Manolis led the way into the sanctum where the dead Polixeni sat in splendour upon her throne. They had stayed silent on the way there, each preoccupied with their own thoughts. Now Manolis stopped at the entrance and looked at the huge stone, now pushed aside, with some surprise.
'You people did this?'
Emily nodded.
He shook his head. 'You kids amaze me.'
Opening the wooden door, he shone his torch into the room lighting up the mummified cadaver. The other two watched him, mesmerised by the surreal image before them. Yet they both felt that there was something almost noble about Manolis at that moment. He was no longer an ageing, rough, ill-educated man but had an air of dignified strength and tenderness.
He knelt down at the doorway and said, ''I have to do this, mana mou, have t
