Siege

'Look!' Dalmata pointed behind them. 'A Turkish standard flies above the walls.'

Around them, the Christian warriors began to panic. 'The Turks have taken the city!' one of the men shouted. 'We must retreat to the inner wall!' another cried. One by one, men began to leave the Christian line, running for the city gates.

'Stand and fight!' Constantine yelled. 'We must stand and fight!' But no one listened. The Turks surged forward, and the Christian line broke apart as the soldiers turned to run. Constantine found himself swept away with the rest, running hard for the gate. When he reached it, he stopped and tried to rally his men one last time.

'To me, men! To me!' he yelled. 'We must hold the gate! For God's sake, stand and fight!' But the soldiers did not stop. They streamed past Constantine, heading for the harbour and the safety of the ships. All along the walls now, the Christians were in retreat, and bells were ringing throughout the city.

Constantine was joined by Dalmata and only a dozen other men. They stood in the gate as hundreds of janissaries rushed towards them. 'The battle is lost,' Constantine told them. 'There is no need to stay and die for me.'

'I will stand with you until the end,' Dalmata told him. The others nodded their agreement.

'Then if we are to die, let us die fighting. For Constantinople!' Constantine screamed as he turned and charged towards the onrushing Turks.

'For Constantinople!' Dalmata echoed. They met the charging janissaries side by side. For a moment they held their own against the onslaught. Then the Turks surged forward once again, and Constantine and Dalmata disappeared in the crowd of men. Longo staggered through the empty streets of Constantinople, forcing himself onward even though each step brought a sharp stab of pain that stole his breath away. William walked beside him, supporting him when the pain grew too much. The palace had just come in sight when they heard the bells.

'The bells,' William said. 'The city has fallen.'

'We must hurry,' Longo said. Despite the stabbing pain in his chest, he broke into a jog. The streets, empty only a few seconds before, filled quickly as panicked men and women fled their homes. Some ran for the docks, others towards the nearest church. William led Longo through the crowd to the small house where he had left Sofia. The door to the house had been forced. It hung crookedly on its hinges.

'Sofia!' Longo called and rushed inside. He found her standing at the back of house, her sword drawn and bloodied. At her feet lay two dead Turkish soldiers.

'Longo!' she cried when she saw him. Sofia dropped her sword and raced across the room. Longo embraced her and held her tight. 'Thank God you are safe,' she said, then she stepped back and noticed Longo's blood-stained armour. 'You are hurt!'

'It is nothing,' Longo replied, although his pale face and ragged breathing said otherwise. 'Come, we must get to the ship.'

Sofia and William supported Longo as they hurried towards the Horaia gate, which led through the sea wall and out to the harbour. The crowd in the street had thinned to almost nothing. Behind them, the sounds of wailing women signalled the approach of the Turks.

'This way,' Sofia said, leading them into a side street that led down towards the harbour. They had not gone far when eight janissaries spilled out of an alleyway and into the street thirty yards ahead. Two carried a heavy chest between them, and several others dragged women. When they saw Longo, William and Sofia, the Turks dropped their loot and drew their swords.

'I cannot outrun them,' Longo said. 'I will stay and hold them off as long as I can. You two circle around and head for the docks.'

'I told you that I would not leave you,' Sofia replied. 'And I will not.' She drew her sword and stepped forward. William joined her.

The janissaries attacked all together, driving the three friends apart. Longo found himself surrounded by four men. Slowed by the racking pain that accompanied his every breath, it was all that he could do to fend them off. He felt a sword blow nick off his armour and gave ground until his back was against the wall of one of the buildings lining the street. He was light-headed and weak from the loss of blood, and he could feel his arm slowing. He was late to parry a blow, and a sword glanced off his chest-plate. Another Turkish attack slipped past his guard and slashed him across the thigh. He dropped to one knee.

Then, out of the corner of his eye, Longo saw Sofia go down. A sudden rage coursed through him, and the pain in his chest vanished. With a roar, he sprang to his feet and went on the offensive. He ducked the attack of one Turk and slashed him across the chest; parried another blow and kicked out, knocking a janissary off his feet and then finishing him with a downward thrust of his sword. Longo left his sword in the dead man's chest as he spun away from another blow. He grabbed the attacking Turk's arm and hurled him face first into the wall of the alley, knocking him unconscious. The last janissary facing him fled for his life.

Across the street, Sofia sat propped up against the wall, fighting desperately to fend off two of the janissaries. Longo sprinted forward and slammed into the first Turk from behind, knocking him sprawling face first into the wall. As the other Turk turned to face him, Sofia lunged forward, burying her sword in the janissary's back. She collapsed back against the wall.

'Where are you hurt?' Longo asked, kneeling beside her.

'My leg.' Sofia showed Longo a shallow gash on her left thigh.

Longo ripped off one of the sleeves of her shirt and tied it around her thigh to slow the bleeding. 'Can you stand?' She nodded and Longo helped her to her feet. They stood leaning on one another for support. William had just finished off the last of the Turks. He retrieved Longo's sword and then placed himself between Sofia and Longo, propping both of them up. The three of them had just set off when far away down the street behind them, the janissary who had fled reappeared leading another troop of Turks.

'There are too many to fight,' Longo said.

'And we cannot outrun them,' William added. 'Not with two of us hurt.'

'Follow me.' Sofia, supported by William, led them into a narrow alley, barely wide enough for two people to walk abreast. They had only gone a few dozen feet when she took them on an even narrower side path. Behind them, they could hear the sound of footsteps filling the alleyways.

'Where are we?' William whispered. 'Are we near the docks?'

'I am not sure,' Sofia whispered back. 'But this is an old part of the city. The alleyways here are all connected. As long as we head north, we should reach the harbour… so long as we don't hit a dead end.'

The alley ended at another passage, and Sofia took them to the right. The footsteps of the Turks now sounded as if they were right on top of them. They took another left turn. After a dozen feet the passage swung sharply to the right, finishing in a dead end. Behind them, they could hear Turkish voices approaching. 'We can't go back that way,' Longo said.

'In here,' Sofia urged, pointing to a door on the left-hand side of the passage. She tried the latch, but it was locked. William stepped forward and kicked the door hard. It swung open and they all hurried inside. They found themselves in a small kitchen, barely large enough for the three of them. William shut the door behind them and they shoved a heavy table in front of it. Limping, Sofia led the way through the next room to a door. She cracked it open. Before them was an empty square, and at the far end of the square, the Horaia gate. 'We've made it,' she breathed. 'Come on.'

They hurried through the gate and into the harbour. Most of the boats had already left, and the docks were crowded with men and women desperately seeking a way across the Horn. Some were jumping into the water to swim. The few small rowing boats that remained were filled until their sides barely cleared the water and were then rowed frantically towards the far shore. Longo paused to look for his ship.

'There she is!' William shouted, pointing to la Fortuna, which floated at a pier some two hundred yards down the harbour. There were sailors in the rigging, preparing the sails. 'Thank God she's still here.'

They hurried towards the ship, but had not got far when behind them the first Turks began to pour out of the gate and into the harbour. They spread out, killing the men and dragging the terrified women away. 'Hurry!' Longo yelled. He tried to run, but his legs refused. The world went dim and began to spin. William grabbed him and hauled him over his shoulder, staggering towards the ship. Sofia limped after them.

As they approached, they saw that most of the ship's crew was at the railing, fending off a crowd of Greek men and women who were desperate to get on board. William shouldered his way through the crowd, carrying Longo with him and with Sofia close behind. They rushed across the gangway, and Nicolo stepped aside to let them on board.