Alright everyone, here we are once again with a Russia chapter of The Legacy of The Romans! Enjoy!
The Legacy of The Romans.
Act II.
The Russo-Ottoman War.
Chapter XXIV.
The Persian Interloper.
The city of Yerevan - known as Erivan to the Turks - is the last obstacle in Caucasia now that General Feodorov and the Army of the Caucasus has been unleashed upon Baku. The conquests of Yerevan and Baku will expose the entire eastern end of The Ottoman Empire to our onslaught. The Byzantine fortress at Trabzon, the Persian one at Tabriz, and the great walls protecting Baghdad, once the center of Islamic civilization, will all be vulnerable to us. I do not believe that Sultana Helena will continue to fight if Baghdad falls, after all, she'll have to contend with Russian armies in the north and in the east, a Polish-led allied army in the west, and their eastern border with the Persians completely exposed, however, should she ignore reason and continue fighting, I will not hesitate to bring the Russian armies down on Damascus like a hammer, meanwhile, another army shall strike into Anatolia itself. That would be a strike that shall leave the Turks with no choice but to call for peace - between the army in Anatolia and Krystyna's forces in the Balkans, Constantinople itself would be vulnerable to an attack from two fronts while the Russian line tearing across the great deserts to Damascus isolates Anatolia from the rest of The Ottoman Empire in North Africa, the Levant, and Arabia. I will accept nothing less than Russian victory in this war. From the Ptolemais to the Seleucids to the Sassanians, the Roman Empire has always crushed its enemies in the middle east and my Roman Empire in Moscow shall be no exception - this time with the added benefit of devastating the very country that eliminated the undisputed heir of Rome.
"You look wonderful in that uniform." Yelizaveta told me as I left our tent wearing one of my feminine takes on the Russian military uniform. I wore a green coat tied at the waist over a black top with a purple cravat. My leggings were black with a golden stripe along the side and they were worn under my knee high black leather boots. I wore my long blonde hair in a single braid beneath a black and gold tricorne. I looked over at Liz who had the audacity to compliment me when she wore a similar uniform and looked even better - clearly she was the one who deserved the compliments. Her uniform was the same except she had opted not to wear a hat and did not tie her hair back, nevertheless, she was clearly regal and she was breathtaking. The blue eyes and blonde hair proudly displayed our prestigious descent from Rurik, the great Viking conqueror who created both Novgorod and Kiev - Kiev, the historical capital of the Russian people that was only just reunited with her state and Novgorod, a once great trade city that spawned a state which was a legitimate rival for The Grand Principality of Muscovy for a time. The green, black, and gold of her uniform marked her as the future commander of the Russian armies - I'm sure that she would use our troops well against whoever our enemies may be at that time. Finally, the purple of her cravat marked her as the future Roman Empress. Our link to Rome may be through our religions and marital descent from the Byzantine Empire, but I could see Yelizaveta in ancient Rome, as beautiful as Venus, as smart as Minerva, and as vengeful as Juno. Her fair complexion and her Slavic tongue did not make her any less Roman to me, in fact, she would only stand out more in Rome...she would only be easier to love.
I cannot love her because she is my sister, I cannot lose her as a sister because I want no one else as my heiress, but that doesn't stop me from wanting both. I am the Tsarina of Russia, I have an entire emerging superpower at my back and I've come to make my place on the world stage by finally being the one to decisively win a war against the Turks - I can win almost any war, I can covet any land, I can set in motion the biggest change eastern Europe has seen in centuries courtesy of Lady Krystyna who has returned to Warszawa to pursue her destiny - I can do all that, but I cannot love the greatest woman in my life. I loved Krystyna and I still do in many ways, but circumstances mean that she has The Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth's best interests in mind while I have The Tsardom of Russia's best interests in mind, that meant that we were inevitably on a collision course. A relationship with Krystyna now would be a relationship constantly strained by distance, by lies, and by competing ambitions. Yelizaveta, however, is my heiress - her destiny and my destiny are intertwined, we will never find ourselves on a collision course because we are both concerned with The House Rurikovich, The Tsardom of Russia, and the betterment and expansion of both. A relationship with Yelizaveta could be one of unconditional love, one of total trust, and one we could act on at any moment because we will always be together in the same place...the only problem is blood. Plenty of cousin marriages exist between European dynasties but that is different, love between siblings is unnatural - one only has to look at the increasingly incompetent and frail Pharaohs of ancient Egypt to prove that and, while we won't be reproducing, a homosexual incestuous relationship is only more taboo.
"You look beautiful Liz, I hope that Terezia is happy everyday you two are together...she doesn't know just how lucky she is." I'm largely responsible for Bathory Terezia and Yelizaveta being together, but that doesn't make it any less tragic now that Krystyna is gone and Yelizaveta, perhaps my true love, is completely unattainable for me. Even if the taboo wasn't there, I couldn't be with Liz because she's with Terezia and that's my own fault. I averted my gaze, my blue eyes that seemed so powerful and so ruthlessly efficient for the Tsarina of Russia were filled with nothing but pain and grief right now and I couldn't let myself introduce those same feelings to Yelizaveta. I knew that these feelings were terrible and the last thing I wanted to do was make my little sister feel guilty and end a perfectly happy and healthy relationship just because I had these monstrous, incestuous feelings. I may be an absolute monarch, but I shall not become a tyrant amongst my own family, especially given how little family I have left after my father's death.
