kingdom of nations

Chapter 207 The Wedding Ceremony (Part 1)

As the eldest daughter of Manuel I, Anna naturally received all kinds of care and favor while her mother was still alive. Even Manuel I once placed her on his lap and called her the most dazzling jewel of Constantinople.

Even when Manuel I later forcefully annulled his marriage to his mother in order to gain a strong claim to the Grand Duchy of Antioch, causing her and her brother's status to plummet, the women in the palace did not dare to treat her as they would a slave or servant.

After being adopted by Theodora, she was often mocked and ridiculed in private. Some even tried to send her to see her biological mother, but they failed. Even so, she never suffered. Her few injuries were from being pricked by needles while embroidering or from being scratched by thorns on branches when breaking flower stems. Even such minor injuries would make her scream in pain.

A sword was now piercing her abdomen, but Anna felt no pain, only anger. She had long known that her brother had no affection for her. He even treated her like a rare commodity, trying every means to sell her for a good price—and sometimes the way he looked at her reminded Anna of the women in the palace; he was jealous of her, which sounded like something incomprehensible.

It would take her a long time to understand that her brother was jealous of her. Compared to the banished eldest prince, Anna, as a princess, could still stay in the Grand Palace, be raised by the favored concubine, and still see Manuel I often. Even if Manuel I treated her as nothing, it was still better than him, the "most noble Alexius," who had to go through layers of intermediaries to see his father.

He resented her disobedience; she refused to obey his arrangements to marry a complete stranger, nor would she speak up for him in front of his father to restore his original status and power.

Anna wasted no time, nor did she have the energy to argue with her brother. She had never been pierced by a weapon, but she had watched gladiatorial performances held in the arena under the guise of duels. She knew that if a person could still shout and scream after being injured, it meant that his injury was not serious, that no vital organs had been damaged, and that he had not lost too much blood. But if a sword struck him and he immediately fell silent, only able to make weak groans, then even the most powerful cultivator would find it difficult to save his life.

And that's exactly what she's facing now. Anna feels like a water sac that's been pierced, as if water is flowing out of the hole in the sac. Her strength and consciousness are also flowing out of the hole along with her blood. She can't make a sound.

Alexius knew this too. He pulled the sword out slightly, but not to remove it. Instead, he cruelly churned the tip of the sword inside his sister's abdomen. The immense pain finally arrived.

Stimulated by the excruciating pain, Anna swung her arm with all her might, her fingers finally hooking onto a glass wine jug on the small table—the nobles of Cyprus greatly admired glassware. To show respect and submission to the princess, her dressing room was naturally filled with such sparkling luxuries; the jug also came with a pair of small cups filled with mead. Her maid had just brought her some; the princess couldn't see it, but when her fingers touched something cold and hard, she knew she had done the right thing.

The glass wine jug fell to the ground and shattered into pieces. Because Cyprus wasn't too hot even in January, there was no carpet in the room. As the jug broke into hundreds of irregular shards, it made a crisp sound, startling the people next door.

Alexius remained calm. He raised his short sword, intending to deliver the final blow, but at that moment, someone rushed in.

This was perhaps the most disheveled César had ever been. He had changed into a short linen robe, was barefoot, and had only a scimitar in his hand—the Damascus knife Baldwin had hung at his waist—which he had placed on top of all his clothes when he changed.

Upon hearing the strange noise coming from the next room, he immediately drew his sword and rushed in without hesitation. Perhaps his long-standing worries had finally come true at this moment. Without the slightest hesitation, without asking questions or scolding, he went straight into battle with the eldest prince, Alexius.

Alexius dodged to the side, but the pearls hanging from his crown were still cut open. He didn't care about that now—he despised Cesar, but he dared not underestimate this young knight who had accompanied Amalric I on his expedition to Egypt when his identity was still unknown, and who had charged into Nur ad-Din's army with Baldwin IV. With a swift movement, he knocked the only light source in the room—a candlestick—to the ground, plunging the room into darkness.

Anna fell to the ground, trying to remind Cesar that the saint seen by the eldest prince Alexius was Saint Bartimaeus, who was originally blind but regained his sight through the power of Jesus Christ. Therefore, under his protection, Alexius could see in the dark as if it were daytime.

When they were children, Anna's brother often teased her in this way, making her cry loudly.

She could still clearly remember those few dark moments when her brother shouted in a strange tone, "The devil is coming! The devil is coming!"

Yes, the devil has finally arrived.

Anna couldn't see what was happening in the room, but she could tell from the sound of the wind and the occasional touch of her clothes and feet that Cesar was still standing firmly in front of her, even though she looked like she couldn't possibly survive.

Her brother took advantage of this; once he was at a disadvantage against Cesar, he would seize the opportunity to attack his sister. He would not only stab and slash with his dagger, but also grab whatever was at hand and throw it viciously. Cesar could only retreat to Anna's side and use his body to block her as much as possible.

However, Alexius did not intend to fight Cesar to the death here. After a few rounds of probing, he knew that Cesar was not someone he could kill in a short time.

Upon seeing the others rush in, Alexius no longer hesitated. He threw a heavy bronze dolphin statue at Cesar and then rushed towards the window without hesitation. But almost at the same time, a spear that seemed to come from the goddess Artemis (the moon goddess) suddenly leaped out of the darkness. It tore through the air, pierced his shoulder, and pinned the arrogant prince to the wall.

Before anyone could realize what was happening, Baldwin had already rushed through the crowd, and his help came just in time. The First Prince cried out, trying to pull out the spear, but the moment his hand touched it, he felt an unbearable pain, as if he were being burned by hot coals.

"Baldwin!" he cried out the name of King Allazarus. Who did not know that the King of Allazarus was favored by God and St. George and possessed a sharp spear capable of destroying everything?
He pressed himself against the wall, his face contorted, but he felt little fear. "I am the son of Manuel I, the eldest prince of the Byzantine Empire! You should not treat a supreme being like this!"

But the person who rushed into the room at that moment wouldn't listen to his nonsense. Heraclius was the first to rush to Cesare's side, and by the dim light of the Spear of St. George, his rough yet warm hands quickly caressed Cesare's body.

Although he knew his students were like dragons in heavy armor, and that even on the battlefield, few weapons could harm them, he was still afraid of the Byzantine Empire. Those who thought they had inherited everything from ancient Rome had long lost the courage and integrity of a hundred years ago. They would use intrigue, poison, and curses. No one could guard against a cobra lurking in the shadows, ready to jump out and bite you at any moment.

“I’m fine.” Cesar grabbed his hand in return. “It’s the princess.”

Finally, someone lit a candle. Amidst the prince's desperate roar, Heraclius could no longer care about anything else. He pulled up his blood-soaked linen robe. With just a glance, he and Cesar's hearts sank, sinking straight into an abyss.

Heraclius placed his hand on her, and the other two monks who had received the blessing also came to help. Their expressions told Cesar that Anna's condition was not optimistic.

Monks who have received the gift can cure many diseases, but the power of God is infinite while the power of man is finite. Only a few monks and priests can regenerate missing limbs and organs or cure various terrible diseases, such as leprosy, the Black Death, diphtheria, and malaria.

The most powerful monk here is, of course, Patriarch Heraclius, who even healed a knight whose chest had been caved in by a heavy hammer.

His treatment was remarkably effective; the bleeding from the wound stopped instantly, and the muscles and skin showed signs of regeneration. But the problem was, "If her organs hadn't been damaged, or if they had simply been pierced, I might have been able to save her," Chiraclius said. "But he ripped half her abdomen apart with his sword; her uterus and part of her intestines were a bloody mess. Even if a monk from the Pope's entourage were to treat her, she wouldn't survive." Chiraclius hesitated only slightly, then, concealed by his wide-sleeved robe, took a vial of medicine from his sleeve. Cesar immediately understood and helped him administer the medicine to Anna.

Anna could feel herself being held in someone's arms. His hands were so warm. She didn't know if it was because she was so badly injured, but she couldn't smell any fragrance, only a refreshing mist. She held his hand and felt his hand turn around and hold hers. She knew who he was.

While she was in Sainte-Croix Castle, she heard the noble ladies mention more than once that her future husband had many quirks, one of which was that he disliked using spices.

