'What is this?' Gennadius asked.
'Your cell,' Notaras replied, and before Gennadius had a chance to protest, the dark-skinned man shoved him from behind and sent him tumbling in. He landed hard on the floor and turned to see the door swing shut behind him. It closed with a clang, and he heard the key turn in the lock. Gennadius scrambled to his feet and rushed to the grill in the door.
'What are you doing?' he cried through the opening. 'You cannot keep me here! I am a man of God!'
'You are alive. Thank God for that,' Notaras replied. 'You will be freed when I know that what you say is true.' With that, he turned and left. Gennadius heard his footsteps retreating down the hallway, and then there was only silence.
'What do we do now?' Eugenius asked.
'Patience, my friend,' Gennadius said. 'Now we wait.' The next night there was no moon, and William could only just make out the ships closest to him as his boat glided over the dark waters of the Horn towards the Turkish fleet. To his left he could see what he thought was Longo's boat, and to the right loomed a Genoese transport, the dim outline of its huge bulk barely visible. The rest of the Christian fleet was lost in the darkness.
'Quiet now, men,' William whispered to his crew. 'Row gently.' They had wrapped their rowlocks in cloth before they left, and now the only sound was the gentle slap of waves against the side of the boat and the quiet dip of the oars in the water as they pulled away from the rest of the Christian boats and headed for their target: two ships at the far edge of the Turkish fleet. Ahead, the distant shore and Turkish ships were impossible to make out in the darkness.
They had nearly reached the far shore, and still Matthias could not see the two ships they had been assigned to burn. 'Where are they? Are we still on course?' he whispered to the man at the tiller. The man nodded. Then, far to their left, a flare went up from the Turkish shore. The men stopped rowing and turned to watch.
'What in Jesus' name is that?' the coxswain called out.
'Quiet,' William hissed. The flare fell slowly, illuminating the other Christian ships, which were grouped together some two hundred yards to port, ready to attack the heart of the Turkish fleet. William spied Longo's boat in the middle of the fleet. Giacomo Coco — the commander of the expedition — had broken clear of the rest of the ships and had almost reached the Turks. He was standing in the prow, urging his longboat forward. As William watched, a Turkish cannon barked out on the far shore, and a second later Coco's head simply disappeared. His body slumped and fell overboard just as the flare burned out, plunging the scene back into darkness.
The Turkish cannons on the far shore erupted, and the scene descended into chaos. By the intermittent flash of the cannons, William watched cannonballs skip across the water and rip through the Christian fleet, splintering hulls and sweeping sailors from their boats. He thought he saw Longo's ship pulling out of the chaos, but then lost it in the darkness. When the cannons flashed again, Longo's boat was gone.
'What should we do?' one of the men called out. 'Should we turn back?'
'No,' William replied. 'We head for the Christian fleet. The men won't last long in water that cold, and if they swim to the Turkish shore they are as good as dead. We will save as many as we can.'
'But sir,' the coxswain protested. 'The cannons will eat us alive.'
'No — listen. The cannons have stopped.' William pointed to the Turkish fleet, which was now pulling towards the Christians to finish them off. 'They won't risk hitting their own men. Now turn the boat around.'
'Aye, sir,' the coxswain said. 'Right back, left forward. Row!' he called. The boat spun around and then surged forward towards the battle. They had not rowed a hundred yards when a tall Turkish ship loomed up out of the darkness ahead of them, blocking their path to the Christian fleet. The ship was crowded with men, but all were at the far rail, attacking one of the Christian ships. They seemed not to have noticed William's small ship.
'All right, men. Let's do what we came for,' William called to his crew. 'Oars in. Not a sound,' he whispered as his boat glided up next to the Turkish ship. Quietly, they hooked on to the side of the vessel, and pulled themselves close. 'Ready the fire,' William whispered, and one of the sailors lit the fuse to a barrel of Greek fire. William let it sputter for a few seconds. 'Unhook the ship,' he whispered finally. Immediately, the Turkish ship began to drift away. 'Now!' William yelled. The men grabbed the small barrel and hurled it up and on to the neighbouring deck, where it rolled to the middle and burst into flames.
'Row! Row!' William yelled as the fire spread over the Turkish ship, engulfing it. They pulled away to safety, and the burning ship, its tiller aflame and useless, veered into another Turkish ship, setting it afire too. The two ships burned brightly. By their light, William saw the Christian fleet in full retreat and Turkish ships racing out to capture any stragglers. Nearer, just past the burning Turkish ships, William saw a dozen men flailing in the water. A Turkish galley was rowing out to finish them off.
'There!' William told the coxswain. 'Row for those men, and pull hard!' They reached the men and pulled them on board just as arrows from the galley started to fall around them. Longo was not amongst the men. William stood in the stern and scanned the water for him. The coxswain pulled William back down.
'Time to leave, sir!' he shouted, pointing to the approaching galley.
'You're right. Pull for home, men!' William ordered. 'And you,' he said to the rescued men, shivering at the bottom of the boat, 'take the oars. It will warm you.'
They pulled away from the slower galley and were halfway back across the Horn when they came across two men, struggling in the water as they swam towards the Christian shore. A minute later, William helped to haul Tristo and Longo into the boat.
'That's two I owe you,' Tristo said through chattering teeth.
They all three looked across to the far shore where the Turkish harbour lay. The Turkish fleet was almost entirely intact, lit by the light of three burning ships. The Christians had lost at least twice as many ships. The attack had been a disaster. 'They were ready for us,' Longo said.
'Aye,' Tristo agreed. 'There's a rat in this city. Somebody let them know we were coming.'
'We'll never get them out of the harbour now,' Longo said. 'And with the harbour in their hands… We don't have enough men to defend the sea walls and the land walls.'
'So what do we do now?' William asked.
'We send for help,' Longo answered. 'And pray that somebody comes.' Five nights later, la Fortuna was ready to sail. William had been eager to join the expedition, and as much as he feared for the young man's safety, Longo had agreed. After all, William had fought bravely during the attack on the Turkish fleet, and he had saved Longo's life. The least Longo could do was give him this chance for glory, and also a chance to visit his young wife on Chios. He would serve as lieutenant to Phlatanelas, who had volunteered to captain the ship.
The ship could be seen docked alongside a pier in the distance. Under the cover of night, the sides of the ship had been lined with shields like a Turkish warship, and the Turkish colours now flew from the mainmast. Longo spotted William on the deck, giving orders to the crew. Like the rest of them, he was dressed like a Turk in baggy pants, a loose red shirt and a turban.
As Longo and Tristo came on board, William hurried to greet them. Tristo engulfed him in a hug. 'Take care of yourself out there, young pup,' he said, lifting William off the ground. He put him back down and clapped him on the back. 'Stay safe, William.'