"Come on, let's go by the fire and warm ourselves up. We have another big day ahead of us." Yelizaveta seemed to think I was depressed over Krystyna being gone and wanted to comfort me with a mundane moment by the fire before distracting me with today's events - our move on Yerevan itself. I appreciated her help, but being in the warmth near her, seeing the gentle orange glow against her face, and just being in proximity with her only made these feelings worse. I wondered how Liz felt about all this, she did have these feelings at one point, but I didn't know if she still did and I did not dare ask. Asking would only lead to more pain - either Liz would say that she still has these feelings which would only hurt us both because of how impossible these incestuous feelings are to act on or I would find out that her side of the feelings faded away thanks to Terezia and that would leave me well and truly alone. If I learn that Liz no longer shares these feelings then there is no escaping the fact that I am a freak of nature - I can't be the Tsarina of Russia if I am a freak of nature.
Yelizaveta and I sat next to the fire and prepared for the big day ahead of us when a group of scouts on horseback came rushing to the camp. Two of them got off of horseback and approached me while a third went to seek out General Mikhailovich to inform him of whatever news there was to say. I wondered what this could be - a Turkish surprise attack on our camp would be suicidal after all the damage we inflicted upon them at Tskhumi, news from Moscow would come from a messenger rather than the scouts who should be making sure our camp is safe, and if it were something unimportant like a band of foolish raiders, then the scouts wouldn't come here to inform both me and General Mikhailovich immediately - therefore, this had to be something that was either quite interesting or quite alarming when it comes to this very camp. Yelizaveta and I got up to speech with these scouts, allowing them to dispense with royal formalities.
"My Tsarina, a carriage is requesting to enter our camp and speak with you. The passenger, a Persian noblewoman, claims to have been involved in the administration of Yerevan." the scouts reported. Now, this was unexpected to say the least - Persia, presently ruled by the Shi'ite Qara Qoyunlu dynasty of Turkmen turned Iranians has long been a rival of The Ottoman Empire and the two of them have fought many, many wars which pushed the Qara Qoyunlu off of their core lands in Iraq to their new home in Persia, however, I never expected them to help us. Armenia and Azerbaijan are coveted by three great empires - my Russia, the Turks, and the Persian Empire of these Black Sheep Turkmen - so I would have thought that the Persians would rather let us weaken the Turks before striking at them on their own, however, I wouldn't expect the Persians to send a noblewoman either, so perhaps this is not nearly as official as I have pondered. A woman ruling a European realm was rare enough, seeing a woman like Bathory Terezia in service of the Portuguese Crown was even rather, now, Moscow has become somewhat of an exception to this thanks to my parents failure to produce a male heir and my patronage of Lady Krystyna as the next monarch of The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, but to see a Persian noblewoman in any professional capacity was unheard of in my experience. Only a handful of women have ever ruled Islamic realms as far as I can tell and my understanding is that their noblewomen are far less significant than even the ones in Europe, possibly a result of the common practice of polygamy amongst Islamic nobles.
"She may speak to me." I gave the scouts permission and they proceeded to escort the noblewoman's carriage in before returning to their duties. I took a seat in a chair we had brought with us with a tent behind me acting as a background, Yelizaveta stood to my right as my sister and heiress while two Russian soldiers stood on either side of me as honor guards. This may be a war camp but there is a certain amount of regality that must be displayed when first meeting with foreign dignitaries - this time, royal formalities could not be dispensed with. I proudly wore my militaristic uniform with the tricorne in place of any sort of crown while she, the Persian noble, wore a dark red and gold dress adorned with gold and turquoise jewelry - despite this being a war camp, she was sure to appear regal - she had the benefit of time and foresight, the rest of us were prepared for a war rather than an impromptu diplomatic meeting. Nevertheless, the appearance of identical uniforms across all of us, the discipline, and the organization alone were impressive, not to mention the fact that, with Yelizaveta at my side in a complimentary outfit, I felt like I could make any look work for any situation. My outfit was militaristic in nature, but it was a far cry from the chainmail and plate armor of older times, this was not a courtly look, but I could make it work. My success was solidified when the Persian noblewoman did indeed seem to be impressed by the sight in front of her.
"Anastasia Aleksandrovna Rurikovich, Tsarina of all Russia and Yelizaveta Aleksandrovna Rurikovich, Tsarevna and heiress of Russia, welcome you to the war camp of the Russian Imperial Army. Introduce yourself and explain why you have come for an audience with our divinely chosen ruler!" one of the two flanking soldiers announced, introducing me properly but also concisely. This then passed the focus over to the Persian noblewoman, giving me the chance to learn exactly who she was and what her intentions were. If she knew about the defenses of Yerevan, her role could be decisive in the siege, however, I had to understand the price of this information, after all, Yerevan was going to fall either way and if this noblewoman was going to demand something insane like land from The Ottoman Empire, then I would refuse her aid. I would not compromise my war goals over some less than essential albeit helpful information.
"My name is Yasamin Mirza Shahi al-Bahmani. My father had been the Persian administrator of Armenia before being killed in the war against the Turks. I have intimate knowledge of the fortifications and defenses of Yerevan and I am willing to offer you that knowledge for a fair price." Yasamin proposed. I tried to decipher her name using my somewhat limited knowledge of Persian. The honorific Mirza was applied to many high-ranking nobles across the Persian and Indo-Persian word, most notably being the title worn by many Muslim Indian Princes as the ruling dynasties in India are mainly Persian or Turco-Persian in origin. The final name al-Bahmani could be as simple as tying her family's origin to a variety of Persian villages named Bahman but I suspected more than that. The combination of the honorific Shahi, derived from Shah, the Persian title of King, the title of Mirza, and the name al-Bahmani all suggests that she could be related to the Bahmanid dynasty. The Bahmanid Sultanate was once a major power in southern India before being splintered apart and absorbed into larger empires. The dynasty has not been significant for centuries but many once-great dynasties were reduced to serving the new powers, in this case, the former Persian overlords of the Kannada people have been reduced to serving the Turkmen overlords of Persia. My suspicion, however, is that this Yasamin al-Bahmani wants to use Russia to reestablish her family as a major force.
