At the bottom of the rampart, a few feet away from him, the stubby man lay flat on his back, groaning. All around, men were arriving, rushing towards the smouldering ruins of the Dragon. 'Quick!' Longo yelled at them. 'Get water! And a doctor!' He was dressed as a janissary, and the men obeyed automatically. As they hurried off, Longo walked after them and on through the camp. Men rushed past him to the ramparts, but no one stopped him.
Chapter 16
William paced back and forth at the end of the tunnel. He and twelve of Longo's best men had been waiting there for hours, guarding the tunnel while Longo was gone. The other men, veterans all, lounged about playing dice or even napping, but William could not hold still. He was no longer a boy now, but a man of nineteen, old enough to do more than keep watch in this tunnel. He wanted to be out there with Longo. He glanced at the light that filtered in through the rubble that blocked the tunnel's exit. It was growing brighter by the minute. 'It will be dawn soon,' William said to no one in particular.
'Don't worry yourself, William,' a thin, short man named Benito said from where he sat leaning against the wall of the tunnel. 'Longo's a tough nut. He'll be all right.'
William nodded and kept pacing, his eyes on the light shining into the tunnel. Then the light disappeared and Longo's voice called out in greeting from beyond the rubble. A few seconds later his head poked out from the narrow passage. His hair and face were blackened as if he had rubbed soot all over himself.
'What happened to you?' William asked.
Longo clambered out into the tunnel, then rubbed his cheek and examined his now blackened hand. 'Gunpowder,' he said. 'I paid a visit to the Dragon. It won't fire again.'
'And did you learn anything?'
'The Turks are going to attack tonight,' Longo replied. 'We have much to do. Are you ready to destroy the tunnel?'
William shook his head. 'We need Tristo to set the charges, and he's nowhere to be found.'
'I know where to find him,' Longo said. 'Go to Croton's tavern, just south of the Turkish Quarter. It's his home from home in Constantinople. Bring him back quickly. I want this passage destroyed before noon.'
William went to the palace stables and took two horses. He reached Croton's before the sun had climbed above the city walls. The tavern was a two-storey building, garlanded with banners of red silk. William tied up the horses and then stepped over a drunken soldier sleeping in the doorway and into the tavern. Two long tables lined with drunken men dominated the dim interior, but Croton's was clearly more than just a tavern. In the corner to William's right, a crowd had gathered around a trio of tables where men were busy gambling at dice. To his left, men sat on the floor, smoking at hookahs. And everywhere, scantily clad, heavily made-up women milled about, offering their favours to the clientele, for a price.
'You're a young one, aren't you,' said a busty prostitute with long black hair in curls. 'Come for a good time?'
'I'm looking for my friend, Tristo.'
'Oh, that one,' the woman chuckled. 'He's been lucky at dice. He just went upstairs. First door on your left.'
William nodded his thanks. He climbed the stairs and pounded on the locked door. 'Go away! I'm busy!' Tristo bellowed from within.
'Longo needs you at the palace!' William shouted back. 'It's important!'
A moment later, the door opened a crack, and Tristo's face appeared. 'Can it wait five minutes?' he asked. William shook his head. 'Curse it!' Tristo exclaimed and slammed the door closed. When he opened it again a moment later, he was buckling on his sword belt. A plump, naked woman lounged on the bed behind him.
'Sorry, love, duty calls,' Tristo told her. He caught William's disapproving glare and spread his hands. 'What? You can play the saint while our wives are back on Chios, but I don't have it in me. Besides, she reminds me of Maria. That means I'm faithful at heart.' William laughed. Shaking his head, he led the way down the stairs.
He was on the final step when he stopped short. A man had just entered the brothel, and there was something familiar about his darkly tanned face. The man stopped just inside the doorway and returned William's stare. It was Carlos, the Spanish assassin that had tried to kill both Longo and William in Genoa.
'Mother of God, I don't believe it,' William whispered to himself. 'He's alive.' He had no sooner spoken than the assassin turned and ran. 'Come on, Tristo!' William yelled, drawing his sword and running after the Spaniard. 'We've got to catch him!' Tristo followed, running as fast as his bulk would allow. William was beginning to gain on the Spaniard when he turned the corner ahead. William rounded the corner after him and stopped. He found himself standing before a street market. Carts full of goods were set up all along either side of the street, and several dozen women and children milled about in the space between. His quarry had disappeared amidst the crowd.
'What now?' Tristo huffed as he caught up to William.
William caught a glimpse of the Spaniard, dodging through the crowd twenty yards ahead. 'There!' he shouted. 'You take the right, I'll take the left.' They split up, and William pushed his way through the crowd on the left-hand side of the street. He was about halfway through the market when he caught the glimmer of a blade out of the corner of his eye. He ducked and rolled just in time as a sword flashed over his head. William sprang to his feet to see the Spaniard hurrying away into the crowd. 'Tristo! Over here!' William shouted as he gave chase.
Ahead of him, the assassin slipped out of the crowd and turned into a narrow alleyway between two buildings. William followed. After only twenty feet the passage ended at a tall wall, but there was no sign of Carlos. There were no doors, nor even any windows in either of the buildings that formed the sides of the passage. There was no way out at all, yet the Spaniard was gone.
Seconds later, Tristo arrived. 'Where did he go?' he panted.
'I don't know.'
'Who was he?'
'The assassin that Paolo Grimaldi hired to kill Longo and me,' William answered. 'Apparently, he has come to finish the job.'
'Well, lucky for him then that he got away.'
'Lucky for him, and bad for us,' William agreed. 'Now come on. We've wasted enough time already.' Longo was standing on the inner wall at the military gate of Saint Romanus, overseeing the further reinforcement of the Mesoteichion stockade, when he saw William hurrying along the wall towards him. Not ten minutes earlier, Longo had heard the muted rumbling as the charges had gone off, destroying the tunnel beneath the walls. William looked to have come straight from the destruction of the tunnel. He had cleaned his face and hands, but the rest of him was covered in a thick layer of grey stone dust.
'Well met, William,' Longo said. 'The tunnel has been destroyed?'
'Yes,' William replied. 'We brought down the entire stretch from just past the wall to the tunnel's exit.'
'I heard the explosion from up here,' Longo said. 'It caused a great stir in the Turkish camp. Even our own men were unnerved. I heard two Greeks arguing over whether thunder on a clear day was a good or bad omen.'
'And what did they decide?'
Longo smiled. 'I am happy to report that it is a good omen. It means that God is on our side.' A grimace replaced his smile. 'And we shall have need of Him tonight when the Turks attack. It will be all we can do to hold the wall.' Longo glanced up at the sun, estimating the time. 'I must go to the palace to meet with the other commanders.'
'Wait,' William said. 'The Spanish assassin that Paolo sent to kill you lives. Tristo and I saw him while returning to the palace.'
'So much for good omens,' Longo said. 'I thought he was dead.' He looked again at the sun. 'But nothing can be done now. I must get to the palace. William, stay and watch over the men while I am gone. And watch yourself. The assassin is here for you, too.'