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Back A Burning Sea
Chapters (54)
  1. CAST OF CHARACTERS
  2. PART ONE
  3. CHAPTER ONE
  4. CHAPTER TWO
  5. CHAPTER THREE
  6. CHAPTER FOUR
  7. CHAPTER FIVE
  8. CHAPTER SIX
  9. CHAPTER SEVEN
  10. CHAPTER EIGHT
  11. CHAPTER NINE
  12. CHAPTER TEN
  13. CHAPTER ELEVEN
  14. CHAPTER TWELVE
  15. PART TWO
  16. CHAPTER THIRTEEN
  17. CHAPTER FOURTEEN
  18. CHAPTER FIFTEEN
  19. CHAPTER SIXTEEN
  20. CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
  21. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
  22. CHAPTER NINETEEN
  23. CHAPTER TWENTY
  24. CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
  25. CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
  26. CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
  27. CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
  28. CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
  29. CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
  30. PART THREE
  31. CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
  32. CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
  33. CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
  34. CHAPTER THIRTY
  35. CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
  36. CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
  37. CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
  38. CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
  39. CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
  40. CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
  41. CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
  42. PART FOUR
  43. CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
  44. CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
  45. CHAPTER FORTY
  46. CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
  47. CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
  48. CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
  49. CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
  50. CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
  51. CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
  52. CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
  53. HISTORICAL NOTE
  54. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

‘Lilla! You’re awake.’

‘Grusha,’ she mumbled.

She felt herself gathered up in Gerutha’s arms and pressed against her warmth until, as if remembering her place, Gerutha gently laid her back down. ‘Drink this.’ She tipped Lilla’s head and coaxed a little liquid past her lips. It tasted like wine.

Lilla pushed away the cup. ‘Where are we?’

‘At sea. We have been for three days.’

‘The Black Sea?’

‘Yes.’ She squeezed Lilla’s hand. ‘We reached it, Lilla. And you’re alive.’ Gerutha couldn’t stop the tears welling in her eyes. ‘Oh, gods, I must tell Einar. He’s been worried sick about you. . .’ She wiped her tears and turned to call him but Lilla caught her elbow.

‘And Valrik? I want to speak with him.’

‘Oh.’ Gerutha stopped. Frowned. ‘Of course. Why would you know?’

‘Know what?’

She shook her head. ‘Valrik is dead.’

PART TWO

STONE

Illustration

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Illustration

If it had been a feast for a thousand, the preparations could not have been more frantic.

Katāros had heard that Silanos had spent the last week running around like a man with his tunic on fire, shouting orders, inspecting deliveries, scolding slaves, bullying cooks. The thought of it warmed his heart. He always enjoyed seeing a miser put to great expense. God only knew what the actual cost came to, but he imagined something staggering. And all this for not even ten guests.

That wasn’t to say Katāros underestimated the importance of this dinner; the integrity of the entire empire rested upon it. The Emperor Leo had asked him personally to arrange it in his capacity as parakoimōmenos – Grand Chamberlain of the Great Palace – which some said was the most powerful office in the city.

On its face, the occasion was a celebration of the marriage union to come between General Arbasdos – Strategos of the Armeniac Theme and commander of the second-most powerful provincial army in the Byzantine Empire – and Princess Anna, only daughter of Emperor Leo the Isaurian, the third of his name. One man honouring his friend. But behind it lay the deal that had placed Leo on the throne. This marriage was the price of Arbasdos’s loyalty, and Anna was the coin.

Katāros had taken his time readying himself before crossing the city with the emperor and his family. In the privacy of his rooms in the Daphne wing of the Great Palace, he had combed out his long black hair and brushed it until it shone, before arranging it in a style once popular under the reign of the first Justinian, and fastening it with a golden pin. He had donned the white silk robes of his office, applied rouge to his lips, kohl to his eyes – a scarcity in the city now during these days of war – then adorned himself with gold earrings, gold necklace, gold rings. Last of all, he scented himself with a perfume of sandalwood and amber, subtle but unmistakably expensive.