"And what is this price?" I asked while believing that I already had the answer. I wondered how she intended to go about this goal of reestablishing a seemingly dead dynasty. The realistic thing, as I saw it anyway, was to try and unite the nobles of Persia into overthrowing the Qara Qoyunlu dynasty for this second Bahmanid dynasty, something that would likely be easier said than done given that the Persian military is stacked with Turkmen officers, Turkmen cavalry, and a plurality of Turkmen soldiers overall, however, it seemed more realistic than the other possibility. The possibility in question was to reestablish the Bahmanid dynasty in southern India on the Deccan where it once stood. I suspected that this would once again be a difficult task given that she would be trying to establish a Shia dynasty over a fiercely Hindu people when the last attempt had already failed and now she was going to attempt to do it with the resurgent Timurid dynasty in Delhi under the name of the Mughal Empire reigning in the north, the Vijayanagara Empire in the south just waiting for the chance to wipe out the Bahmanid Sultanate a second time, and the increasingly parasitic presence of European powers along the coasts of India. The Portuguese, the Dutch, the English are all just waiting to start carving up the very same Indian ports that Yasamin would have to use to begin her conquests of southern India.
Her ambitions will be difficult to achieve at best, however, this situation could be turned to Russia's benefit. The Tsardom of Russia is destined to be a powerful state and will soon definitively claim the legacy of Rome, however, we are not a naval power, not yet anyway. We have built a fleet on the Black Sea and we shall soon unleash it upon The Ottoman Empire but there are many big steps between having a navy and having enough of a naval presence to be able to legitimately and consistently influence events in the Indian Ocean - we do not have that capacity and it will be decades, perhaps centuries, before we have any sort of naval presence all the way in the Indian Ocean. There is a theoretical possibility of reaching India by land but there are many obstacles by land as well - not only would we have to fight through many powerful enemies such as The Kazakh Khanate, The Khanate of Bukhara, and The Timurid Emirate of Afghanistan between us and the Empires of India proper, but we would also have to contend with some of the most dangerous and difficult to control land in the world to get there. I do intend to push through Siberia and Central Asia eventually, but by the time the Hordes are pacified, Yelizaveta and I will be long gone and any possibility of Russia reaching India will be out of my hands. All in all, The Tsardom of Russia will never be able to profit from the riches of India, however, by having a strong and trustworthy state in India, we can at very least do our part to ensure that our potential enemies in Europe cannot profit from these riches either.
"It has come to my attention that your court has become somewhat of a home to talented and ambitious women. I want my place there while I plan to carry out my ambitions." She admitted more than she cared to there, she did not want to entirely admit that she wanted to use my court to recreate the Bahmanid Sultanate because she knew that many, many European monarchs would reject that offer, seeing no reason to involve themselves in the affairs of a Persian noblewoman of all people with ambitions on southern India. At the same time, she revealed that she was aware of my court and most likely aware that Krystyna Wlodzislawa joined by court for a few months and emerged from it the commander of Poland's armies in a major war with the implication that she was to become the out-and-out ruler of The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth soon. She was right, of course, I did indeed intend to make Krystyna into a major conqueror of eastern Europe, now, this potential conqueror of southern India has requested a place in my court. I put two and two together rather easily. That being said, I saw this as a way to undermine our rivals by denying them a colonial advantage that Russia does not possess, therefore, I was willing to do my part in supporting her ambitions, even if she did intend to keep up the illusion by keeping her ambitions vague. I would ensure that this vagueness ends the moment I start forging Yasamin into a weapon once we return to Moscow, she would know exactly how I want her ambitions to benefit my state and I would help her do everything she needs to do in order to further her ambitions and simultaneously benefit Russia.
"Well, it pleases me that my court has developed such a reputation in places as far away as Persia. You need not worry Yasamin, I shall welcome you to my court and we shall see how your ambitions and my ambitions are very much connected." I smiled warmly at her as I already thought about armies of southern Indian Muslims marching along the great Konkan ports, denying the Europeans of the great trade ports that they so greedily desire. She would get the support she wants, the Russian Imperial Army would get information that will greatly shorten the Siege of Yerevan, and, all the while, I would get to both further my war against The Ottoman Empire and open up the possibility of a future where The Tsardom of Russia holds influence over an Indian state, a state which shall target my enemies where they hurt most - their economies. I turned my warm smile to Yelizaveta, the beautiful little genius has a lot to learn about the ugly and opportunistic world of international politics, but I would guide her all the way through it, with Krystyna in The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Yasamin in this new Bahmanid Sultanate serving as vehicles for expanding Russian influence far beyond where our actual borders can take us, she will have great examples for how ambitious people can be excellent fodder for an even more ambitious Tsarina. For all their perceived freedom and prestige, at the end of the day, they are there for the benefit of my state.
The Russian Imperial Army surrounded Yerevan.
