The Mangana Palace
Constantinople
May 16, 1181

The Caesarissa Maria Porphyrogenita to her cousin, the noble Lord Andronicus: Greetings.

By now you will have heard at least the broad outlines of the final resolution of my showdown with that spineless octopus, the protosebastos Alexius. I know you have had your problems with both him and his deceased elder brother John in the past, and you now have a further cause for grievance in his imprisonment of your two legitimate sons, Manuel and John. I have done my best for the past two months to ensure that they would be released as part of any settlement, but I am afraid we simply were not strong enough in the end to be able to command that result. Your daughter Maria, who brings this message, will be able to confirm the strength of my desire to secure their liberty, and the great anguish I feel at my inability to accomplish it.

Still, I believe we have done much. We have shown that both the Church and the city mob are staunchly hostile to the Empress and the protosebastos. Moreover, the attempted assault on the Haghia Sophia, and the effort to take my husband and I from there by force in spite of the sanctuary the Patriarch had accorded us, has caused an even greater revulsion of feeling against the regime, particularly against Alexius.

The Empress’s regime survived the recent crisis only because they still had the support of the military. But the military itself is now embittered and disaffected as a result of the debacle of their assault on the Haghia Sophia. They are guilt-ridden that they ever obeyed the orders in the first place, but even more, they are humiliated by their failure. For both the guilt and the humiliation, they blame Alexius.

Cousin, the Empress’s regime is like a rotten house, its foundations utterly decayed and eaten through by vermin. It awaits only the push of a strong hand to collapse completely. That strong hand must be male, and it must belong to someone with a connection to the royal family. You are the obvious candidate to come to Constantinople, take the young Emperor in hand, and be the savior of the Empire. If you should hesitate, however, there will be other candidates – not members of our family – who will try to seize this opportunity (and conceivably the throne) for themselves. I know that you have the courage, the will, and the judgment to do what must be done.

Your Cousin,