Breathing deeply, Tisamenos acknowledged the grave look in her eyes, and he nodded. ‘Then the three beasts that Hero mentioned … she was wrong! They did not foretell my death. The three beasts – it’s us.’ A new resolve came over him. ‘I will come with you.’

The road was hard in the dark, and they tripped and stumbled. ‘It’s not so far,’ Tisamenos was saying. ‘We’ll be there before dawn.’ But it was far, he knew. He had to keep the others going. They had only one water skin between them, and they eked it out, but even so their lips were soon parched.

‘There’ll be water when we get there. The ship will be ready for us, I’m sure of it. We’ll be on our way soon.’ Tisamenos was filled with an energy that came from knowing he was going to live.

When Elissa, missing her footing, stumbled and almost fell, hands reaching instinctively for the quiver on her back, he caught her. She smiled her thanks, clear in the starlight. Silvius, who had been lagging behind a little, gave him a curt nod.

How Tisamenos wished they had stopped to get horses. But there had been no time. Soon he recognised a curve in the road, and knew that they would be approaching Nauplion within an hour or so. They shared out the last of the water. Elissa shifted the strap of the quiver around her neck. It had clearly been weighing on her. Tisamenos offered to carry it, but she refused.

There was a strange brightness in the air, though it did not feel like dawn. They reached the inn where Elissa and Silvius had stayed. Not a light was on in the house.

‘Don’t,’ said Elissa. ‘They tricked us.’

‘But the captain might be in there. They will listen to me, the son of Orestes.’ Tisamenos banged on the door, but nobody stirred within.

Undaunted, Tisamenos led the way down to the shore.

And now he understood the lightness in the sky. Ranged in front of them were six ships. The sea was scarlet, burnished by the flames that licked all over them as they lay at anchor.

Somebody had set fire to them all.

It was hard for Tisamenos not to collapse – torn, bleeding, thirsty – and sink to his knees.

Hero. Hero and the Swallows, all this time, had been wanting to destroy him and his family.

She had betrayed him. She had simply used him to get rid of Erigone, and then had attacked when she knew that he and Orestes would be occupied. And now his city was burning.

His father was probably dead.

‘What can we do?’ They were all covered in sweat and soot. Silvius coughed as a plume of smoke passed over them. Crumpling to the shore, Elissa cradled the quiver in her lap. A mast toppled into the sea, blazing.