Mare Nostrum

Constantinople- the city of eternal surprises.

"Wake up... Wake up, it's time to get up," I heard a unknown female voice calling me to wake up. It was a quiet, passive aggressive tone, and I stood up shortly after.

"Good morning, may I ask who are you and why are you here?" I asked in a peaceful but irritated whisper.

She rapidly introduced herself," I'm Isabella de Caux, a servant of the glorious Louis IV of Bavaria, the Holy Roman Emperor. I came to hire you to escort the Wittelsbach royal family to the opening of the Atlantropa dam in Constantinople in 8 weeks. It's going to be an event of outrageous stature and luxury, of course you'll be handsomely paid."

"Me and my men shall accept your offer, but we need total assurance that the money is paid up front," I replied, while checking the petite messenger out, she definitely noticed my piercing glair, she looked away while blushing.

"You shall gather your soldiers and we will meet up in the main market square to go to Munich together, while there, then we can have some fun," she winked as she finished that sentence.

Hours later, the soldiers were marching in formation around the statue of Saint Mary in the Piazza De Ferrari. Isabella was already awaiting them with a bastion of horses and a carriage for her and Lorenzo, the leader of the mercenaries. They left for Munich at noon, on the 11th of November, 1321.

The gruelling journey took about 50 days and the crossed over 2500 kilometres but, alast, Lorenzo and co. had reached the capital of the eastern Roman Empire. They were greeted by a purple carpet and a huge crowd, mostly of peasants and lower class citizens. It seemed like the city was hiding some dark secrets: although it was a joyful occasion, but you could see the rats running in the avenues, dead bodies rotting in the main streets and mass graves. The glorious center of culture, art and science was touched by the black death like every other urban area. The moment the visitors stepped inside the Hagia Sofia, the real festivities had begun. They were met by the head bishop of the prestigious church, alongside him stood emperor himself, Theodore I Laskaris. It was a ceremony that showed the peace between the Christian and Orthodox faiths and had a mass pray in the holy place.

After that, the diplomatic envoy travelled to the royal palace to enjoy the lavish lifestyle of being rich and have a great time. The endless supply of alcohol and the music the grand orchestra was playing meant that the party went well into the night. It wasn't without tragedy though.

There was a schism where a royal guard got stabbed by a member of the nobility. The guard died there and then. Cries began to be heard from upstairs where Isabella and Lorenzo had a private party of their own. In the light of candles, they had danced and already began to undress when the sorrows and hauls reached them from the floor below. They rushed back to see if the situation and if emperor Louis was alright. The baron was quickly detained and thrown into the dungeon. Later that week, he had been executed by hanging. The next couple of days went swimmingly as the foreigners visited holy and monumental sites to admire and commemorate the history of the eastern realm.

The 6th of January, 1322, the day of the opening of the Constantinople dam. The city was cheering since dawn, crowds were flooding the streets, rejoicing the name of their lord. This woke up the main protagonists, they were both in the same king size bed together. They started dressing up while looking and smiling at each other. The glorious event took place a bit after midday. There was a plethora of interesting activities to keep the masses entertained, but the main click was the opening of the sluice gates, so the water could get out of the Black sea. The turning of the mechanism was accompanied by the music of trumpets and violins. After the music stopped and peace ensued, Lorenzo started feeling uneasy, because he had a taste of salt in his mouth and it could not go away.