He was a warrior and he relished his calling, particularly the sheer physicality of it. There was little to match the triumph at finding that extra ounce of strength. In battle, the fighting might be bloody, but in the throes of an engagement it came down to one thing, kill or be killed. It was simple, it was uncomplicated. Strategy, too, he could deal with, he enjoyed wrangling over tactics with his junior officers. But persuading a spoilt princess to take a prudent course of action? That was another matter entirely.
‘I do not have the pretty words to persuade you, my lady. You must trust me, I have your welfare at heart.’
She tipped her head to one side and toyed absently with the filigree collar. Ash tried not to look too obviously at her mouth. Hell, this really was not the job for him. He found her far too appealing. He ought not to be wondering whether she had darkened her mouth with one of her cosmetics this morning, or whether that was its natural colour. It ought to be a sin to possess a mouth like that. It distracted a man, it made him long to sin…worse, it made him long with sin with her.
Holy Virgin, he was attracted to the little Princess, to the spoilt little Princess, in the most carnal way possible!
Those lips had to be rouged—did she realise the effect they had on a man?
The warmth in his groin was back. Ashfirth gritted his teeth. This is the Emperor’s niece.
And here was another contradiction—for all her sophistication, the Emperor’s niece had a peculiar air of innocence…no, not innocence…unworldiness.
‘Surely it is very cramped down below?’ the Emperor’s niece was saying. ‘And filled with crates and such like?’
‘She is not heavily laden. What there is can easily be shifted.’
Her forehead creased. ‘Won’t the glass be damaged?’
Now she was concerned for the ship’s cargo? Truly, she was a mystery, Ashfirth couldn’t make her out.
‘Not if we shift it with care. It won’t matter even if some of it has to be secured on deck—sea water can’t damage glass. In any case, if there were breakages, the merchant would be compensated.’ Ashfirth’s exasperation was growing.
‘I see. And where will your men sleep? I was under the impression you and your men sleep outside, up on the deck.’
‘My men bed down where they are ordered.’ Ashfirth kept his voice reassuring. ‘My lady, this ship is not as large as many of the Venetian traders because it was built for speed and the area below deck is correspondingly small. And while, as I have said, I do not believe we are in any immediate danger, it would clearly be safer for you if you were out of sight and we dismantled the pavilion.’
The brown eyes gazed at him. She nodded and pushed the enamelled casket towards her lady-in-waiting. ‘Very well. Anna, please tidy the…my jewels away, so they may be placed in the strongbox. We shall be removing below decks, if—’ the brown eyes held his ‘—and only if, you yourself, sir, will undertake to guard us.’
Relieved by her acquiescence, Ashfirth could only bow. ‘My lady, I am entirely at your command.’ As he looked into those dark brown eyes, it seemed that those polite words—I am entirely at your command—words that he uttered every day as an empty formality were, when uttered to the little Princess, becoming no less than the truth.
He waited while Lady Anna tidied away her jewels. Clearly, it had been too long since Ash had bought himself some of the gentler pleasures of life. If they put into a decent port in the next couple of days, he would make haste to the nearest bathhouse, and see what the local girls had to offer.
This is the Emperor’s niece.
‘I will send Hrodric to carry your chests below,’ he said.
‘Thank you, sir, you are most kind.’
Ash waited until Lady Anna had locked the enamelled jewel chest and handed it to him, and then he was out of the pavilion like a man with a thousand demons on his tail.
Below deck, Ashfirth ducked his head to avoid cracking it on a beam. The Princess was overseeing the establishment of her new quarters and she had made it clear that she wanted him close. Given his growing attraction for her, that was likely to prove a very mixed blessing.
The hammocks of the merchant and his crew had been unhooked and part of the glass cargo had been evicted.
Princess Theodora seemed very edgy, Ash watched her almost leap out of her skin when Hrodric came up behind her. Was she afraid of his men? He saw her send a shy smile to Toki as the sergeant roped her couch to iron staples driven into the ship’s ribs so she could rest securely.
Not for her a hammock, the niece of the Emperor must have a couch.
‘My thanks, Toki,’ she said, when Toki had tied the last knot. She seated herself, skirts billowing in a stray draught. The hold was full of shadows, but her expression when she gazed upon his sergeant was calm. Sergeant Toki was one of Ashfirth’s toughest men. Built like Odin, he was as formidable in a fight as he was in appearance, but he seemed to have won her confidence. If she was afraid, it was not of his sergeant, but something was disturbing her.
While she directed her lady and the sergeant in the placing of her things, he studied her. The mysterious Princess.
She must have a nervous disposition. She had been nervous when she had emerged from the convent and the reason for that was easy to divine—she hadn’t wanted to travel without her entourage. She was used to having a whole flock of fluttering women at her beck and call…to dress her, to entertain her, to serve her meals…
Was that the reason for her particular jumpiness now? Her hands—she was hiding them in the folds of her skirt—were trembling. Why? Had it been Leo’s unguarded mention of pirates?
She had mentioned wanting to help slaves—had the thought of slaving ships upset her? No, it could not be that—what experience could Princess Theodora have of slavers? Besides, if slavers were to take her captive, they would never enslave her, never—a Greek princess would be ransomed.
So why the devil was she so damned nervous?
Ashfirth Saxon’s men are efficient.
A piece of sacking had been rigged up to form a crude screen. Having led Katerina to her couch behind it, the Commander seemed to have decided his duty was done. He gave her a curt nod and vanished through the makeshift curtain, leaving Katerina and Anna alone in a shadowed space scarcely larger than a nun’s cell.
As soon as his footsteps faded, Katerina looked at Anna. ‘Anna, while we finish sorting our things, I should like you to describe the City and the Great Palace. When we get there, I must have some idea of which building is which.’
‘Yes, I was forgetting that you have not been there. What did Theodora tell you?’
Katerina lowered her voice so it was little more than a sigh. ‘Next to nothing, time was short. And in any case, the Princess has not been there herself in some years. She was a child of ten when she left for Rascia—the Palace must have changed since then.’
‘It has, but not so much, I think.’
And so, as Katerina went through the fine linens and silks that she had been given, and as she marvelled at the gold and jewellery—the Princess had been so generous!—she learned about the Palace. Every now and then she would glance at the sacking, lest Commander Ashfirth returned.
‘The Great Palace is built near the end of the peninsula—’
‘Like Dyrrachion?’
‘Yes, except there is no marsh. Constantinople is surrounded by sea on three sides. The Boukoleon Palace—that is most likely where we shall be taken, because the women’s quarters are in the Boukoleon—is almost on the shore. In the Palace, when you look out of the great windows, you might be on a ship.’ Anna shot Katerina a sly glance. ‘The Varangian Guard are billeted in the Boukoleon, so you will not be far from your officer should you need him.’
‘My officer?’ Katerina struggled to hold down a blush, and pretended to examine a length of pink silk.
‘He is…interested in you. Don’t think I didn’t notice. Last night at supper his eyes never left you.’ Anna’s gaze became specu
lative. ‘And from what I could see, he was not the only one to be…interested.’
‘What would you know? You went to sleep!’
‘Let me have that, you’re crumpling it.’ Anna took the silk from Katerina with a knowing smile. ