The Road To War by Peter Tonkin

Author:Peter Tonkin [Tonkin, Peter]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sharpe Books
Published: 2019-01-09T05:00:00+00:00

vi

By the time everyone reassembled by the steering oar where Halys and his gubernator stood, it was almost dark. ‘Now we’ll see,’ said the captain. And see they did – but not what he expected. First the quinquereme ahead on their left and then the one on their right lit all their lamps at the stempost – with extra light for the captain and navigator. They ran lanterns up to the outer ends of the spars against which their great square sails were furled. They even ran lanterns up to the mast-heads where the soldiers with their signal mirrors no longer had enough light for their work. And, away on the horizon behind Glaros, the pursuing vessels also hung lanterns on the masts and rigging still visible.

‘They’re trying to frighten us,’ huffed Halys. ‘Well, we’ll show them! Light the lanterns, men. And see if you can’t squeeze a little more speed out of the sail. It shouldn’t be too hard; the wind has picked up again. Boreas is on our side, as well as Erebus and Nyx. All sacrifices well invested.’ He laughed. ‘Even yours, Quintus!’ he called to the seasick soldier’s back as it strained over the nearest rail.

But User and Artemidorus were not as convinced as the ebullient captain that the gods were holding protective hands over them and all was well. The pair of them stood at the foot of the mast, listening as the great sail strained to contain the wind and the spars and rigging strained to control the straining sail. After a few moments, Puella, Kyros, Notus, Furius, Ferrata and Hercules joined them. Crinas remained below almost as seasick as Quintus.

‘I would wager,’ said User, ‘that you are thinking of your personal demigod Achilleus.’

‘Yes. As it happens, I am,’ nodded the spy.

‘Nothing unusual there,’ observed Ferrata drily. ‘Sometimes I think we have all stepped out of Homer. Achilleus,’ he nodded at Artemidorus. ‘Ajax the greater,’ he nodded at Hercules. ‘Briseis,’ he looked at Puella. ‘You get your choice, User – Agamemnon or Patroclus.’

‘Let the boy be Patroclus,’ said User, nodding at Kyros. ‘If he can stay alive long enough. Notus can play Meriones. I am content with Agamemnon.’

There was a short silence. They all knew that it was the beautiful Briseis who caused the terrible rift between Achilleus and Agamemnon when the warrior wanted her, and the monarch stole her from him. Puella shifted uneasily, feeling the sudden tension there.

‘And who would I be?’ wondered Furius.

‘Ajax the lesser,’ answered Ferrata. ‘Diomedes if you were better looking; you’re certainly a good enough warrior. But as things are.... With that face…’ he shrugged apologetically.

‘And you, Ferrata,’ wondered User. ‘Who are you? Odysseus?’

‘No,’ laughed the Iberian. ‘Quintus is Odysseus, widely travelled, cunning and secretive, never reaching home. And I? I am from The Odyssey. I am Polyphemus of course. I am the one-eyed Cyclops!’

As their laughter died, User grew serious. ‘But tell us why you were thinking of Achilleus,’ he said.

‘Not so much Achilleus,’ answered Artemidorus. ‘As of his Myrmidons and their black ships.

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