The army was split into two group, an inner group compromised of infantry with a few cannons while the larger outer group contained the rest of our forces - including most of our cannons - we did this to outmaneuver Yerevan's defenses. The positioning of inner and outer groups meant that the massive Persian mortars could not directly hit our forces - now even indirect hits could harm our troops and the morale effects of the mortars were unavoidable, however, those indirect effects were nowhere near the true effect of those mortars and thus, we came as close as we possibly could to neutralizing the key to Yerevan's defenses. Meanwhile, our cannons positioned in the hills meant that we could hit the walls at an angle higher than the one they were designed to defend against, meaning that we were hitting the walls just as hard but they weren't defending at their usual capacity. There was, however, a small consequence to this plan - our outer line being positioned across the hill meant that our ranks were somewhat thinned out and that there were a few gaps in our defenses, however, the inner line was much tighter so as long as that held we could ensure that nothing gets in or out of the city, strangling it to death.
"What's going on there?" Yelizaveta pointed out as one of the gates of Yerevan opened - I didn't know what to think, was this a surrender already? Unlikely, despite all the damage we are inflicting upon the city. A rogue operative betraying the Turks? No, the gates are too heavy, too fortified, and too guarded for a single person or even a group of traitors to manage to open them without being stopped by the other defenders. An attempt to strike back? It would be suicidal. Suicidal or not, that is indeed what seemed to happen. A group of Turks charged our front line with the sole purpose of trying to break through our line - our troops were caught off guard but professionalism and greater numbers quickly corrected that mistake and the Turkish assault was overpowered almost as soon as it began. One thing did slip past, however, a single carriage.
"I have to believe that is Sultana Helena and her Grand Vizier." I told Yelizaveta, the soldiers sacrificed themselves to let the two escape. General Mikhailovich, in command of the inner group, quickly did exactly what I wanted him to do - took advantage of the still open gates to charge the city. I watched as a group of cannons were wheeled in front of my troops and used to blast the defenses inside the gates to pieces. The smoke had hardly disappeared when Russian and Georgian forces began slaughtering The Ottomans in charge of defending the city. I, in command of the outer line, had two options - break our lines to try and capture Sultana Helena, something which would likely only lead to the Turkish elite in Constantinople replacing her with someone else as regent for the child of Suleiman III who is the actual Sultan, alternatively, we could let her escape which would mean that someone familiar to my court - Terezia had meant with Sultana Helena and her Grand Vizier personally - in charge of The Ottoman Empire, someone who I knew that I could beat while, simultaneously, someone more than capable of keeping the Austrians or the Persians from taking land I want from the Turks. My goal in this war was to take Caucasia and Crimea for The Tsardom of Russia while letting Krystyna add Moldavia to her soon-to-be expansive powerbase to my west, I did not want to destroy The Ottoman Empire, in fact, I wanted them to remain strong and I was actually likely to help them at some point - I wanted Ottoman land to benefit Russia but that benefit was meaningless if my other enemies in Europe got stronger as well. I wanted Russia to get stronger and The Ottoman (Empire to get weaker without anyone else benefiting as a result. Sultana Helena would not be as useful to me as someone like Krystyna or perhaps now Yasamin, however, she still had a role to play in my vision of a new order along the eastern fringe of Europe. An order where The Tsardom of Russia would reign supreme with a collection of Wlodzislawa Kingdoms to our west ruled by Krystyna and her successors to spread our influence and deny our enemies, all the while, a Turkish Empire in the south remains just strong enough to resist my enemies but not my state.
"You didn't want to capture her, did you?" Yelizaveta observed as Sultana Helena escaped rather easily, meanwhile, my cannons battered the walls and kept the defenders of Yerevan locked in a battle on two fronts as their walls were pelted from outside while General Mikhailovich and now King Constantine IV of Georgia lead our joined forces into the city. I gave the outer line the order to advance closer into the city now that our forces inside were swarming the mortars. Yerevan had already fallen, actually taking the city was nothing but a formality at this point with the soldiers defending the city for The Ottoman Empire being there for no purpose other than slowing us done long enough for their Sultana to escape, but I had no interest in capturing her - after all, I wanted to negotiate with her, not whoever the Turkish nobility replaced her with.
"No, I want her to realize that her Empire is completely outclassed but to retain her authority. My mission here is to expand Russia, not to bring in my enemies to carve up The Ottoman Empire." I explained as Yerevan fell. I had to imagine that her position in control of The Ottoman Empire was precarious at best and capturing her would no doubt lead to a coup - I could relate to that, my authority only truly became serious over Russia when I proved myself with a massive victory against The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth which allowed me to push forward my absolutist agenda, something I kept alive with the fact that war against The Ottoman Empire was inevitable and, now that the war is actually happening, an even greater victory and my plans for the west being put into action will solidify my rule. Crimea and Caucasia being brought into The Tsardom of Russia while Krystyna creates allies and puppets for us in The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and potentially The Kingdom of Bohemia, The Kingdom of Hungary, and perhaps even The Kingdom of Naples will well and truly establish Russia as a leading great power than the likes of England and France will no longer be able to ignore. Moscow will become just as important to European politics as London, as Paris, as Vienna. Andrea and Camillo the architects are hard at work in my White Square to build a capital that even the greats of western Europe will be envious of and my victories here in the east will ensure that my capital is not only beautiful but of great importance.
A great importance that was outlined when my armies finally took control of the city and suddenly, the black double-headed eagle on a golden backdrop was flying over Yerevan. Alexander the Great, The Roman Empire, and The Abbasid Caliphate had all failed to conquer Armenia, but now, the Russian flag was proudly flying over the city. If my flag could fly here...where couldn't it fly?
King Constantine IV, General Mikhailovich, Yasamin, Yelizaveta, and I gathered together in the administrative building of Yerevan to discuss our plans from here on out. We had to strike at the major fortresses in the region - Trabzon, Tabriz, and eventually Baghdad - and we could incorporate The Army of the Caucasus into these plans as they were to head south once Baku had fallen. We were going to determine what our army was going to do and then we would determine what we wanted General Feodorov to do with his army. Meanwhile, General Perevernykruchenko up in Crimea should have occupied the steppe by now and should be concentrating on the valuable regions by now - the port city of Azov and then the actual Crimean peninsula.
