1453: Revival of Byzantium

A few days later, a group of soldiers who are armed to the tooth disturbed the peace of the quiet mountain village that Antonius visited a few ago. They are the troops assembled from two near by garrisons against the Albanians, the soldiers charged in to the village towards one destination, that is the house of that girl who was killed a few days back. The took every single member of that house under custody, saying that they possess a warrant issued by their direct commander to come here to investigate a supposed murder case.

The family members of that house argued that they are law abiding villagers who never had any actions or even thoughts about challenging the authority, the villagers in the surrounding too began protesting raising their pitchforks and cleavers in the air, arguing that their fellow people should be freed. Take note that these villagers are not just some ordinary obedient villagers, they are people who live in the mountains constantly facing threats from wild beasts, geographical disasters, bandits and smugglers coming in from Epirus.

The villagers and the fifty plus soldiers entered a state of stand off, where by the villagers had the soldiers surrounded in circles. The tension increased by time, the soldiers even had their blades out of the scabbards and crossbows on shields. This lasted until the soldiers finally dug out a coffin buried under the ground and placed it in front of the villagers adding more suspicion and suspense in the area. The soldiers opened the coffin under the protection of a local priest.

The corpse lying inside the coffin is indeed the girl who has been reported dead. Judging by her looks the girl has been dead for more than twenty four hours, with a foul smell coming out from some parts of her body, and her limbs are already beginning to swell. A medic approached the corpse under the watch of the villagers and made a conclusion that the girl died from extreme pressure being applied on her neck, which in other words, she is killed by hanging. The medic also found multiple brute injuries around the girl's hands, tongue and fingers, showing that the girl has struggled violently before her fate is concluded.

The crowd quietened down seeing one of their darlings getting murdered and buried deep beneath the ground. Every one started discussing who the culprits are, and eventually they got their eyes focused on the parents of the girl.

Then, in the waves after waves of debates and curses, Yuri came forth riding on his horse to before the group of villagers. He observed the people beneath him and shouted. "The Caesar of Imperium Romanum, the imperial Strategos of the Aegean Isles, Thessalonica and Serres is here!"

A group of Roman knights with their faces covered with helms appeared, splitting in to two lines with their lances and banners erect right beside their mounts. A while later a middle aged man dressed with red cloak showed up, with ten Varangians following closely behind him. The villagers, who are already caught in a startled and horrified state by the sudden visit of so many armed troopers, took their head up with a rough idea of what is going to happen next, and indeed they are not wrong, they saw the face of the supposed young noble that paid them a visit a few days back.

Antonius rode forth and took a brief look at the crowd, questioning in a completely different tone as compared to the gentle and caution way he used to speak with these villagers. "Now, have you people understood why I have issued a warrant on these two people?"

The villagers kept their heads low and nodded in response.

Antonius rode steadily towards the couple who have murdered their daughter, and questioned them without even looking at them. "Now, tell me you two, have you realised what kind of sinful crime you two have committed? DO you two ever feel any sense of guilt within your heart?"

"O My lord." The couple hastily kneeled down and answered. "We have realised our guilt, and we too know that we definitely deserve to be punished!... We should have not buried our daughter here in the court yard, in the center of the village. Instead, we should have buried her in the mountains, in the streams, in a place where flowers blossom all year long, a place that she would love to stay in before she is taken in to Tartarus by Typhon…"

"…?" Question marks started appearing above Antonius' head.

The other villagers nodded their heads too hearing this argument, some even expressed words agreeing with the couple, leaving Antonius over there completely baffled not sure whether he is hearing the right thing, or is it just his pure hallucinations from these villagers. "What are you people talking about?" Antonius asked once more. "There is a corpse over there! And she is dead!"

The villagers bowed down their head once more. "Yes, your majesty. We know that people shall die if they get killed."

"They murdered their daughter!" Antonius almost smiled from the level of agitation and bull crap he received from these folks. "They are murderers! Why are you guys talking about her burial ground?"

Mean while Mikhail whispered to Nikolas in a distance away. "Remember brother, you can never charge a person guilty if you do not have sufficient evidence to prove it."

"So, the Caesar is wrong here?"

"Yes… and no."

Back to the admiral, the villagers looked at each other frowning and they soon realised one thing, that is the emperor is an outsider. The village chief had to come up and explain. "Your majesty… There is a belief in our village that it is a sin for a lass to be in a foreign man's room at night if they are not married. Because she could have lost the purest thing she posses in her life to the man, which is her puberty. If a woman disobeys this virtue set by God, she should be purified immediately by her family to avoid disturbing the 'purity' of the population, resulting in a bad harvest…"

"Indeed." Another villager agreed. "The only problem I see here is that her parents buried her right in the middle of the village, the corpse could attract evil spirits! We might get a plague coming to the village because of this selfish act! That is a sin of selfishness! For sure!"

"What could we do! What could we do!" The girl's mother bursted in to tears. "We did not want to kill our daughter by our own hands! We wanted her to grow up, we wanted to see her get married, and we want her to start another family bringing us grand children! But she contradicted the sins so what could we do? We still loved her! We just wanted her to stay as close as possible by our side even after she died! Is there any fault in us being the loving parents, wanting to still be able to feel our daughter as she travelled to another world? Is there?!"

The other villagers kept their mouth shut, even the soldiers have started debating among themselves hearing these arguments. While Antonius gaped at the words of these three people, because the sins and crime they see in their eyes is totally different from the ones Antonius saw in his eyes. Although he has guessed it, but he still could hardly believe that the morale standard between him and the villagers has such a wide difference, it is as if they live in a completely different word with a vastly different set of standard.

"Who the hell set this law for you? Who is it?" Antonius tried hard to control his mood grappling on his kneel. "Tell me a name, and I shall be there personally to ask him why did he spread such a ridiculous message to you people, tell me!"

The villagers looked at each other with worries in their eyes, knowing that the emperor is now unpleased and shall not leave with out a response that satisfies him. "It is a heritage passed to us from hundreds of years ago, your majesty." The villager elder lifted his head and replied but got immediately interrupted by Antonius.

"Heritage! Is a thing that is only passed down because it is good! It is beneficial! It is profitable to the sons and off springs! But what is this! Killing your own daughter just because she entered a man's room? Can you call this a heritage?"

The villagers kept their head low without giving a response, and the soldiers stood firm fearing their supreme leader's rage. Only the woman's cries and weep can be heard in the area. Antonius continued staring at these people kneeling before him, longing for an answer. But none of these people ever dared to raise their head up to confront Antonius, only the girl's rotting corpse is lying there peacefully, like all of these has nothing to do with her.