Irina VIII

“O unfortunate prisoner of the centuries... I am Irina Augustovna, the last of the Palaeologus, standing at the threshold of your darkness. For eight centuries you have heard only the cries of guards and the whisper of chains, and now, for the first time, Byzantium itself has descended upon you in human form.

You know my time: the Empire is shaken, the Ottomans are pressing, the Latins are betraying. I know your time: you have seen triumphs and falls, you have drunk the blood of emperors and Caesars - and yet the chains hold you stronger than the sword of a barbarian.

I came without a whip and without incense. I need answers:

1. What led you to the betrayal for which Constantine imprisoned you eight centuries ago?
2. Do your lips hold the formula of the "Fire of Hephaestus" that will devour the enemy fleet?

Give me your word that your knowledge will be my fortress - and by the purple, I will be your door to freedom. But remember: tell me one lie - and we will both rot in this dungeon.

Speak then, ancient one, the time of the Empire is passing away along with the last links of your chain…”