"We should capture Trabzon first, that way, if the Turks raise another army in Anatolia they will be preoccupied with retaking the fortress rather than facing us or going on the offensive into Georgia." King Constantine IV advised. Now, I could see that my uncle was acting primarily in the best interests of his Kingdom, however, I didn't want The Ottomans forcing us to retake Georgian land once again either. Additionally, Trabzon would be out of the way later on if we moved southeast towards Trabzon and Baghdad, therefore, I did agree that we should take Trabzon first. The Byzantine fortress would indeed keep the Turks busy should they try to recreate the Anatolian army that we slaughtered at Tskhumi and then finished off within the walls of Yerevan.
"Very well, next, I think that The Army of the Caucasus should move on Tabriz and we should join them as soon as we finish in Trabzon. Once Tabriz is done, we should march together on Baghdad with General Feodorov." General Mikhailovich accepted the move on Trabzon as well before proposing a very safe and by-the-book strategy for the rest of the war. The combined forces of this army and that of General Feodorov would bring nearly seventy-thousand troops around Tabriz - a fortress in rather rough terrain - before our combined forces descent on Baghdad. The massive numbers practically guarantee that Tabriz will fall despite the difficult terrain and then they will be absolutely necessary in capturing Baghdad. These two cities are impressive fortresses as Tabriz had been the capital of the Qara Qoyunlu Sultanate before their conquest of Persia while Baghdad has long been a center of Islamic civilization before Tamerlane, the great Uzbek conqueror of Persia who established the Timurid Empire, sacked the city. Baghdad has yet to entirely recover but it is the center of Iraq and it sits on the very same rivers of Mesopotamia where great historical cities like Babylon and Seleucia sat. The history and the strategic location means that Baghdad will be a difficult city to capture, however, if we manage to capture it while our counterparts in Crimea and Moldavia succeed on their fronts, Sultana Helena will have no option other than to call for peace. That is why I need her on the throne, I need someone smart enough to realize that if Baghdad fell, the other cities of The Ottoman Empire can fall too. I do not want a foolish conservative Turkish nobleman with delusions of being able to turn this war forcing my armies to march upon Damascus and perhaps even Constantinople itself. I do not need this war to be able longer than it has to be.
It is now properly into the spring of 1623 due to the time needed to recapture Georgia and lay siege to Yerevan. Sultana Helena had evidently managed to drag her army through the mountains despite the attrition and arrived in the Armenian fortress before leaving the region altogether. These months have gone well for The Tsardom of Russia between halting the Turkish advance and completely turning events around in Caucasia, pushing The Ottomans off of the steppe around Crimea, and putting the defenses of Baku to task in a lengthy siege whilst the combined allied army under Lady Krystyna pushed the Romanians and the Balkan forces of The Ottoman Empire back in their quest for conquering Bessarabia. The start of this war was going well and my goal was to continue this momentum - the last thing that I needed was for a change of leadership in Constantinople to undo all of my progress and halt my momentum.
"And what are we going to do when Baghdad falls?" Yasamin asks. The Persian noblewoman with ambitions on India seemed to be a strange addition to my court on paper, however, the ambitious Shi'ite daughter of a Persian administrator of an Armenian city was no stranger to being in a diverse situation and was already beginning to feel right at home even in the war camp. She spoke perfect Russian, perhaps a result of her father being well aware of the geopolitical situation surrounding Yerevan and educating his daughter in the relevant languages - Armenian for the city itself and Turkish and Russian for the regional powers contending over the city, and of course her native Persian - and she did not disrupt events within our camp either. She had brought a number of her own tents with her for herself and for the guards and the driver she brought with her. The guards and the driver would have been a problem, but the fact that she was prepared to provide for them herself meant that it wasn't a problem after all. She was a pragmatic woman and that was already impressing me...she would prove rather useful while she was here and I think that if she succeeded in reestablishing some sort of Bahmanid Sultanate in southern India, that would benefit Russia in ways I had never expected. Not only will we be able to deny our enemies but we will also be able to use them as a conduit for our influence in India, something that we would otherwise be unable to accomplish because of the political and geographical obstacles separating Russia from India. Thanks to Krystyna and Yasamin, my ambitions were now growing far beyond even the most ambitious borders of The Tsardom of Russia. My border may end in Byelorussia, but my direct influence may be able to extend as far away as Prague and indirectly, who knows what the limits are? I didn't know yet, but I was eager to find out and I knew I had a wonderful woman in eastern Europe carrying out my goals and perhaps I could have that in India as well.
"That should be when we have Bathory Terezia, our trusted regent in Moscow, make our demands." Yelizaveta proposed, filling in Yasamin about Terezia, my wonderful right-hand woman and her lover. I agreed, so long as The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth had at very least taken Bessarabia and General Perevernykruchenko had completed his conquest of Ottoman Crimea, the fall of Baghdad would be the perfect point for calling for peace. We would control everything we wanted in Caucasia, Crimea, and Moldavia and we would at very least have the added leverage of controlling one of the largest and most significant cities in The Ottoman Empire. At that point, The Ottoman Army must be defeated on every front - they're already defeated in Caucasia and there is no doubt going to be a major battle in Crimea and Moldavia before the war is over - so they shall decisively be crushed, there will no doubt be a naval battle for supremacy over the Black Sea and my navy was specifically designed to take on The Ottoman Navy whilst Portuguese ships would truly change the balance in our favor, and Sultana Helena is smart enough to realize that, at that point, continuing to drag the war on would only cause more defeats and more suffering for her people. Yelizaveta was right, once Baghdad falls, that has to be the end of the war. There is no sense in continuing on a war that the Turks have no hope of winning.
