‘I thought that. . . well, it would give me great pleasure if you would call on me. Lord forgive me, but the work down here can be. . . so dull. I should like to hear something of where you’re from.’

Inwardly she smiled. ‘And I should like to tell you.’

CHAPTER THIRTY

Erlan had waited patiently for five days. But tonight, at last, was his opportunity.

He hadn’t wasted the intervening hours. He spent them looking for a foothold – anything that might give him the leverage to bring the siege to a swifter end. And now, perhaps, he had found one.

The Bulgars.

Alexios had given them to him, so to speak. Since the crisis at the Karisios Gate, the commander of the emperor’s guard granted Erlan a certain grudging respect. He’d even decided to overlook the embarrassment Erlan had caused him in the Great Church. So when Erlan came seeking counsel, Alexios was terse as ever, but at least willing to talk.

There was nothing they could do but wait, he’d said at first. The garrison inside the walls was down to fifteen thousand spears. The host outside numbered close to eighty thousand still, and more with the remaining fleet and marines. There was no question of seeking battle. And no hope of relief from anywhere inside the empire. Asia Minor was a wasteland. Those towns that had not already fallen were beset on all sides by Arab forces. The countryside was awash with brigands and bands of raiders. Wild beasts roamed the borderlands. ‘Make no mistake. The empire is fighting for its life.’

‘There must be another ally somewhere,’ Erlan had countered. ‘Or an army, at least.’

‘Only the Bulgars.’

‘Who are they?’

‘They were our enemies not forty years ago. They’re nomads – well, they were. They settled to the north, on the plains west of the Friendly Sea, less than a hundred years ago if the chronicles don’t lie.’

‘How many can they muster?’

‘I’ve heard over a hundred and twenty thousand. But who knows? Maybe more.’

‘A hundred and twenty thousand!’

‘At full strength.’

‘Well then – there’s the answer.’

But Alexios was dismissive. ‘They can’t be trusted. They never could.’ On that point, he was adamant. Even so, he reluctantly agreed to bring Erlan’s post duty forward by a few days so that he could attend the emperor that night.

‘You won’t persuade him. That’s if he’ll speak to you at all. Just keep my name well out of it.’