‘You forget yourself, Fat-Belly,’ Lilla replied quietly, trying to keep her temper. ‘Besides, the emperor and I will meet as equals.’

‘Equals! Look about you, my girl! Whoever rules this place is as far above us poor wretches from the north as the stars in the sky.’

‘I’m not your girl, and don’t forget it,’ she snarled angrily. ‘He will meet with me. I’m sure of it.’

‘You’re sure of yourself, true enough,’ he replied sulkily, scuffing his toe in the dust.

Gerutha took Lilla’s hand. ‘I believe in you,’ she said.

‘Oh, wonderful,’ scowled Einar, turning away.

‘I do,’ insisted Gerutha. ‘And if Erlan is here, we will find him too.’

‘Thank you,’ smiled Lilla. She wished she had her servant’s confidence.

‘Sure, there can’t be many dark-haired cripples from the north in this city,’ added Gerutha.

‘And what if there’s none?’ snorted Einar. ‘What if he’s dead?’

‘He’s not dead,’ murmured Lilla. ‘He’s here. I know he is.’

‘Well, your faith in that is all very touching but let me remind you that this city is about to be sealed tighter than a dog’s arse. There’s a hundred thousand maniacs somewhere over there –’ he waved his paw vaguely to the west – ‘who could think of nothing finer than to bust in here and flatten the place, and everyone in it.’

‘We’ve come this far. I’m not afraid.’

‘Well, maybe you should be.’

‘All right then,’ she said, finally losing the will to fight him. ‘What are you suggesting?’

‘I say we give ourselves a time limit. Five days. If we find no trace of Erlan and if you gain no audience with this emperor, we return to the ship and the crew.’

‘You saw how big the place was from the crossing,’ Gerutha countered. ‘In five days we’ll have barely scratched the surface.’

‘Look, you brought me along to protect you. And I ain’t about to let you two fine ladies fall into the hands of some rampaging horde of . . . whatever it is they call themselves.’

‘Arabs,’ said Gerutha.

‘Right then.’

Lilla knew Einar had reason on his side, and that his intentions were only for her best. . . Then again she had left reason behind a long time ago. ‘No. We stay as long as we have to. I’m not leaving here without an answer.’

‘If the blockade closes and we’re still here—’

‘I know!’ she snapped. ‘Enough!’ Her head was spinning – with the heat and the crowds and all that she’d seen. She wiped away the sweat beading on her brow. ‘It’s time to find our cripple,’ she said.

A cripple, and a king.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

High above the plain rolling west from the Theodosian Walls, Emperor Leo the Isaurian – third of his name, and the seventh man to wear the purple in twenty years – stared out from the Gate of St Romanus.