Chapter 206: White Linen, Red Blossoms
Once, marriage was for Anna like a door in the Grand Imperial Palace that had never been opened by anyone; opening this door, she could escape the jealousy, mockery, hatred of the women in the palace, and the pursuit of the men.
But she did not know what would await her after pushing open this door? An elegant and serene garden, or a dirtier and muddier swamp, or even that waiting behind the door was not any face full of goodwill, but countless jackals and beasts…
She had never been sure, but she had to push open this door.
Between known fear and unknown fear, how should one choose; such a nightmare had tormented her for over ten years. And now, this marriage had become the only gift in her life, a spider silk that would drag her from hell to heaven.
When she decided that she did not need the Patriarch of the Orthodox Church, that is, the Archbishop of Cyprus, to officiate her wedding, but instead had Patriarch Heraclius of Ayyarasa Road officiate the wedding, and the entire wedding was thus carried out according to the practices of the Roman Church, the handmaids of the Byzantine Empire around her all advised her that she should not yield at this time.
“We know you saw that beautiful youth and developed feelings of admiration for him,” one handmaid said: “We can fully understand. But if you love him, you should treat him as cautiously as the mistress of beasts and the lord of the wilderness（ Moon Goddess） loved the shepherd youth Endymion; you should know how fickle a man’s heart is, not to mention that he is so young and unable to resist external temptations; if you hand all power to him.
Then what will you do at that time?” another handmaid also said, “I am not asking you to betray your husband or to control him, which does not conform to God’s requirements for us. But besides being a woman, you are also the daughter of the Byzantine Emperor; your father may have neglected you in the past, but now by giving Cyprus as your dowry, he has already sufficiently compensated for all his past wrongs.
Since that is the case, even for the sake of your child, you should tightly grasp sovereignty over Cyprus in your hands—this is what everyone wants to see. Your bloodlines merging, Komnenos and the family surname） surname of Godfrey of Bouillon of Flanders（ connected through marriage, this is what a princess of Byzantium should do, not like those ignorant farm women, blindly submitting to their husbands.”
But no matter what they said, Anna did not change her original intention.
She was very clear about these women’s intentions; behind them stood their brothers and fathers; they had not even seen her—how could they love her or consider her.
She had sworn to her adoptive mother Theodora that she would live freely outside the Grand Imperial Palace in place of her own birth mother and also in place of Theodora; the happiness they had not obtained, she would obtain.
Had she read so many books and seen so many things, and still not know? Those stained with power are all monsters. If she listened to them and fought for power with her husband, the relationship between them would surely become quite rigid; even if they had children in the future, they would only be a couple who appeared united but were divided at heart, or even become enemies who hated each other.
“I trust him.” She gazed at her own face in the mirror and murmured; she had never held the chips in her own hands; now was her only opportunity; she must go all in.
At this time, besides the bride, the groom and the other participants and witnesses had all gathered at St. Lazarus Cathedral, which had become a pilgrimage site that every Christian hoped to visit because it housed the saint’s relics.
Holding the wedding here was more meaningful for Caesar and Anna, because they would not settle in Constantinople in the future; this was the place where they would spend the rest of their lives together.
And at this time, only more than a hundred carefully selected people had gathered in the cathedral square; calling them common folk was not entirely accurate; they were all mid-to-upper-class people here, like goldsmiths, merchants, and scholars… but they could only stop at the edge of the square and could not enter the church; they could only anxiously wait outside the door for the ceremony to end.
It was Caesar’s first time seeing his teacher in such a solemn and serious demeanor, even though he had previously participated in multiple blessings, parades, and Masses.
Heraclius wore a tall bishop’s hat, dressed in white vestments, draped in a gold-edged cloak, wearing gloves, holding a rosary in his hand; somewhat at odds with his posture was his expression; his joy burst forth from his heart, and even though he tried his best to purse his lips, people could still glimpse his full-hearted delight from the corners of his eyebrows and eyes.
Unlike some insatiably greedy Baldwin, as a monk of similarly humble origins, Heraclius was very clear how good this marriage was for his dearest student, so good that it was almost unbelievable.
