A Place Called Armageddon

A PLACE CALLED
ARMAGEDDON

Constantinople 1453

C.C. HUMPHREYS

CONTENTS

Cover

Title

Dedication

Praise for C.C. Humphreys

Also by C.C. Humphreys

Dramatis Personae

To the Reader

Map of the City Walls

Map of Constantinople

Prologus

Part One: Alpha

One: Prophecy

Two: Prayers

Three: Rhinometus

Four: Beloved Of Muhammad

Five: Masks

Six: The Rescue

Seven: Rendezvous

Eight: Yaya

Nine: Persuasion

Ten: City Of Ghosts

Eleven: Walls

Twelve: Old Friends

Thirteen: The Love Of Two Brothers

Fourteen: Gone

Fifteen: The Laughing Dove

Part Two: Kappa

Sixteen: Shipwreck

Seventeen: The Standard

Eighteen: Exile’S Return

Nineteen: Before A Dying Wind

Twenty: God’S Breath

Twenty-One: Consequences

Twenty-Two: Ultimatum

Twenty-Three: Reunions

Twenty-Four: Into The Dark

Twenty-Five: ‘Give Me Mine’

Twenty-Six: Hades

Twenty-Seven: The Tower

Part Three: Omega

Twenty-Eight: Messages

Twenty-Nine: Thunder

Thirty: Signs And Portents

Thirty-One: The Cursed City

Thirty-Two: ‘It Is Written’

Thirty-Three: Forgiveness

Twenty-Four: A Place Called Armageddon

Thirty-Five: Aftermath

Thirty-Six: The Sack Of Constantinople

Thirty-Seven:
Inshallah

Thirty-Eight: Faith

Epilogus: ‘A Surer Possession Than Virtue’

Historical Note

Glossary

Author’s Note

Bibliography

Copyright

To Allan Eastman

Praise for C.C. Humphreys

Vlad: The Last Confession

‘C.C. Humphreys is one of the very best historical novelists around. This is a great tale, finely woven with action, romance, palpably real characters and terrific twists of fate’

Simon Scarrow,
Sunday Times
bestselling author of
Centurion

‘A fast-paced, intriguing and beautifully-constructed thriller’

Daily Express

‘… an uncompromising, extraordinary journey into the brutal times and tortured soul of an oft-misunderstood ruler whose reign became synonymous with terror’

Historical Novels Review

‘An accessible, fast-paced, narrative-driven … historical thriller.’

Globe and Mail Canada

The Jack Absolute Series

‘… brilliantly combines meticulous research with a breakneck pace and a terrific sense of humour’

Historical Novels Review

‘Vigorously imagined, dashingly done espionage adventure … thoroughly gripping, intensely readable’

Literary Review

‘As swash-buckling as a young Errol Flynn, languidly escaping death with the ease of a teenage James Bond, this is a roaring adventure whose pages are remorselessly consumed’

Good Book Guide

ALSO BY C.C. HUMPHREYS

Novels

The French Executioner

Blood Ties

Jack Absolute

The Blooding of Jack Absolute

Absolute Honour

Vlad: The Last Confession

Writing as Chris Humphreys

The Fetch

Vendetta

Possession

Plays

A Cage Without Bars

Glimpses of the Moon

Touching Wood

Screenplay

The French Executioner

And he gathered them together into a place called,

in the Hebrew tongue, Armageddon.

Revelation 16:16

DRAMATIS PERSONAE

The Greeks

Gregoras Lascaris (also known as ‘Zoran the Ragusan’ and ‘Rhinometus’)

Theon Lascaris

Sofia Lascaris

Thakos Lascaris

Minerva Lascaris

Constantine Palaiologos, emperor

Theophilus Palaiologos, cousin to Constantine

George Sphrantzes, historian

Theodore of Karystenos, imperial archer

Flatenelas, naval captain

Loukas Notaras,
megas doux

Athene, maid

The Turks

Leilah, sorceress

Mehmet ‘Fatih’, sultan of the Turks

Hamza Bey, adviser

Achmed, farmer

Abal, Achmed’s daughter

Zaganos Pasha

Candarli Halil, grand vizier

Baltaoglu Bey, admiral

Raschid,
bashibazouk

Farouk,
bolukbasi

Aksemseddin, imam

Ishak Pasha

Karaca Pasha

The Genoans

Giovanni (or Gian) Giustiniani Longo, ‘the Commander’, leader of defence

Enzo the Sicilian

Amir the Syrian

Bastoni, naval captain

Bartolomeo

The Venetians

Girolamo Minotto,
baillie
(leader) of Venetians in city

Coco, naval commander

Bocciardi brothers

Trevisiano, naval commander

Others

John Grant (also known as Johannes), engineer

Farat, Achmed’s wife

Mounir and Mustaq, Achmed’s children

Isaac the Alchemist

Urban, Transylvanian cannon maker

Abdul-Matin, bodyguard

Stanko, Omis pirate