Eagle Byzantium

Two weeks later, in the old palace of Seleucia, Anna calmly wore a seven-ridge crown on her forehead, holding a golden scepter and sitting on a high seat, with one hand resting on her obviously protruding belly. The entire palace Both sides of it were lined with Anatolian guards and female officers. The former were majestic and mighty. , the latter is gorgeous and colorful - in the middle of the hall, stands Maupulos, the envoy sent by the emperor, an old man and a rhetorician of the empire. At the same time, he once served as a diplomatic envoy to and from Constantine. We have visited Fort and Cilicia many times, and we are considered old acquaintances and old friends.

"I am very happy. Your Royal Highness, please allow me to call you this." Maopoulos shook his long white beard and stood directly opposite Anna's chair on crutches.

"Sir, mentor, please allow me to still call you this. When I was young, you and Idorus both took on the task of educating me in literature and rhetoric. But now Idorus has passed away. ." Anna's scepter tip was spinning on the marble floor, and her words were filled with emotion.

"I'm glad you can still be so calm." The old man continued.

"I'm calm." Anna closed her eyes slightly, and the whole hall was silent for a while. Then everyone saw that Caesar suddenly stood up, with her petite body standing on the high steps of the throne, her crown and scepter flashing With dazzling brilliance, a loud tone, and speaking condescendingly Speaking to the imperial envoy Maupulos, "It is precisely because I am so calm that I, Anna Ducas, declare here that I accept the declaration of war by my father, who is also the emperor of the Roman Empire, and let swords replace the messengers and documents that come and go in this area. Give everyone a clear answer on the plateau!”

Maopoulos did not expect that Anna, who was so tender just now, would announce the war with great momentum in the blink of an eye.

At this time, Anna's ink officer Hertomia walked down the steps coldly and stretched out her hand to the old man. Maupulos looked at this girl full of intellectual beauty with a somewhat old and tired look, and did not react for a while.

"Please put the empire's declaration of war into my hands." Hertomia said loudly.

So Maopoulos could only take it out tremblingly and follow the instructions.

Hertomia turned around and walked up the steps, showing the document in front of the female Caesar. After Anna glanced at it for a few times, she raised her scepter and tapped it crisply on the floor. All the male and female warriors and court officials immediately stood up in awe. , Hertomia rolled out another document written on Seleucia paper and showed it in front of everyone's eyes.

Then, Anna read out the contents of her own declaration of war fluently, clearly and sonorously:

"I am all the churches of Seleucia, Allame, Caesarea, Tarsus, Cappadocia, Iconium, Melitene, Elbistan, and Sebastian , all soldiers, all farmers, all chambers of commerce, all herdsmen , the Caesar of craftsmen - Anna Doukas, I would like to join hands with all the Catholic temples, all the mosques, all the Orthodox monasteries in the Anatolian Plateau and the patron saint of St. John and St. Servant, Canonized Saint Stephen Gawain, the apostle and descendant of Anna Doukas, stood side by side with the noble Godfrey Eustace, Archon of the Holy City of Jerusalem and Guardian of the Holy Sepulchre, and the equally noble Baldwin Eustace, Count of Adana. , the same noble Apli Duke Bohemond de Tver, equally distinguished Regent of Antioch, Prince Tancred de Tver of Galilee, equally distinguished Sultan Masud Arslan of Konya, equally distinguished Armenia Prince Toros side by side.

Declare war on Alexios Comnenus, the lord of Constantinople, declare war on Apsomates, the Grand Duke of Cyprus, declare war on Fer, the regent of Marash, declare war on Theodorus, the Grand Duke of Chaldia .Gabouyas declares war on the King of Aleppo, Khidwan Toutushi - this Later, I made a legitimate claim to the Brachna Palace in Constantinople. The Roman Empire will be unified. My father and I will never live in the same bed with each other. Each has Saint Michael and Saint Di. The battle flags of Mitri, Saint Theodore and Saint Gabriel, duel in the wilderness, the sea and the city walls.

If you don't aspire to the throne, don't let me take care of it! "

"Long live!" Everyone in the entire hall shouted thunderous cheers as Anna finished reading.

Then Anna looked up and tried not to let the tears of father and daughter's complete resolution fall.

But Maupoulos could not notice this detail. In this majestic atmosphere, he suddenly felt a storm coming from all directions. He couldn't help but feel a little dizzy. He put his hands on the crutches and staggered repeatedly.

Several female officers stepped forward and supported him, "Let the chief rhetorician of the empire return to the hotel to rest as soon as possible, because his mission has been completely ended." Anna waved her sleeves and ordered with some irony.

Then she held her sleeves sideways and walked to the small window next to the hall, where Anna's two pet cats were waving their flag-like tails and looking down with interest.

In the sacred farm outside the moat under the acropolis wall, rapid clouds of smoke shot out from the ditches. Amid the loud cheers of the farmers, several soldiers waved small flags: chubby rabbits of various colors were being held in wooden cages at the end. After being released, they started running desperately, and then many hounds chased them like lightning, competing fiercely along the ditches of the fallow fields.

"Bite it, bite this short-tailed ghost to death!" Many farmers, merchants, prostitutes and craftsmen jumped and laughed rudely, holding absinthe and cider in their hands, and surrounded the ditch and ridges and made endless noises. Copper coins were constantly pushed back and forth on the gambling table as the hounds and rabbits competed, changing owners.

"I won again!" Amidst the wailing, the great patron in a casual robe laughed, pointed at the Cappadocian hound holding the rabbit corpse on the other side of the ditch, and slapped the table.

"The nobleman's luck is always much better." The farmers around shook their heads and could only accept the loss.

Anna, who saw her husband having fun with the holy peasants on the high Acropolis tower, laughed, and then she reached out to the eagle stand next to her. The "captain" was covered with a black eye mask with a white egret feather tied on it, and he lowered his head and stood on the stand alertly with his feathers erected.

"Go! Pass through the battlefield wind and spread the news of the catastrophe throughout the plateau." Anna said, took off the "Captain's" eye mask, and then blew a soft whistle.

Read the correct version in 16-9 Book Forum!

The captain rose from the wooden frame and rushed between the two cats like a stone bullet, scaring them to scream and the hair on their backs exploded.

Then with a sharp long whistle, the captain rushed out of the window of the Acropolis, and quietly stopped in the sky dozens of feet high, between the sunlight and the earth, then suddenly spread his wings, turned over and flew straight down, over the tower spires, long battlements and fences, followed by endless farmland and furrows, and finally on top of the crowd, a Turkic cavalryman wearing a felt hat raised his hand, "Ah~" The captain's eyes flashed with a gleam, and fell on Muzafi Ading's arm, and then stared at Gawain over there.

"The real gambling is about to begin." Gawain pushed aside the drunken people, climbed onto the silver horse, looked back at the towering towers of the Acropolis, and when Dim wiped his mouth at the horse post, stood up and raised the scarlet flag, "Goodbye, wife." Gawain shook the reins and let go of the horse's hooves. (To be continued ~^~)