it for a minute anyway. He is the one who came up with the idea to rebuild the sea chain right? And did he not defeat the Turkish fleet when they attacked the chain? It seems he has done pretty well. Do not let petty rivalries cloud your judgment.”

  “I suppose you are right my love. I do grow tired of their constant bickering. That is the last thing I need in the middle of this nightmare. It is almost as bad as not being able to see you.”

  She stiffened. “That was not my choice. How is your princess by the way? I have not seen any Georgian fleets ravaging the Turks.”

  “Please my darling. Let us not talk about that.” He moved closer to her, putting his hand on her shoulder. She started to pull back but he held her. “I have missed you so terribly Zophia. I need you. I cannot go on without you. Can you not please put this foolishness aside?”

  She drew close to him, putting her arm
s around him and pulled him to her. She held him tightly. He could feel her shaking, sobbing. She held him for long moments. Then she drew away, wiping away her tears.

  “I love you Constantine. I always will love you. Nothing has changed. But I have to remain true to who I am. You have made your choices. I will be here, but I cannot be with you.”

  “Can we please just spend time together? I need someone to talk to, someone to trust and to listen to me. Someone to share with. I cannot do this without you.” He moved forward to hold her again but she stepped back and put up her hands.

  “I am sorry Constantine. I cannot do it. I cannot spend time with you without falling apart. I need and want you too. If I spend any time with you, I will weaken and take you to my bed again. I want to do so right now.”

  “Then do it. Please!”

  “I cannot. Please, I do not have the strength to say no. I need you to leave. I need you to leave now. I’m sorry my love. I love you so much. You know I do. But I cannot be with you. I cannot spend time with you. I have to be true to myself.”

  “You know why I had to do what I did.”

  “As I have told you, I understand why you feel you had to do what you did, but whether you feel it is necessary or not, I will not be your mistress. I am either yours alone or I am not yours at all.”

  Constantine fell to his knees clinging to her legs, weeping. “Please Zophia. Please, I need you. I cannot do this anymore.”

  She held his head, held him close, weeping with him. “Be strong my dear. I have never known anyone stronger than you. I will always be with you, you know that. But I cannot be physically together with you, so long as you are seeking out another. Now my love, I have to ask you to leave me.”

  He held on for a few more minutes, enjoying her smell and the feeling of her soft hands running through his hair. He soaked up these few moments, knowing they would have to serve to comfort him in the many days to come.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  MONDAY, MAY 7, 1453

  Mehmet sat astride his horse watching a terrible bombardment of the walls. He had ordered his cannon to fire continuously since yesterday morning. He had concentrated all of the fire on a small portion of the central land wall, and had amassed his men, most particularly the Janissaries, to rush forward as soon as a sufficient breach was blown through the walls.