We set up camp once again the next time after making progress towards Trabzon. We were making good time and The Ottoman Empire seemed entirely incapable of responding to our actions. The Tsardom of Russia is a geographically massive country, but we only have a few major areas to protect as most of our country is unfortunately still rather backward, The Ottomans, however, have a geographically massive Empire as well and the most important elements of their Empire are spread far and wide away from each other. The Turks cannot spare troops from Egypt or Arabia to stop us in the northeast corner of their Empire because they cannot risk losing control of some of the most significant regions of The Ottoman Empire - Egypt for its historical and economic value and Arabia for its significant in the Islamic religion - therefore, there wasn't much that The Ottoman Empire unless they managed to raise an army in Anatolia. Ideally, our Siege of Trabzon would be able to delay that army if the Turks did indeed manage to raise one.
The war was going extremely well and part of that was thanks to Yasamin Mirza Shahi al-Bahmani. The Bahmanid Dynasty was reduced from Sultans in their own right to servants of the Turkmen Qara Qoyunlu lords of Persia, that did not suit Yasamin and she was working beyond her station to rectify that. Her ambitions intrigued me, I would not think that a Shia Sultanate in southern India would be effective at all, especially since it was attempted once and eventually failed, however, that did not deter the young Persian. She intrigued me and, the more I thought about it, the more fascinated I was with her intentions. Her ambitions presented me with an opportunity to broaden my already massive ambitions and, as an absolutist monarch, I was certainly not one to refuse the chance of creating a loyal ally - some might say a puppet - in a place that I could not otherwise play a role in. Now, I'm sure that Yasamin did not see this arrangement leading to her new Bahmanid Sultanate becoming a puppet state, however, while she may be useful in her own right, it is in the best interests of Russia for me to try and maximize this relationship. A long term puppet state is a lot more useful than short term information and whatever admittedly useful services Yasamin was willing to offer me once we return to Moscow. I longed for that return as well, I wanted to see how my White Square was progressing - Yelizaveta and I deserved to return to the greatest court in Europe and it would suit me perfectly to welcome Yasamin to the newest and greatest palace Europe has ever seen rather than a glorified fortress like the Kremlin or a mere royal retreat like Kolomenskoye. The true heir to Rome deserved such greatness.
"Hello Yasamin." I greeted her as I sat down next to her on a rug set up outside of her tent, she had been reading a book that I couldn't identify - I didn't know how to read Persian or indeed any language written in the Arabic script - she put the book down and flashed a polite smile at me. She began dressing somewhat more simply once she joined our war camp and no longer had to dress elegantly to impress me. She wore a loose turquoise shirt and white leggings tucked into black leather boots. I was wearing a military uniform identical to the one which I had worn the day I met her. Her complexion was more or less what I expected from a Middle Eastern woman, however, she was a very attractive version of that typical complexion. She had silky long black hair and brown eyes, her skin was maybe a shade or two darker than average but not by much. She was definitely a beautiful woman, but I had no interest in pursuing anything with her. First of all, at this point I'm confident enough to state that I have a preference for fair complexions and Yasamin is not that, second of all, if I did get past my preferences, she was coming to Moscow for the express purpose of preparing for an invasion of southern India to recreate The Bahmanid Sultanate so pursuing anything with her would only lead to heartbreak just like my relationship with Krystyna did, finally, even if I were able to look past all that, if Krystyna couldn't kill off my feelings for Yelizaveta, Yasamin had no chance. There would not be a relationship here, but that didn't meant that she wouldn't be a useful ally, a talented protege, and perhaps even a great friend. I was eager to make the most of my time with her and I did want to see her succeed in her very unlikely goal.
Speaking of her goal, I was rather surprised that she stated my court developed a reputation for hosting powerful women. Sure there was Lady Krystyna who I groomed to be the next King of Poland and Grand Duchess of Lithuania. There was also Bathory Terezia who had been struggling to make a name for herself following in her father's footsteps as the Portuguese diplomat to Transylvania yet now serves a far more extensive role in Russia and is even currently acting as my regent in Moscow. Of course, there's Yelizaveta and Sofiya too so, seemingly, Russia will have three consecutive Tsarinas in a row - though the reality is that I can't see little Sophie wanting to become ruler at any point, she will most likely pass the throne on to her eldest child, though that could be a Tsarina as well - so perhaps Moscow is becoming a court for powerful women, even if I did not necessarily intend for it to become one. Though maybe I could actively pursue that policy, Krystyna was already in the progress of becoming a powerful woman in her own right and Yasamin joined me for that express purpose of pursuing her agenda, and I was using both of these events to further the influence of The Tsardom of Russia, if I actively found more ambitious young women to push into powerful positions in Kingdoms that would then become sympathetic to Russia, then who knows how far and wide my influence could extend?
