Darker Jewels Read Online Free PDF Page B

the man had to say. He closed with standard good wishes and a warning that he was afraid of what might happen with the Little Father so far gone in lunacy. “I gather you have had some discussion with my relative?”
    “We have not concluded all our dealings, as some of what we do will be determined by you.” Nikodemios said it like an experienced courtier.
    “I should think so, if this letter is any indication,” said Anastasi, pointing to his house guard and ordering him by gesture to bring a chair for his guest. “I am puzzled. What made you travel at this time of year? And why have you come here? Why do you visit me?”
    “Necessity, Duke. You have read the letter. You must have some sense of my purpose here. There is need for immediate action.” He sat down, looking directly at his host. “It is essential to be aware of—”
    Anastasi cut him off. “Your necessity might not be mine. If you are here in the hope of enlisting my support for those who seek guidance from the Church in Jerusalem, you come in vain. Mos- covy is the Third Rome after Constantinople was lost. My cousin and I have never agreed on this point. The Orthodox Church in Jerusalem has no right to impose its will on Moscovy. It is for the Orthodox Church in Russia to determine how the Church will respond to any trouble. At this time I will not support Jerusalem. There is too much at stake, things that Jerusalem cannot know and must not judge.”
    Stavros Nikodemios regarded him narrowly. “Am I to believe you are content to wait for God to decide? To leave matters as they are? Do you truly stand by the Czar? Even now?”
    “Of course,” said Anastasi, his expression darkening. “He is the might of the country. Even now.” The last was especially pointed, directed at Nikodemios with strong intent. “Those who believe otherwise are traitors and fools.”
    “Fools and traitors,” Nikodemios mused, his remarks addressed to the walls instead of Anastasi. “Why do you suppose that?”
    “I am a Duke in Russia, and I am a Shuisky. We are loyal to the throne. Czar Ivan has pushed back the Tartars and reclaimed land that was stolen from us. He has brought us to glory. Everyone, boyar and oprichnik, knows that Czar Ivan has remade the world for us. I would be beneath contempt if I strove in any way to compromise what the Czar has done.” He walked the length of the room, ignoring the sound of mallets in the unfinished chamber. “You come here to bring me information, and you begin by speaking against the Czar. That is idiotic. If you were not a foreigner, you would be knouted to death for such treason. You could be held accountable for every word you speak.”
    “But you will not speak against me,” said Nikodemios. “You are too wary to risk losing what I might tell you, for you are ambitious. You want to protea your cousin Yuri as well as the rest of your family. It suits your purpose to claim you uphold the throne. And so you continue to declare for Czar Ivan, though you know he is lost.”
    “He is not lost.” His voice had risen nearly to a shout and he gestured abrupdy as if driving off an attacking animal. “His grief has consumed him. There is a burden of guilt from which he cannot free himself without greater expiation than he has made. He feels the weight of his sins very deeply, and that leads to melancholy. In time he will regain his composure.”
    “Regain his composure?” Nikodemios said. “How can you tell me that, when it is apparent to anyone that he is a lunatic.” He, too, was growing angry.
    “He is in the throes of grief. It has strained his mind.” Anastasi Shuisky was most insistent. “Czar Ivan is a great man. Great men endure more than most of us, and what they suffer is greater for them than for most of us. He has had not only his family, but all Russia to care for. Therefore his grief is larger than yours or mine would be.”
    Nikodemios spat. “I have been a messenger for the Metropolitan for nine