After he heard the news, he mobilized all the merchants and spies at his disposal, hoping to find something amiss, but the feedback seemed to prove that he was just overthinking—perhaps Manuel I had indeed gone mad to make such a decision—he could only comfort himself this way.
But as long as they got through tonight, Caesar could become the owner of this prosperous land; even the Crusaders would fully support him in turning this illusory claim into an indisputable fact in order to obtain Cyprus.
He first called Caesar before him, “Count of Edessa, Knight of Bethlehem, royal steward of Ayyarasa Road…”
Before they left Ayyarasa Road, Baldwin had deliberately given him this position—this position was only given to the king’s most trusted person, usually a blood relative—if Jocelin III had not died, this position would have been his.
People did not comment much on it; this was also to add weight to Caesar’s role in this marriage.
“In the presence of all the people’s witnesses, do you agree to abide by the laws, regulations, agreements, privileges—whether of Edessa, or Bethlehem, or all the laws and morality of Cyprus, and doctrines?”
“I do,” Caesar said.
Heraclius nodded, slightly stepping aside to let him go to the stand on one side to sign the marriage certificate; Caesar picked up the quill pen, dipped it in ink under everyone’s gaze—these gazes contained jealousy, envy, dissatisfaction; they were so intense that they seemed to materialize into needles piercing the air.
If it were a cowardly person, they might even tremble because of it.
Caesar picked up the quill pen and wrote his name without wavering or hesitating; this disappointed some people, but Heraclius did not care at all. Would a knight who had been through the battlefield care about the stares of a few cowards?
“You may now go to receive your bride.” Heraclius said.
Caesar turned around; the bride, that is, Princess Anna of the Byzantine Empire, was walking out from the side door of the church. Although she wore Frankish women’s attire, she still used deep purple silk for a sleeveless outer garment, with a white linen long shirt inside, and outside was a magnificent gold-threaded cloak.
Her face was concealed beneath a veil as thin as a cicada’s wings, like a flower shrouded in thin mist, appearing soft and delicate; even Baldwin, who had always been dissatisfied with her, could not say anything derogatory about her appearance at this time.
She clasped her hands tightly at her chest and walked toward Caesar accompanied by handmaids; Caesar took her hand. The two turned together and placed their knees on the kneeler, “By God’s will, we witness here a sacred marriage that binds together two servants of the Lord, Anna, daughter of the Byzantine Emperor, and Count of Edessa, Caesar.”
He lowered his eyes and said the words that made everyone tense: “Does anyone object to this marriage?”
“Does anyone object?”
“Does anyone have evidence that this marriage should not take place?”
The venue was silent; Heraclius relaxed his shoulders, and Baldwin clearly let out a breath, “Then I hereby declare that God’s servant Caesar and God’s servant Anna become husband and wife, in the name of the Father, the Spirit, the Son, amen.”
“Amen!” everyone echoed.
Then, Heraclius took the crown held by a Cypriot noble on the side; he placed the crown before Anna for her to kiss it, then personally placed it on her head; after Anna put on the crown, next she should place the crown on her husband, indicating her willingness to share ownership and rule over Cyprus with him.
But Anna did not do so; the two crowns prepared by the nobles of Cyprus were not much different in size. But the one belonging to Princess Anna was obviously more brilliant and magnificent.
After all, she was the mistress of Cyprus.
But she only pondered slightly for a moment, then took off her own crown, kissed it, and returned it to the Patriarch’s hand; under people’s astonished gazes, she said softly: “Please give this crown to my husband.”
Heraclius looked at her with complex emotions; originally, granting the crown to the husband through the wife’s hand was equivalent to giving the rule of this island to her husband, just as Constance and the other queens in the Crusader states had done.
But undoubtedly, in doing so, the queen held the initiative, and her husband was merely an auxiliary consort assisting her; Anna did the opposite—had she discussed it with her brother or father?
Obviously not; even the nobles of Cyprus wore expressions of utter disbelief; this meant Princess Anna had voluntarily given up all power—did she not fear encountering misfortune in the future?
