‘Achaea?’ Silvius stepped back towards his father.

A clamour of voices arose from the Trojans. ‘Filthy Achaeans! They killed our king and queen! They burned our city!’

Aeneas quelled them with a raised palm. ‘The foul King Agamemnon and his murderous brood are not our friends. What do you ask of us?’

‘You must travel to Achaea, as quickly as possible. Put aside your human quarrels. This is greater than anything else. Python enters minds, gives people powers they should not have. Already he gathers an army. If we do not stop it …’

‘What then?’ The room was getting warmer. Elissa could smell the horsey tang of the centaur even more strongly now, tinged with the piny scent of the woods at night.

‘He wants to reign over the world. He wants chaos. Night, and chaos.’

Again voices erupted. Elissa noticed that Silvius was standing quietly, listening. Aeneas tried to maintain order, standing up to calm them. People surged around the centaur, buzzing angrily. He was growing agitated, his back legs skittering. Elissa instinctively put out a hand to soothe him. ‘They mean no harm,’ she whispered. ‘They are confused. It is a lot to ask of them.’

‘But they must do it.’

‘Get back,’ she called. ‘Give him room!’

‘Who will go?’ Stargazer cried. ‘The gods have all but fled. They will not help us! Who will go to Achaea to save the world?’

‘Never!’ cried someone. ‘I would slit an Achaean’s throat as soon as see one!’

Elissa saw Silvius hesitating by his father’s side. His brother had marched out, leaving Aeneas looking old and alone. Silvius had no quarrel with the Achaeans, she knew. He had not been born when the city of Troy fell.

She recognised the look in his eyes. It was the same look he had when his brother won a wrestling match.

A sudden thought struck her. He would take it on himself. He would think it was down to him, to prove himself.

Before she could do anything to prevent him, he had already moved. She saw Lavinia’s pleading glance, but it was too late.

‘I will.’ He stood upright, hands clenched by his sides.

Few heard him. Lavinia reached out. ‘Silvius! No!’

Silvius climbed onto Aeneas’s chair, took a deep breath and shouted, his slight frame shaking with the effort. ‘I will! I swear to unite the Arrowhead and the Shaft, and discover how to destroy Python! I swear it by all the great gods!’

Silence rippled through the room. Somebody coughed. Lavinia begged, ‘No, you can’t!’ She turned to Stargazer. ‘My son … he’s young, he’s barely been out of the city.’

‘I have hunted on my own,’ said Silvius. ‘I lived in the woods with you most of my life. Do you forget the woodcraft you taught me? I have trapped wolves, and I found the stag with the white star on its forehead!’