1453: Revival of Byzantium

Apostolos increased his speed to catch up with the Caesar in front. He does not mind being a gracious person and help people, especially the ones close to the Caesar, out in their times of need, but only if they can be helped and they can be useful. Honestly speaking if it was not for what the Caesar has said just now, Apostolos would not have been so keen in helping this guard commander.

Just as Apostolos is about to catch up with the Caesar, he heard the man shouting behind him again at the top of his voice. "Thank you! Master Apostolos! I would be thankful to you forever! I promise!"

This 'promise' sent an immediate shiver down Apostolos' back making him increase his speed even faster without replying a word and made a few words of curses towards the guard commander in his mind who seems to be completely ignorant towards politics so far. While the Caesar in front turned around slightly but did not say a word too and walked away back arriving back to his tent a distance away that has already been ready for him while the entire commotion is taking place, enhanced with a wooden plank to stop all the moisture and coldness from reaching him while he is sleeping.

Of course, one cannot find a wooden plank in the middle of no where, it might be from a villager's wall, or a door, but Antonius is already way too tired emotionally and psychically to even bother to ask about it, he just needs a good night's rest.

All marks of the accident last night have been removed before Antonius woke up the next morning. The villagers have already moved back into their houses and are working in their fields, numerous village women with a bucket on their back carrying their babies are preparing for the sowing season that are coming soon. Only that broken wooden pillar is still over there, tainted with a bit of scarlets that cannot be washed away, and a tomb in the corner of the village telling people that something has happened here not long ago.

Nevertheless, Antonius is already done with this village, it is time to move.

The massive army led by Antonius and Helio marched to the walls of Kastoria expecting for a siege battle. But surprisingly, or perhaps not surprising to some at all, the gates of Kastoria opened when the flags of the double headed eagle showed up in the horizon, with a whole group of guards, civilians, merchants and advisors forming up in formation before the gate.

"Honourable Caesar of the Rumelians!" A man at the front shouted, holding something up in his arms. "The city of Kastoria now offers a conditional surrender!'

Antonius found this person weird and laughable, what are you doing a day ago? Where are you on the negotiation tables? Why are you only offering your conditions now when your gate is wide open? Though being a person that obeys the rules of the game Antonius still replied. "Great! Lay it on me!"

"The City of Kastoria shall only concede to the exchange of rule if we get to see the remains of our former liege Lord Semseddin!"

A few minutes later, a jail cart came out of the Roman army with the owner of Kastoria, Semseddin seated in it. This young warrior who used to be called the lion of the Ottomans is now rather in a crippled shape, he has multiple bumps on his lips most probably caused by dehydration, his face has turned black as charcoal tainted with dead skin with no one knows how long has it been since his last shower, with his hair and beard dangling around freely sticking together.

Upon seeing their former liege in a 'perfect' shape without losing any limbs, the delegate nodded, tidied up his turban, beard and kneeled down on both of his knees in the direction of Antonius followed by all the others in the formation behind him. The delegate raised the plate with a book and a box in his arms high over his head and shouted. "Honourable Caesar of Rumelia; I, Torhan Cevahir, now hereby officially cedes the key of the city of Kesriye to you, and together with it the ownership for the towns of Vitsi, Kefalari, Koromilia, lesser Mesopotamia, Maniaki and Argos Orestiko adding up to a total population of fity four thousand three hundred and ninety two people ; Together with the keys are the entire documentation on the total population of the entire Kastoria, the total dunams of arable lands, the amount of taxation per annum for the past year, the total expenditure of the government and the list of Kastoria government officials. Please accept them, your majesty, this piece of land is all yours now."

The guards of Antonius stepped up to check if there are any sharp objects being hidden in these items just in case if this man turns out to be an assassin. But they got stopped by their liege as Antonius came down the horse himself saying. "There is no need for this kind of things my brothers, from this moment onwards they are already a part of us, and why would we need to feel insecure with our own brothers? We are not from Constantinople."

The guards stepped back leaving the space for their liege. Hearing the words of the Caesar the delegate raised up his head showing up a face of gratitude. "Thank you for your trust towards the pitiful us of Kastoria, your majesty, no, my majesty! There is no need to feel any sense of fear towards us, as we have all agreed to be your loyal subjects beforehand to evade the possible loss of valuable human lives and the destruction of our beloved city… But my liege, please do allow me to tell you something… The people behind me, they have prepared four questions for you after you enter the city. It shall not affect your ownership of Kastoria of course, but maybe, just a suggestion, you can try to prepare the answers beforehand to earn some popularity."

"There is no need to feel afraid of telling this, my dear…." Antonius caught himself in the middle of an embarrassment for a second for forgetting the name of the delegate before him, but quickly recovered and continued. "My dear friend, since I have accepted the role as your liege, then I shall be responsible for all the enquiries you people have for me."

"Thank you, my liege." The delegate whose name has been forgotten took a deep breathe and stared at Antonius' face directly in both nervousness and the wish to try to see whether he is lying or not from his facial expressions. "The first question they had is how are you going to settle the Ottomans who are involved in the military, and how are you going to deal with the former liege Semseddin, I must remind you, my liege that there are still a dangerous number of Ottoman blade bearers within the walls of that city, and I can say that they definitely did not surrender themselves voluntarily."

Antonius frowned a bit, this is indeed a troublesome question, he definitely does not want to come back to this city again while fighting in the west due to a rebellion in Kastoria.

"The second question is even more troublesome, my liege." The delegate took a deep breathe. "Those merchants and politicians behind me want to ask on how would you deal with the people who once assisted the missing Sanjek of Epirus in his war efforts against you, and how are you going to deal with their properties. Out of my respect, my liege, they only surrendered because of the tales of your leniency on the people opposite the Aegean Sea in the peninsula of Erdek. Though they are still worried that you were only lenient to them because you are unable to send your troops there in case of trouble in exchange for the regional stability."

"I see." Antonius' eyebrows frowned even deeper.

"The third question, is the most complicated out of all the questions." The delegate hesitated a bit before asking. "Is asked by the influential Islamic Mullahss the Mufti, and the Ulamas. They want to ask you on how are you going to treat the thousands of followers on the teachings of the Great Prophet. I must tell you that there are already multiple organisations in the dark within the city hoping to use your power to purge all followers of Allah in the city and confiscate our properties, just like what those 'famed' crusaders from the west have done in the past. Do note, my liege, I must tell you that for these questions no matter how great you answer them, you shall always end up offending some people, so I have two quotes of old Arab wisdoms for you here."

"First is always unite the majority by your side and stabilise the minorities."

"Second is that the majority is silent for most of the time, and what they believe, and trust can be easily manipulated by the minority who have the louder voices."