The Tetrachromat (On HOLD)

Chapter 17. The Ghost of Novgorod

When Besson brought his so-called corrected report to uncle Vasilii, his gaze was still sweeping the floor. Hence, he hadn't noticed Father Nikifor until the monk spoke to him. "I'm glad you're here, Besson. I've found the book your miraculous vision brought to my mind."

"Oh."

And speaking of visions... I stirred, but Besson was ahead of me. "Holy Father, I had another vision," he said.

Father Nikifor didn't hide his excitement, so after a grudging nod from his uncle, Besson described the scene we had witnessed in Constantinople.

"Truly marvelous!" Father Nikifor exclaimed.

It was clear by the bite Uncle Vasilii took out of a loaf of coarse, dark bread that he disagreed with the monk. "My nephew is skittish and has fasted—it did his soul good, mind you!—but he's fasted for days. I'm wary of putting trust into his ramblings."

"Hear me out, Prince Shuiskii, I beg you. Not only do I believe that Besson's visions are true, I think this man he sees is notorious." Father Nikifor lowered his voice. "Have you ever heard of the Ghost of Novgorod?"

Uncle Vasilii's ruddy cheeks deepened to the color of brick. The sixteenth century monks probably didn't mention ghosts outside the Holy Trinity. When he spoke, he tested each word like a rock for stability before stepping on it. "The Ghost of Novgorod, you say? Are you talking of a man or a restless spirit?"

"I shall let you judge it for yourself, Prince." Father Nikifor produced a leather-bound folio from the folds of his habit. "This is the chronicle I went to look for in our library because of the Greek cross. Its presence next to Dmitrii, reminded me that Tsar Ivan had sent archdeacon Gennadii to the Greek Church in exile."

"The cross that only Besson had seen."

If uncle Vasilii expected a bracing argument, he was to be sorely disappointed. Father Nikifor's lips twitched into an indulging smile. He wiggled his fingers as if to say, of course, of course you are right, my Prince. "But if it was there, I wondered if someone from this mission brought it to Russia from Egypt. If it, perhaps, held some significance to them... I can even guess what it was."

His low, almost seductive voice invited all three of us to think of the elephant in the room. Laetentur Caeli, the symbol of the unification for the Orthodox splinter with the Catholic churches.

Uncle Vasilii slashed the air with his hand. "The tale of the Embassy is fanciful. I remember how much I loved it as a young man. I wager it didn't lose its appeal to the boys dreaming of adventures."

"Does your nephew strike you as an adventurer?"

How did Father Nikifor stand firm and be evasive at the same time? Well, however he did it, it worked. Uncle Vasilii nodded to concede the point. "Even so, he could have read it and his imagination would have fashioned the cross and the visions to match it," he said.

"Surely, not the Laetentur Caeli accords! And I doubt he's so interested in the ecclesiastical matters as to know of the recent declaration of the orthodox bishops in the Ruthenian lands either."

Uncle Vasilii's cheeks reddened. "That Polish heresy!"

"The timing, my Prince, the timing! Is it so hard to imagine that there are bishops here, who are in favor of entering the jurisdiction of the Holy See in Rome instead of keeping with the captive church in Constantinople?"

Uncle Vasilii lowered his square head and expelled a long, loud sigh. "If so, they had already lost their case. The Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople has raised the see of Moscow to the patriarchy ahead of their little synod."