Two Journeys, One Step (Journey of a Thousand Miles) (CasualVelociraptor x Sekah)

[CasualVelociraptor]

Map of the World of Journey of a Thousand Miles in 1653

Pink: Roman Empire (aka Byzantine Empire)
Light Green: Great Khaganate (Mongols)
Yellow: Japanese Empire (1)
Dark Blue: Moghul Empire (1)
Orange: Habsburg Holdings (2)
Dark Orange: Seljuk Sultanate
Dark Green: Mamluk Sultanate (Caliphate) (3)
Purple: Songhai Empire (3)
Light Purple: Ming Dynasty
Light Brown: Inca Empire
Bright Blue: Aztec Empire
Blue Gray: Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy
Dark Brown: Inuit Confederacy

(1) - Trade Agreement with Byzantines
(2) - England, France, Ireland also vassals
(3) - Joint Defense Treaty/Byzantine free movement

Tuesday, April 8th, 1653
​

An occasion such as this, 25-year-old Anna's father and Emperor Thomas Zaccaria III often reminded her, called for the most formal of dress to command the respect of all nations for Constantinople, heir to the thousand-year legacy of Rome, and saved from multiple invasions by Mohammedans due to being the bedrock of Orthodox Christian faith. God's Kingdom on Earth in other words. That meant a red and purple cloak. Gold sash. Hair tied into two long braids, symbolizing the double eagle of the Empire. A jeweled and pearl-encrusted cap. All four of her names proclaimed at once while she was carried on a litter- Anna Constantina Zaccaria II Porphyrogenita.

(That last one literally meaning "Born into the Purple." Into royalty. Into this lifelong prison where she would become a statue while very much still alive if not careful.)

And lastly and most importantly to her father, a white veil trailing behind her to symbolize her chastity. So far, she had kept to that edict despite her years of travels meeting many handsome men around this world- from the gold-lined streets of Timbuktu in Mali, jewel of the African continent in her opinion, to the rope footbridges of the Inca capital of Cuzco deep in the mountains and jungles of Tahuantinsuyu (meaning Realm of the Four Parts and usually shortened to Tahua). Not to mention politely declining (with her father's approval) at least four proposals from Babu, son of Great Khagan Sholoi of the Mongols (the rest had probably been rejected by form letters from the vast army of scribes). So, she knew how to approach people in this formal, detached manner wherever she went. And yet, in that garb many people did not treat her as worthy of the truth but attempted to deflect from whatever they knew that she knew was actually going on under many, many scrolls worth of protocol, as well as flatter to gain favor with her father.

Flattery would not work on her during this upcoming meeting with the Crown Prince of Japan. Anna had eschewed the litter when waking up this morning and worked her contacts to get the Japanese consulate in the Galata district (where all ambassadors had started to congregate into more permanent embassies around the 1500s) cleared out of all but a few guards on both sides that she trusted. That was because she didn't want any of her Varangians or their guards blocking her out due to her attire, and preferred dealing with people one-on-one anyway. Since they all worked for her, or could be expelled by Imperial fiat, and it was such a sensitive meeting with a high-level official from a country halfway around the world, they had no choice but to agree. Any Senators who recognized her might string her out for it, but that was one perk of this job for her, apart from the travel of course. Then she slipped away from her quarters in the emerging light of dawn and wandered the city for an hour while her remaining advisors and consulate personnel fruitlessly scrambled about trying to find her. To disguise herself, she had sliced her hair short at the shoulder with her and then switched clothes with a servant, severely frustrating their efforts.

Protocol she therefore had happily tossed to the flock of seabirds competing with fishermen for their catch in the Golden Horn of Constantinople, as she watched them from the nearly two-thousand-year-old walls of the Blachernae and envied the freedom of both groups. And as for punctuality...Psh. Emperor Hisoka's youngest son or not, this young man, Taiga she'd heard his name was, had apparently gotten drunk and gotten with many of the prostitutes of this city last night. That was all she needed to hear to judge his work ethic- or lack thereof- going into the bilateral summit on a variety of serious but still mostly straightforward topics ranging from removal of duties on Japanese goods in Byzantine ports from Goa to Singapore to the quality of shipped rice, and for treating her home like a party destination did not deserve the respect of seeing her formal robes.

She only spent a few minutes sightseeing at most because she still felt compelled to be at least fashionably late, though games of tabula played by old men in the park were tempting. And when she did, she couldn't help but adore her favorite exports from Japan- their cherry blossoms that were in bloom in the many gardens and parks that weaved in and out of very familiar limestone Greek buildings painted white and purple. Windmills on the opposite side of the Great Chain that processed agricultural products for export, as well as the choppy, white-crested seas of the Bosporus capped off the scenic view. She quickly refocused, using each of the gold stavraton coins and silver 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, and 1/16 fractions of such- which were legal tender by virtue of the 1587 Treaty of Aleppo that established Dejima- that she had in the pouches lining her robes to buy bags of rice of different sizes from different vendors in the Japanese markets.

She also holstered her dagger and a flintlock overcoat pistol on the inside lining of her cloak in case anyone decided to rob, rape, assault, or otherwise harass someone they might assume was just a hapless, stupid city girl no one would miss. Luckily, no one tried, and she arrived at the mostly empty consulate and began to note down her racing thoughts well before the Crown Prince's impending arrival at a piece of his own country.