But Heraclius would not hesitate; he immediately firmly handed the crown to Caesar; one could even say, without Caesar needing to bow his head, he directly touched the crown to Caesar’s lips, then swiftly placed it on his student’s head.
Then, with a speed not at all fitting for an elderly person, he took the second crown held by the Cypriot nobles, similarly “clinked” it with Anna, and placed the crown on her.
Now he was thoroughly satisfied.
“Lord, please save your people, let their lives be abundant and peaceful. Please protect our monarch, that he may be victorious in all battles, guarding You, guarding the faith. I solemnly swear here that this is a sacred marriage.” he said; everyone raised their hands and made the sign of the cross on their chests.
He was already in a pleasant mood today; now he even wanted to burst into song. He suddenly turned to look at Caesar, thinking, who says looks are useless; they are very useful.
The Patriarch looked up at the sky; at this time, the last ray of sunlight passed through the stained-glass windows of the cathedral, shining on this newlywed couple, as if the saints in heaven had also come to bless them.
Heraclius, Baldwin, and the various dignitaries of the Crusader states watched this couple walk onto the terrace outside the cathedral to receive the cheers of the people, finally relieved; the wedding ceremony was over; next was… consummation.
Whether in Rome or Constantinople, consummation could be said to be the most important step in the entire wedding. Because whether the Roman Church or the Orthodox Church, marriage was not established for love or desire, but only for procreating offspring.
If in a marriage, the husband or wife was proven infertile, the other party had the right to apply to the Church for annulment of the marriage.
Of course, when they said so, they also had to insist that they had not consummated, that the wife was still a virgin; otherwise, it was very likely that before the priests obtained sufficient benefits, they would firmly believe you could still try.
And this attempt might last thirty years, fifty years; by the time both were decrepit with age, whether to divorce or not seemed no longer important.
Therefore, in a marriage, especially one like this directly involving territory, even if embarrassing and uncomfortable, the necessary procedures must still be followed; what Patriarch Heraclius and Baldwin could do was to reduce the number of witnesses by a few.
One must know the Crusaders would have loved to cram the room full, lest the marriage contract be declared invalid due to lack of witnesses.
Heraclius, Baldwin, Raymond—as Count of Tripoli, he had to be present. Originally, the Duke of Antioch should also be here, but who let the Duke of Antioch suddenly fall gravely ill and be unable to rush to Cyprus.
Thus, Grand Master Philip of the Knights Templar and the Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller served as the other two witnesses.
“The bride’s brother is here too, right.”
“You mean Alexios? He refused; he said he loves his sister very much, so he cannot bear to see her suffer.”
Heraclius considered and restrained himself from cursing out an extremely vulgar obscenity, “There must be a witness from the Byzantine Empire here; fine, go call in the Archbishop of Cyprus. Also, bring in two local Cypriot nobles.”
That is to say, there were a total of six witnesses; the Archbishop of Cyprus walked in reluctantly.
He was not unwilling to be this witness; it was just that Princess Anna had refused him officiating her wedding, making him feel very embarrassed. He wanted to quickly return to his residence to hide away and see no one, yet he was dragged in to be a witness.
“He’s quite old.” Baldwin said in a low voice, “That’s good.”
“He’s not that old anyway, not as old as me. It’s just that the Orthodox Church requires their bishops to have beards, and long ones at that.” Heraclius also said in a low voice; they knew Caesar would be more tolerant and respectful toward the elderly; having them as witnesses was always better than those young lads, who would surely find opportunities to tease Caesar.
The groom and bride were each attended by attendants and handmaids to the adjacent room to change clothes; they had to remove all their clothes, then change into a linen robe reaching only to the knees, lie shoulder to shoulder on a bed under everyone’s gaze; Baldwin and Raymond would pull a bedsheet over them.
Then the newlyweds should make, truly or falsely, the motions of intercourse under the bedsheet.
Until the entire process ended and the witnesses left the room to announce that the newlyweds had consummated, this utterly embarrassing affair could finally be considered over.
————
“Franks’ clothes do not suit you, sister.”
Anna, who was gazing at herself in the mirror, suddenly turned around and saw her brother Alexios.
And before she could cry out, Alexios’s short sword had pierced her abdomen.