"Hello Anastasia." she greeted, Yelizaveta and I had managed to get her to start behaving more casually around us, something which was paying off now that I decided to speak with Yasamin one on one. Her Russian truly was perfect, obviously she had a bit of an accent due to being a native speaker of Persian, but that was not nearly enough to interfere with my ability to understand her. She was clearly an intelligent woman and, if anyone was going to accomplish her goals, it would be her. I did have a few questions though: first of all: how was the Islamic world going to react to Yasamin becoming a Sultana outright in southern India? The internal tensions within THe Ottoman Empire are obviously enough that news of it reached us in Moscow. Though perhaps given that this new Bahmanid Sultanate would be in a region that is insignificant to Islam while the massive Ottoman Empire spans the core of Islamic civilization might make a difference. There is also the fact that perhaps the lack of Shia Islamic powers means that a single generation of female rule will be tolerated - Persia is the only major Shia Islamic state left after the Turkish conquests in Arabia. The second question is this: how does she intend to continue her dynasty? A matrilineal marriage is rare enough in Europe, let alone in the middle east or India, therefore, if her line was to go through her, it would only be the Bahmanid dynasty for a single generation.
"I wanted to ask you more about your ambitions. How do you think the creation of a Shia Islamic state in southern India would go?" I asked the first question I had been pondering. I already thought of a potential answer myself but I was certainly not an expert on Shia Islam or the dynamics of Indian politics, I wanted to know what she had to say. I was glad to support Yasamin and I wanted to turn this Bahmanid Sultanate into a Russian puppet state, however, I knew that I would likely end up having to devote resources to this diversion - Yasamin would no doubt have to gather allies in Moscow to form a sort of court in preparations for forming a government and would need money to fund and arm an army on the Deccan - therefore, in order to provide Russian aid to this Indo-Persian mission, I wanted to know that Yasamin had the mind to ensure that this Russian backed puppet state would last longer than she did.
"Now, religiously, I think that there are two sides to this. The first side is the Shia side, now, you know as well as I do that female rulers are very rare in the Islamic world, Sultana-regent Helena in Constantinople being the first one in perhaps a few centuries. However, the Shia religion does not have the luxury of being picky...unless I give them that luxury. I will present the Shia Persians an opportunity to have a state dominated by Persians rather than Turkmen, sure, they will have to deal with a single female ruler, but I am confident that I will be able to summon enough Persian support to form a powerful bureaucracy and officer's corps for an army. The bigger problem is the vast Hindu population of the Deccan where I want to make my Sultanate. I shall make concessions and incorporate the Kannada, Marathi, and Telugu peoples into my government and bureaucracy and leave their religion undisturbed. I am sure that some will still revolt and object to my rule, but I think I will be able to use policies to pacify enough of the population that only a manageable amount of the population will revolt. My army, which I intend to be very elite, will then have no problem making an example of those rebels." Yasamin explained. Now, there was a little bit of hope and assumption in her statement, however, there is hope and assumption in my policy as well, besides, she is very educated in the situation of the Deccan and surrounding areas. That demonstrates that, if nothing else, she has put enough time and effort into planning this that, with the help of that proto-government she'd form and Russian aid, the foundation for the Bahmanid Sultanate will at least be strong. I was mostly on board at this point, but I still needed to know who power was going to pass to.
"A single female ruler implies that you already have a male heir selected." I pointed out. If it was realistic, I wouldn't mind if Yasamin had a female heir, however, even here in a European country I was doubted when I ascended to the throne, that doubt will only be stronger in a state as out of place as a new Bahmanid Sultanate. She needs to have a male heir because, otherwise, the succession will never be tolerated. Sultana Helena in Constantinople only has authority because she is regent for The Ottoman heir, if there was an adult uncle or old enough brother, then Helena would have nothing. Even I am only Tsarina of Russia because my parents tried twice more to have a male heir and failed both times. Of course, now my authority has been codified by the massive victory over Warsaw, but even now I am sure that plenty of nobles whisper behind my back plotting to get some male puppet married to me and to use him to control the throne. That won't happen as I obviously won't be getting married, nor will Yelizaveta, however, to continue our line, somebody does, and that leaves Sofiya. I want Sophie to at least be able to marry out of love because of the burden that I have placed on her, however, I don't want her husband to be smart or ambitious enough to steal power away from The House Rurikovich but at the same time I don't want her husband to be stupid or gullible enough to fall under the influence of the Boyars or other Russian nobles. I want her to fall in love with her eventual husband, but I want to be able to vet her potential husbands and find the man who is just competent enough to continue my dynasty's lineage while not competent enough to benefit himself by doing so.
"I have five in fact - my uncle and his four sons. The uncle is only thirty-six and his sons are all young and healthy. Do not worry Anastasia, my succession is as secure as I could reasonably hope for. With any luck, my uncle and his family will be able to join us in Moscow once this war is over." Yasamin explained, easing my worries. I was not entirely sure why the uncle and his family needed to wait until after the war to journey to Moscow but I suppose that there are two possibilities. One possibility being that the uncle doesn't want to travel through Caucasia while it is a war zone, the other is that he still has a position somewhere within the Persian government and his superiors will not let him loose to journey to Moscow because doing so might look like a provocation to The Ottomans. Yasamin can come over immediately because, in the eyes of the Persian government, she is just a girl, however, her uncle, a nobleman, can and will be treated like a threat by the Qara Qoyunlu dynasty, especially once they realize that Yasamin's plan basically depends on poaching talented Persians from the Turkmen lords of Persia. I suppose the second explanation is possible and the first one makes sense as well, in any case, the fact that the succession is secure is enough for me, even if I would prefer to have as much of the dynasty under my control as possible. Yasamin is not a fool it seems, she made sure she had everything under control before presenting her plan to me. I was eager to support it, especially because I had the idea that, if I refused, Yasamin was willing to present the plan to the Turks as well.
