Constantinople

The helmsman gave him a distracted nod. The man’s head was clearly somewhere else.

Ser Marco waved. ‘See the lights?’

Swan was about to protest that he didn’t see anything but a handful of stars, and then he saw them – a cluster of pinpricks, more yellow than white, and what had to be a fire.

‘I see them.’ He leaned out over the water, as if being a few handspans closer would make a difference.

‘That’s the isle of Marmora. They trade in marble. It has several good ports.’ Ser Marco motioned again. ‘Lean well out and look carefully astern.’

Swan suited his actions to the capitano’s words. He watched for a long time, and saw nothing but the faintest glow far astern.

He didn’t want to give up – the capitano was a man who loved to present a puzzle, as Swan knew from months of serving under him, and the young were expected to provide answers. Then he looked at the sea. Much, much closer than the dark horizon.

There were ships only a few hundred paces astern. They could only really be seen by the bow waves they cast.

‘Blessed Saint George,’ Swan said as he straightened up.

‘And Saint Mark,’ said Ser Marcos, tugging his beard.

‘I thought . . . I thought we were faster?’ Swan said carefully.

Ser Marco nodded. ‘I thought so, too. I’ve seen the flash of oars. I think they are rowing at night to increase their speed. Their rowers will be exhausted in the morning. They’ll have to try for us early – at dawn. Or even before.’ He shook his head. ‘They must be very desperate. Or someone hates us very much.’

Swan winced.

‘Best get some sleep. When they prepare to lay us aboard, I’ll call. You may trust my word on that.’ Ser Marco touched his shoulder.

Swan shook his head. He had the uneasy feeling that all of this was his fault.

He lay down and slept.

Morning. He woke muddle headed, and at first he couldn’t imagine where he was. His back hurt, and he lay on his side on the wooden deck with nothing under him but his rolled cloak and his right arm, which was half asleep.

He thought of Khatun Bengül.

He started to smile, and he realised that the ship’s drummer was just preparing to play the alarm. Men were already arming – half the Arsenali were shrugging into armour, those who had it. The rest guzzled water or wine. The marines were all looking to their arrows.

He raised his head off the deck, and thoughts of love were banished. A hundred paces astern, he could see the long, low shape of Omar Reis’s ship, and another hundred paces astern of her, two more Turkish galleys.

‘Good Christ,’ he said to Peter, who handed him a cup of wine.

Peter nodded. ‘I very much like your Turkish bow,’ he said. ‘I think you may want it.’

It lay atop his armour, with a quiver full of arrows.

The drum began to beat ‘To Arms’.

The tales of Tom Swan will be continued – if enough readers want them – in Tom Swan and the Conqueror’s Ring – in which Tom, against his better judgement, will return to Constantinople to find the lost ring of Alexander – and to buy a whole city for the Pope. And perhaps end a war. Or maybe just start one.

Also by Christian Cameron

Also by Christian Cameron and available as Orion ebooks:

The Tyrant Series

War, death and glory are in abundance in this action-packed series of betrayal and revenge set around, and beyond, the reign of Alexander the Great.

Tyrant

Tyrant: Storm of Arrows

Tyrant: Funeral Games

Tyrant: King of the Bosporus

The Killer of Men Series

Follow Arimnestos, a slave of Thebes, as he breaks his chains to join one of the greatest conflicts in the history of the world – the epic clash between the Greeks and Persians

Killer of Men

Marathon

Poseidon’s Spear

Other Novels

The ultimate historical adventure novel: the life of Alexander the Great in a single, epic volume.

Alexander: God of War

Copyright

An Orion eBook

First published in Great Britain in 2012 by Orion Books

This eBook first published in 2012 by Orion Books

Copyright © Christian Cameron 2012

The moral right of Christian Cameron to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the copyright, designs and patents act 1988.

All characters and events in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior permission in writing of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published without a similar condition, including this condition, being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN: 978 1 4091 2737 6

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