The ascent took another half an hour, owing to the temperature and having to navigate past the overgrown gorse bushes that blighted the hillside. Eventually, we all made it. Tryum stood in the far distance and the square manhole was right before us. We shuffled forward in single file, the engineers, Callimar, Leana and myself at the head of the line. A small wooden hatch, about three feet wide, covered a slightly raised square hole. The engineers opened it up with so little trouble I wondered why we needed them to come along. Soon torches were lit and brought forward.
Leana volunteered to go down first. She did not take the rope she was offered, but nimbly climbed down and dropped the couple of feet until she made it to the water deck, where she made only a shallow splash.
‘It is all right,’ she called up. ‘There is little water down here.’
Callimar followed her down using a rope; I passed him down a torch while he was halfway, and he took it inside. After Callimar, I sat up on the side, dangling my legs in, then tentatively grabbed the rope, easing myself down onto the water deck.
Inside was aged stonework, a low curved ceiling above us and beneath our feet the flat bed where the water flowed. Unsurprisingly it smelled of damp, and a thick, viscous slime coated the sides. We moved forward to give room for the others as they climbed down, many of them bringing torches with them. Soon the tunnel had filled with soldiers, the clamour echoing for some way. Callimar issued orders for silence, which was not easy for those wearing armour.
I stared at the blackness beyond, thinking of the couple of miles of this we would have to negotiate, but Leana nudged me forward, having acquired a torch of her own from one of the others.
‘Come,’ Callimar whispered. ‘It’s time you showed us around your city.’
The journey in the dark took much longer than I thought. We tried not to stumble or make too much of a noise. The darkness ahead was punctuated only by thin slivers of fading light that managed to work around the wooden manhole covers, but as dusk came we could rely only upon the torches.
A good hour into the journey, my pulse began to race: we could hear the noise of soldiers outside Tryum’s walls, or perhaps it was the noise from within Tryum; it was difficult to tell. All I knew was that we were nearing our destination, the heart of Tryum itself.
Callimar called back behind him and fifty short swords were at once unsheathed.
It took a little while until we reached the broken stonework of the aqueduct deep inside the city. There remained a shattered hole to one side and I peered through the gap up at the stars now starting to define themselves above the city. Immediately to one side was a rooftop, and down below the streets were eerily empty. Our torches were extinguished and left standing upright within the channel of the aqueduct. One by one we climbed down onto the next rooftop, jumped down onto a lower one, then down onto the street, where we immediately split into much smaller groups.
The plan was to go about the city unnoticed enacting three tasks. Twelve of us, myself and Leana included, would make our way to Optryx. Around twenty soldiers would head independently towards the gates of the city, while the remainder hung back should the first operation fail. They would then see that the gates could be set alight or bribes could be given to various members of the King’s Legion.
With spectacular professionalism, everyone disappeared into the night. Meanwhile, I regarded the streets, staring at the vacant benches outside a tavern, at the temples with their doors closed. There appeared to be so few people, and those who we passed were almost scuttling about the city with a furtive purpose, or were simply drunk.
Tryum’s silence permitted us to hear the roar of the soldiers outside. I hoped the commissioner would keep to her word, that the noise was a simple distraction and not an effort to gain entry into the city through violence.
I led the group through the Polyum district, and eventually Regallum. The huge Temple of Polla, with its torches either side of the wide staircase, was a beacon on a night like this. We hurried along under Polla’s gaze, keeping close to the walls and remaining as much as we could in shadow. A soothsayer shambled into my path and I nearly knocked her to the ground; her one eye regarded me as she let me know what she thought of me. I apologized and ran to catch up with the others.
The road to Optryx was devoid of life and, as hoped, there were few soldiers around. Many of them would have been required to attend to the threat from the siege. The four guards standing to attention on the portico walked out to intercept us, only to find themselves immediately overwhelmed. Callimar and another Sun Chamber soldier immediately gained the better of them. They were struck down before they could draw their weapons, bodies dragged to the other side of the street where their throats were cut to make sure. Blood seeped across the paving stones.
Another handful of soldiers from the King’s Legion came out to investigate. Seven of our group diverted their attention while Callimar, Leana, myself and two others slipped around the perimeter of the courtyard inside the gated entrance. Those engaged in combat drew the king’s soldiers well out of sight. Meanwhile, we headed around the side, avoiding the main entrance.
We breached the first of many ornamental gardens, careful to remain quiet. I checked back but it seemed no one had followed us. Starlight had grown brighter, and there was a beautiful fragrance coming from the plants around. Had it not been a mission of some urgency, it would have been pleasant to have remained longer to explore this place.
Needing any point of entry, we headed towards a slight glow from one side of the palace: it was an open door with a couple of candles lit inside.
We burst in and startled three people, two men and a woman, all of them naked on one of the tables in a dining room, alongside the light of a lantern. Callimar immediately claimed a position of authority and demanded that they answer for themselves. The woman sheepishly drew up her dress from the floor and begged forgiveness. One of the men slunk into the darkness in one corner, where he began weeping; the other stood trying to cover himself up.
The woman, who must have been a good ten years older than I was, was senior to the two, much younger, male servants. She pleaded with Callimar not to say anything to get her into trouble. The general kept his cool and ordered them to get to their own quarters immediately and say nothing, otherwise he would report them.
They all sprinted out into the gardens in various states of undress, leaving us with a way into Optryx. Callimar said, ‘The things people do to occupy themselves in a siege.’
I laughed, reached to put out the flickering lantern when that harsh smell suddenly came to me…
Leana was standing over me, explaining something to the other soldiers in the darkness.
‘What the hell is wrong with him?’ someone said.
‘Seizures,’ she declared. ‘An innocent thing. It is nothing to worry about.’
‘He’s cursed,’ one of the others called. ‘Tainted. I’ve seen it before.’
‘Devilry,’ said another.
‘He was like an animal.’
Callimar snapped back at them while Leana helped me to my feet. My muscles ached. ‘I don’t care what’s wrong with him – touched by a god or otherwise, right now we’re here to hunt Licintius.’
There it was: the glares of the soldiers, the deep look of distrust, fear. Even in the poor lighting of the room, it was obvious how their faces had creased up in disgust. The sense of shame was overwhelming. That same look in Callimar’s eye, too – someone who regarded me as a friend. A deep and awkward silence pervaded while I regained my composure.