The Icon of St. Sofia, Chapter 1

The Continuation of The Adventures of Sigegard Ainsworth, a pastiche of Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot.

Chapter One: In which Ivan the Great gives his wife a gift to acknowledge her sanctity and, more importantly, her power.

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https://johndaviddukejr.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/sige-2-icon-chapter-1.mp3

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An excerpt:

With those words, he presented her with the pendant, opened, cradled in both his hands, not yet fitted with chain, but already of such brilliant craft that jewelers all over Asia and Europe clamored to be chosen for such a menial task. With her hand upon his, and with her eyes within his, she said, “No, you shall be my lord, as you have been faithful husband to me since I was a child. The blood you shed you shed for me, a Mother in Russia, a mother of Russia, O merciful father, O Tsar of Moscow and all Russia.”

Those witnesses standing near the window of the throne room, which was situated to receive the rising sun at the Vernal Equinox, reported what they saw to the people. Even without a command from the Great Tsar, a feast was proclaimed, and that very day, many fine beasts were slain and prepared for banquets throughout Muscovy, and the next day news of the feast began to spread, until all the lands of the Great Tsar feasted in honor of the Bride of Asia, Mother Russia, Sofia, the wife of Ivan the Great.

Those witnesses standing near the door to the throne room, which was shaded by shutters, blinds, and guards, reported what they saw to the Offices of Simon the Metropolitan. When he heard the news, he sighed, saying, “This is a portent that more heresies shall be born of this age. Error shall creep into the hearts of the people. Satan himself is responsible for the finding of this blood ruby, a token given to the Tatar chiefs in exchange for the burning, raping, and murder of countless Orthodox martyrs. Now this ‘Mother of Russia’ wears it with pride. What a foolish thing Ivan Vasilyevich has done!” He grew silent for a moment. His ministers stood, quavering, and shuffling away from him, yet they said they saw his face radiate a light brighter than that cast by the lamps. He spoke again: “The life of Sofia is even now drawn into the ruby. Men shall grasp the pendant and thereby accomplish great deeds, but they shall never be great.”

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