Thereafter he went back to Constantinople. When Harald returned to
Constantinople from Jerusalem he longed to return to the North to his
native land; and when he heard that Magnus Olafson, his brother's son,
had become king both of Norway and Denmark, he gave up his command in
the Greek service. And when the empress Zoe heard of this she became
angry and raised an accusation against Harald that he had misapplied the
property of the Greek emperor which he had received in the campaigns in
which he was commander of the army. There was a young and beautiful girl
called Maria, a brother's daughter of the empress Zoe, and Harald had
paid his addresses to her; but the empress had given him a refusal. The
Varings, who were then in pay in Constantinople, have told here in
the North that there went a report among well-informed people that the
empress Zoe herself wanted Harald for her husband, and that she chiefly
blamed Harald for his determination to leave Constantinople, although
another reason was given out to the public. Constantinus Monomachus was
at that time emperor of the Greeks and ruled along with Zoe. On this
account the Greek emperor had Harald made prisoner and carried to
prison.