surprised if you were delayed.’
‘I’ll still be held to account.’
‘How much are you being paid for this voyage?’
Bardas didn’t answer.
Hero spoke for him. ‘Even if you have to pay for the horses, you’ll make a good profit.’
‘What do I tell my crew?’
‘Whatever suits you.’ Hero stirred the coins with his hand. ‘Take half now. We’ll hand over the rest when we reach Anatolia.’
‘Which part of the coast are you making for?’
‘Somewhere uninhabited. We’re heading for Konya.’
‘Konya’s fallen to the Seljuks.’
‘We know that.’
‘Then why do you want to go there?’
‘We’re delivering a ransom for a Norman knight captured at Manzikert.’ Hero divided the silver into two roughly equal piles and covered one of them. ‘Take it. Go on, take it.’
Bardas trembled. ‘Keep a lookout.’ He began scooping the pile into a bag held open by Wayland. When he’d finished, he was panting. ‘I’ll have to speak to my men.’
‘Of course.’
Bardas returned to the galley and the company heard voices raised in debate.
‘You’ve signed our death warrants,’ said Drogo. ‘That’s what you’ve done.’
‘We’ll see,’ said Vallon.
The argument went on for a long time before the crew emerged, armed with the castaways’ weapons. The company rose to their feet.
‘I told you,’ said Drogo.
‘Bardas,’ Hero called. ‘There’s no need for swords.’
Vallon took Hero’s arm, advanced towards the mariners and stopped in front of the skipper. ‘You’re a good man, Bardas. Not many captains would have stopped at night to rescue strangers.’
‘He’s been shipwrecked himself,’ Hero said. ‘He couldn’t sail by and leave us to die.’
‘Do we have a deal?
Bardas pulled a crucifix from the neck of his tunic and kissed it.
‘He swears it on the cross.’
Bardas held out the crucifix. Vallon reached out and touched it. ‘On the cross.’
At an order from Bardas, the crew began hauling on the shrouds and the helmsman strained at the rudder. The constellations overhead rotated until the bow was pointing at the Pleiades clustered to the south.
Anatolia
XLVI
They approached the shores of Anatolia in falling darkness. A range of forested hills smothered in cloud rose from the narrow coastal strip. Nearly fifty miles to the east a navigation beacon twinkled on the cape above Sinop. No other lights.
‘You’re sure this is the right place?’ Vallon said.
Hero nodded. ‘Bardas has put in here several times to pick up timber. He says this is where Jason and his Argonauts landed in their quest for the Golden Fleece. Xenophon passed through it on his march with the Ten Thousand. We’re treading in the footsteps of gods and heroes.’
Vallon smiled. ‘Let’s keep it down to earth. How do we get through the mountains?’
‘A track used by loggers leads up through the hills. We’ll pass a few hamlets. If we ride all night, we should reach uninhabited country by dawn. We cross the range through a pass between two high peaks. After that we keep heading south.’
Vallon heard the slow surge and wash of waves breaking along the shore. He looked over his shoulder. ‘Are the horses ready?’
‘Saddling the last one,’ Wayland answered from the hold.
Vallon saw Drogo’s brooding figure standing amidships. ‘Settle our account with Bardas,’ he told Hero.
When he returned, the coast was close enough for Vallon to see surf foaming around headlands.
‘All done,’ Hero said. ‘That’s us almost cleared out.’
‘I don’t think silver will be much use to us where we’re going.’
They entered a bay between two wooded promontories. Bardas waited until the last moment before striking the sail.
Syth ran back. ‘Nobody’s about. Wayland’s found the track.’
Bardas bade them farewell, shaking each man’s hand and blessing them. When he came to Syth, he took off his crucifix and placed it around her neck. ‘It was my mother’s,’ he told her. ‘I would have passed it on to my daughter if I’d been blessed with a girl child.’ She kissed the ugly old seadog on his cheek and he touched the spot as if she’d bestowed a benison.
The crew pushed out the ship and climbed aboard.
‘Mount up,’ Vallon said.
Hero turned and groaned. ‘You know what that is, don’t you?’
Vallon cursed and drew his sword. He dismounted and ran to the sea’s edge, peering into the night.
‘We can’t let him come with us,’ said Hero. ‘He’ll ruin whatever chance we have of freeing Walter.’
Drogo waded out of the sea and halted in front of them. Vallon raised his sword. ‘I gave you a chance when you’d have granted none. Now you leave me no choice.’
Drogo stood with empty hands outstretched. ‘Go on then. Kill me. What purpose will it serve? You don’t have the ransom. Your efforts have been nothing but vanity and I want to be there to witness your humiliation.’
‘Why should I give you that satisfaction?’
Drogo advanced within striking distance. ‘I can’t do you harm now, and you forget the good I did you. Without me and Fulk at your side, you wouldn’t have reached Novgorod. If Fulk hadn’t held off the Cumans, you’d have perished at the ford.’
Caitlin clutched Vallon’s sleeve. ‘Don’t listen to him.’
Vallon unhanded her and gripped Drogo by his tunic. ‘Let me tell you something. I undertook this expedition in a spirit of penitence. Don’t sneer. I swore not to take life except when I and my company stood in dire danger. That’s the only reason I didn’t kill you back in Iceland.’
‘Then I won’t give you any reason to break your oath.’
Vallon shoved him away. ‘Take the spare horse. Stay out of my sight.’
Vallon remounted and turned his back on the sea for the last time. Hero rode beside him. ‘What will Walter think when we arrive at the Emir’s camp with his hated step-brother?’
‘I don’t care what Walter thinks. I don’t even know the man. Drogo’s right. This venture has been nothing but vanity and delusion.’
‘Even if it’s for nothing, I’ll still feel proud the day you lead us into Suleyman’s court. Nobody has made such an epic journey as us.’
‘It cost Richard and Raul their lives.’
‘Richard never regretted his decision to join you. Nor do I.’
They had entered the forest. Vallon reached out and squeezed Hero’s arm. ‘That gives me some comfort.’
