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Back The Arrow of Apollo Save as PDF
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

Everyone they passed was moving with some purpose, carrying a message or a burden, and they all bowed respectfully to Helenus as they went. He brought the three friends out into the main agora.

And there, Silvius gasped in joy, and Elissa jumped up and down. And Tisamenos could not help but be awed.

Rank upon rank of soldiers, polishing armour, practising sword play, their banners and standards fluttering in the breeze, horses with gleaming flanks and high steps, chariots at the ready, spears and swords being forged, the clank and clangour of a people preparing for war.

‘We have an army. Two armies, as Orestes brought what he could from Mykenai. We sail tomorrow. Tell the men to ready themselves!’ said Helenus.

He called out to the agora, and the whole mass of soldiers roared in reply.

But Tisamenos was thinking that it was not enough, and though his father was cheering, he could not join in. Instead he turned, and leant against the marble, the weight of the Last Gorgon heavier than it had ever been.

Thirty-Six

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To Italia

The harbour of the city of Phthia was rammed with huge beautiful warships, and men were loading them up with barrels of provisions and bronze armour. There were a dozen or more, and every time that Silvius tried to count them, he became distracted.

He kept thinking about the coming battle, and about getting to his family. He knew that he had disobeyed Aeneas.

But this was greater than that.

Tisamenos and Orestes were standing by the shoreline and looking out to sea, father’s hand on son’s shoulder. He couldn’t wait till he could stand with Aeneas like that again. Once this was all over.

He heard a sigh, and saw that Elissa was gazing at Tisamenos. He’d realised over the last few days, that they needed each other in a way that he didn’t need Elissa. There was a gap inside Tisamenos which she could fill. She was his friend, and ally, and they would stay like that. Silvius said quietly, ‘It’s all right, you know. I know that you love him.’

Elissa blushed, and said fiercely, ‘You don’t know anything.’ But she looked at him gratefully from under her eyelashes. ‘Look!’ she cried, changing the subject. ‘Helenus!’

Silvius thrilled as his cousin, the Trojan priest Helenus, came striding out onto the shore, dressed for battle, and he raised his silver staff and roared, and all the men answered, their shouting and the clashing of metal on metal filling the skies. Joining in, Silvius banged his sword against his shield, the sound throbbing through his body. He’d polished the breastplate until there were no marks on it at all, and he wore it now snugly.

As they were embarking, a messenger reached Helenus, and he listened to him with brows furrowed. It was a man of about Iulus’s age, and he had been riding hard.