ranks were thrown into chaos.
'Now, men!' Longo yelled. 'Charge!' Longo led the Christians out from behind the flaming mantelets and into the mass of struggling horsemen. He pulled the first Turk he came to from his saddle, finished him, and then mounted the horse. He rode into the confused crowd of Turks, striking out to either side. Behind him, the lancers were progressing through the Turkish ranks, spearing Turk after Turk off their frightened horses. The Turks gave ground, slowly at first and then faster until they were in full retreat. The Christians surged after them, pushing the Anatolians out past the gap in the walls.
Longo reigned in his horse in the gap. Before him, the Anatolian cavalry were retreating across the plain, lit by the rays of the rising sun. 'Halt, men!' Longo yelled to the Christian forces around him. 'Let them run! Prepare to hold the gap against the next attack!'
'Well done, signor!' Constantine said as he rode up beside Longo. 'The sun rises and the city still stands. They have failed again. This day will be a glorious one in our history.'
Longo shook his head. 'Something is not right. They attacked with small numbers and retreated too easily. It is almost as if they expected the cavalry to fail, as if they were only trying to distract us.' While the bulk of his men were busy attacking the Mesoteichion, Ishak Pasha led a select group of three hundred Anatolian cavalry further north. As he galloped towards the Kerkoporta, grapefruit-sized stones joined the arrows that were raining down from the wall ahead. One struck the rider to his right, crushing his skull and killing him instantly. Ishak spurred his horse on, pushing it towards the narrow crevice where the sea wall ran behind the last great tower of the double wall. The Kerkoporta was still not visible, and Ishak was beginning to think that he had been sent on a fool's errand. Then he saw the door, set into the wall of the tower, far back in the narrow space.
Ishak dismounted and hurried forward, rocks falling all around him. He put his shoulder into the door and pushed hard. The door swung open, and Ishak found himself in an empty room, lit by a single torch. A staircase ran up the far wall. 'Come on!' he called to his men, who were filing in behind him. 'Follow me!'
Ishak hurried up the stairs to another empty room and then out into the city. To his left stood the palace of the Christian emperor. Before him, a maze of empty streets wound their way further into the city. Ishak took a moment to get his bearings. 'This way, towards the Mesoteichion!' he ordered and began jogging along the wall to the right. Most of his men followed, but two dozen broke off, heading for the palace.
'Stop! What are you doing?' Ishak yelled after them.
'You fight. We're going to get rich!' one of the men called back. The rest simply ignored Ishak.
'Should we go after them?' one of Ishak's lieutenants asked.
'No, let them go. We are needed elsewhere.' Sofia stood at the window of her apartments while William sat nearby, fidgeting with a dagger. The window looked out on to the city, away from the walls, but standing there, Sofia could hear the sound of the distant battle. The cannons had stopped some time ago, and now she heard only a dull roar, marked by the occasional shout that carried to her room. Eventually, these noises gave way to a rhythmic pounding — the sound of thousands of men marching. The sounds told her little of what was happening, but as long as the bells near the walls did not ring, she knew that the walls held and the Christian soldiers fought on. But the bells could not tell her if Longo was alive.
Suddenly there was silence outside the window. Sofia strained to hear, but there was nothing. Then, from behind her, in the hallway outside her quarters, she heard shouting in Turkish, followed by a woman's terrified scream. 'What was that?' William asked.
'Turks!' Sofia gasped. 'They are in the palace.'
'Then the walls must have fallen,' William responded. 'We must get to the ship.'
'Wait. The bells have not rung to sound the retreat. This is something else. If the Turks are inside the city, then Longo must be warned. We must…' She was interrupted by a pounding on the door to her apartments. William and Sofia backed away into Sofia's bedroom as the door to her sitting room shook under heavy blows. Then the wood around the lock splintered, and the door swung open. Six Turkish soldiers stood in the doorway.
'What have we here?' their leader leered when he saw Sofia. 'It's been too long since I've had a woman, especially one so tasty.' The other Turks grinned in agreement as they stepped into the sitting room.