Through her blurry vision, she could see many people walking around his room, some shouting and cursing, their voices mingling with arguments and protests. But these sounds seemed very far away. They must have lit many candles and torches, yet her vision remained shrouded in darkness. It was as if she were still trapped in that nightmare.

"The devil is coming! The devil is coming!" she cried, but no one could hear her.

The atmosphere in the room was somewhat oppressive. The eldest prince's angry curses turned into snickers as he endured the pain while watching the expressions of those who looked as if they had lost their parents.

He chose this time, and not any other, to watch them fall from the pinnacle of hope into the abyss of despair, including his sister.

A knight rushed in: "The palace is under attack! It's the Byzantines and Cypriots!"

The knight glanced at the Crown Prince and Byzantine officials pinned to the wall, their army launching an attack. "I should have known," the Grand Master of the Templars muttered, suppressing his rage at the near-miss.

He saw Baldwin taking off his fine clothes and quickly stopped him, saying, "Your Majesty, please stay here for now. There is no need for you to personally lead the army to deal with these fellows."

The Grand Master glanced at Cesar; his presence was worth more than a hundred or a thousand suits of armor. But he waved his hand. "You should stay with your wife too. She's dying. Quickly perform her last rites." After all, the dying princess was undoubtedly a victim; if she were to go to hell like this…

He didn't feel much pity for the girl, but even the commander, who was used to seeing life and death, had to admit that she was really unlucky.

Indeed, as the Grand Master said, they were there to attend the wedding and serve as witnesses. But as long as the King was there, he couldn't be alone. Besides, this was Cesar marrying a Byzantine princess, and many knights had come to offer their congratulations.

Every knight and monk had been blessed by God—Baldwin had once led three hundred knights to storm Nurdin's camp. The Grand Master did not believe that the eldest prince, who was being watched by his own father, could gather an army of tens of thousands, but before he could leave, he was stopped by a faint call.

"What did you say?" Grand Master Chirac asked. "Continue the consummation ceremony?"

Cyprus was the territory they had coveted most in decades—the Grand Master stopped in his tracks, and the First Prince, who had been nailed to the wall as a decoration, paused for a moment before suddenly starting to scream hysterically.

The Grand Master of the Templars responded by drawing his longsword and slapping the prince across the face, knocking out several of his teeth. The prince's cheek swelled up rapidly, and he could only stammer, unable to utter a sound.

Everyone listened intently, but when they heard Anna's answer, the Grand Master's first thought was not elation, but suspicion that a demon had possessed the woman.

“I’m going to die, am I?” Anna asked.

“Yes,” Chirac replied bluntly.

"Is there no possibility...?" Anna asked, struggling to speak—although, although, she still clung to a sliver of hope; she was still so young, and she had just glimpsed a ray of light leaking from the edge of what had long been darkness.

The Grand Commander knew, of course, that Anna was going to die. He had been on many battlefields. He had seen his comrades or enemies with open wounds and exposed internal organs.

If it were an ally, he would not hesitate to stab them, sending them to heaven as quickly as possible; he would even do the same to an enemy. Because even if the wound could heal, the internal organs would not grow back, and the person would only suffer for hours or days before dying a miserable death.

Before Chirac could speak, Anna grabbed him.

Logically, Anna should be weak and powerless by now, but the hand that was gripping his was so firm, or rather, so frantic. He could feel that the girl was like a candle about to burn out, bursting out with an even brighter light at the end of her life.

"What do you want to do?" the patriarch asked in a low voice, while giving the monk a look. The monk immediately understood and placed his hands on Anna's head. They had long since discovered that the power God had given them not only allowed them to heal diseases and wounds, but also to promote mental well-being and sharpen their reflexes.

As the monk poured his power into Anna's body...

Anna's vision instantly brightened again, as if she had been pulled from hell back to earth, and everything returned to the room—the light, the sounds, the sensations.

But the pain returned. She could feel the excruciating pain in her abdomen with just breathing, as if someone had scattered iron thorns inside her and then sewn it back up.

Even if she just lies still, her simple breathing can cause these iron thorns to shift, pierce, and roll repeatedly within her fragile flesh.

She felt another wave of dizziness from the pain, and Chirac immediately gave her another bottle of medicine. Everyone waited anxiously, hoping that Anna could speak again.

(End of this chapter)