"Well...it seems you've passed all my scrutiny. You've won my support and my respect Yasamin Mirza Shahi al-Bahmani, consider me impressed." I added as I showered her with accolades, she earned them. She thought through her plans and she presented me with an excellent case. Now, my influence could spread through not only Russia, but across eastern Europe and southern India, who knows where it could spread next? I don't know but I'm eager to find out. Once I return to Moscow after this war I shall indeed shape my court into what Yasamin perceived it as - a place for powerful and ambitious women to gather and plot to reshape the world - sure, many would fail to change anything, but the few women who do succeed will bring prestige to my court. This is not limited to just potential rulers but artists, writers, architects, poets, teachers - women who want to make something of themselves. Now obviously I won't overlook talented men, that is not what I want to do here, I simply want to benefit my state by reaching into a talent pool that is often overlooked in the rest of the world. That and getting to poach talented women before my enemies have the chance to see them will benefit me at the expense of my enemies.
I was only nineteen and I was at the helm of The Ottoman Empire, a massive and powerful state that, in defeating The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and now The Ottoman Empire, Russia has made itself impossible to ignore. Now, I can determine the future of my state and, by extension, the route of much of Europe. Baroque architecture has only just emerged as the popular style of Italy and France, but Moscow's now White Square is already being built in that style, meaning that Moscow will serve as an inspiration for a new architectural style spreading across Europe like a wildfire. Stocking my court with women is already set to bring eastern Europe and southern India into the fold of Russian influence and I haven't even turned that into actual policy yet. My wars have already expanded Russia by bringing us Byelorussia and the Ukraine, bringing us Kiev, the origin of Russian civilization, as well as a massive surplus of crops from the great plains of the European plain, next, I'm on track to gain Crimea and Caucasia from The Ottoman Empire as well as increasing our stranglehold over Georgia. The Black Sea will be ours after this war. Future wars will be concerned with gaining more control over the Baltic Sea and expanding The Tsardom of Russia to the east. I had an entire lifetime ahead of me as a ruler and there is so much I can do, so much I can affect. I can become the definitive ruler of the century as far as eastern Europe is concerned and I have the benefit of a great heiress in the form of Yelizaveta. The destiny of Russia is bright and the next step in that destiny is to take the Byzantine fortress of Trabzon. The Komnenos dynasty outlived the Palaiologos of Constantinople in its walls - a number of the Princesses who form my blood connection to Rome were born in its walls - now I, the true Empress of Rome, will finally lay the old remnant to rest and return its relics to the Third Rome.
I had just changed into my nightgown and was about to lay down for the night when an excited Yelizaveta entered the tent, still dressed in a uniform and evidently bringing good news.
"A messenger just arrived in the camp, General Feodorov took Baku. He and his army are already on route to Tabriz. The Siege will already be under way by the time we finish up with Trabzon and arrive." Yelizaveta told me as she began changing into her own devilishly short nightgown. This truly was good news, the war was now entirely out of Caucasia and onto Ottoman soil that I was not currently interested in. We could now inflict all the damage and devastation we wanted to in order to end this war. The sooner this war was over, the sooner I could return to Moscow and pursue my ambitions, something that would hopefully be enough to distract me from this horrible, sinful lust that was still tormenting me all this time, all these months after that night in Minsk.
I watched as Liz discarded the last shreds of her uniform and was left in only her undergarments, a soft pink blush all over her skin. I knew I should have looked away but I also knew that I was far too weak to do so. She finally slipped on her nightgown but, if anything, that just made the admittedly generous amount of skin that I could still see so much more desirable. We locked eyes as she laid down next to me and, for only a moment, I could swear that I could see hunger in her blue eyes, the very same hunger that I was sure was practically glowing in my eyes. She laid down next to me, our long, pale legs tangled together as she threw our blanket over us, arms around each other, and faces mere inches apart. There was only so much we could do to lie to ourselves that this was about warmth. No, this was not, we both had these urges and, despite our morals and despite our disgust, we would use any excuse for intimacy. This was dangerous. How many more nights could I continue myself while sleeping like this? How many more nights could she contain herself sleeping like this?
"I love you Anastasia." Yelizaveta kissed me on the lips and whispered in my ear.
"I love you too Liz." I replied, reciprocating the kiss. Neither of us were quite sure if we meant the gesture to be sisterly or romantic, but both of us were quite certain that the gesture ended up being both. I drifted off to an uneasy sleep, scared of how easily something between the two of us could be both sisterly and romantic...two kinds of relationships that should be entirely different yet, to us, they seemed almost exactly the same. I had to wonder when the line between sisterhood and romance became so blurred, I had to wonder where these feelings originated from. Were they always there and it took the realization of our mutual sexuality to realize it or was this attraction born out of our mutual sexuality? I mean Yelizaveta is a beautiful woman, but so is Krystyna, so is Terezia, so is Yasamin in her own way, why is it that the one I'm related to is the one that I am so attracted to? I had to admit that there was more to this than just physical attraction, perhaps our sisterly love mutated into this incestuous horror without us even realizing it until it was too late. I loved Krystyna too, but the inevitability of being split apart and the conflicting interests of our countries had always poisoned our relationship, but with Yelizaveta, there was none of that. Despite the fact that it is incestuous, despite the fact that it is entirely forbidden, despite the fact that we shouldn't ever even think about being together, it seemed like a relationship between us would, in many ways, be easier than even my relationship with Krystyna was and perhaps more than her relationship with Terezia. My mind was finally silenced by the warm embrace of sleep but, just as surely as the sun rises, these horrible thoughts and feelings would return in the morning.
Okie dokie, this has been chapter twenty-four of The Legacy of The Romans! Next chapter will follow Sultana Helena and Fatimah on the Crimean front. Until then, next weekend I will post a chapter of my Star Wars story Secrets of The Outer Rim, so check that out if you're interested!
I love you all, peace out! Ciao everyone!