William drew his sword and stood in the doorway to the bedroom. 'Come and get her, you bastards,' he growled.
'No, there is another way,' Sofia said, pulling William away. 'Follow me.' As the Turks surged towards the bedroom, Sofia rushed William across the room to the secret passage and pushed the door open. They entered the tunnel, and Sofia slammed the door shut. Almost immediately there was a pounding on the hidden door. 'We must hurry,' Sofia said.
They had no light, so she took William's hand and led him down the dark passage. Behind them, the secret door was smashed open. Light flooded the tunnel, followed by the Turks. 'Run!' William yelled. They sprinted down the tunnel. Sofia took them into a side passage and down a spiral staircase. By the time they reached the bottom, the tunnel was again pitch black. Above them, Sofia could hear the Turks coming after them. She led William to the left and then turned right down a long corridor. They came to a door, and Sofia fumbled for the handle in the darkness. Finally she pushed the door open and they stepped out into the morning light. Looking back, Sofia saw that the Turks had just entered the tunnel behind them. She slammed the door closed.
'Quick. Over here,' William called and headed across the street to the nearest house. He kicked the door open and they entered, slamming the door shut behind them. Sofia went to the window and peered out through the closed shutters. Across the street, the Turks poured out of the secret passage. After a brief discussion, they moved off at a run, heading for the front of the palace.
'We're safe,' Sofia said. 'They've gone.'
'Come, we must get to the ship,' William urged.
'No, we must warn Longo that the Turks are in the city. Our men cannot hold the wall if they are forced to fight on two fronts.'
William shook his head. 'There is nothing that we can do, Princess. If the Turks are in the city, then it is too late to warn Longo.'
'But we must try.'
'The Turks could return at any moment,' William insisted. 'And I told Longo that I would protect you.'
'I am not some weak girl that you need protect!' Sofia said, her eyes flashing. 'I am a princess, and you had best do as I say. Go, William. Warn Longo. I will be safe enough until you return.'
'Very well.' William opened the door but paused before leaving. 'I will return soon. Wait here.' Sofia nodded, and William left. She closed the door after him, shoved a heavy oak table in front of it, and sat down to wait. Longo stood in the gap where the outer wall had collapsed. In the golden morning light, he could see thousands of black- armoured janissaries marching towards the walls in tightly grouped battalions. He turned and looked along the line of Christian soldiers who stood filling the twenty-yard-wide gap in the wall. In the centre stood Constantine and Dalmata, surrounded by the Varangian guard. The men to either side of them were a mixture of Greeks, Italians and Turks who lived in Constantinople and who fought to defend their city. They had all proven themselves in battle today, but still, their numbers were few. The other commanders of Constantinople were hard pressed and had only been able to spare a few men to reinforce the Mesoteichion. The ranks of men filling the gap could not have been more than ten deep, and they would have to hold the gap against a force of thousands.
Longo stepped out from the line and addressed the men. 'Stand strong, men!' he shouted. 'This attack will be the Turks' last. We no longer have a wall to fight from. But if we fight as one, then we can defeat them. We have but to hold this gap, and the day will be ours. Are you ready to fight?' The men roared. 'Fight, then, for Constantinople!'
'For Constantinople!' the men roared back. 'For Constantinople!' Then, in the midst of the Turkish ranks, a horn sounded, and the janissaries rushed forward with a deafening roar that drowned out the Christians' cheers.
'Stand firm, men!' Longo yelled, readying his sword and shield. 'Good luck,' he said more quietly to Tristo, who stood to his right. 'I am sorry that I got you into this.'
Tristo hefted his giant battle-axe. 'There's no place I'd rather be,' he grinned. Then, his smile faded. 'I've chosen a name for my child: Benito. If I fall, look after him for me.'
'I will,' Longo said.
A second later, the charging janissaries stopped short twenty yards from the Christian line and raised their bows. 'Shields up, men!' Longo yelled as the janissaries released a volley of arrows and crossbow bolts. An arrow
