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Back The Arrow of Apollo
Chapters (52)
  1. Cover
  2. Title
  3. About the Author
  4. Dedication
  5. By the Same Author
  6. Author’s Note
  7. Map
  8. Domus Libris
  9. House of the Wolf
  10. The House of the Wolf
  11. One
  12. Two
  13. Three
  14. Four
  15. Five
  16. Six
  17. Seven
  18. Eight
  19. Nine
  20. Ten
  21. Eleven
  22. Twelve
  23. Thirteen
  24. Fourteen
  25. Fifteen
  26. Sixteen
  27. Seventeen
  28. Eighteen
  29. Nineteen
  30. Twenty
  31. Twenty-One
  32. Twenty-Two
  33. Twenty-Three
  34. Twenty-Four
  35. Twenty-Five
  36. Twenty-Six
  37. Twenty-Seven
  38. Twenty-Eight
  39. Twenty-Nine
  40. Thirty
  41. Thirty-One
  42. Thirty-Two
  43. Thirty-Three
  44. Thirty-Four
  45. Thirty-Five
  46. Thirty-Six
  47. Thirty-Seven
  48. Thirty-Eight
  49. Timeline of the Trojan Cycle
  50. Further Reading
  51. Acknowledgements
  52. Supporters

Silvius glanced at Tisamenos and Elissa. It was true. They would have to stay on their own for a whole day tomorrow, and hunt for food, if they did not go with the priests. And they had no idea how to get back.

‘We will go with you.’

Chryses bowed and mumbled a few words of prayer.

‘Now, you must follow me. Come along, then.’

He went straight through the middle of his companions, and stopped a few paces away from them. For a moment he seemed lit by a sun that was not there – and then he was gone.

‘What – where did he go?’ The priest had simply vanished.

‘Come with us,’ said the other two priests, ‘and you will see.’

The second of the priests went to where Chryses had stood. Now it seemed as if he too were lit by a different sun. Silvius squinted.

Chryses was there and yet he was not there. If Silvius was simply looking around the space, he saw a line of broken stones and the statue of Apollo on its side. But if he stared and narrowed his eyes, he saw something else entirely.

As Silvius followed the priests, the world around him shifted.

The sky was now bright, with the sun high above them. It felt as if here the sun never went down, the sea was eternally clear, the shore untouched by warships or raiders. This was the Temple of Apollo at Troy, a beautiful high altar before the steps of a large pillared building, and a statue of the god himself, presiding.

He had come home.

Thirty-Four

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The Temple of Apollo

In front of Elissa rose a tall altar, before which Chryses was now kneeling. A sacrifice was burning, and the smell of roasting ox filled her nostrils, tinged with the lighter scent of cedar. Behind the altar was a large marble-pillared building with a huge stone flight of steps leading up to it, cut smoothly out of massive rocks. The building was painted in lively crimsons and golds, and it shone as if lit from within.

The other two priests joined Chryses in kneeling, adding their voices to his prayers. Elissa watched Silvius kneel with the priests, eyes shining, and Tisamenos for once looked at peace, resting his load and closing his eyes. She herself joined them, thinking of Apollo and his light, and letting the sun warm her.

Chryses finished his prayer, and stood up to welcome them, opening his arms out wide. ‘The Temple of Apollo,’ he said. ‘Still here in the ruins of Troy, if you know where to look, hidden in a fold of the world. We worship the Lord of Light, coming here as often as we can, and will do as long as we live.’ A flicker of sadness crossed his eyes. He knew that would not be long, thought Elissa. Then he cleared his throat, and banged his stick once, sharply on the ground.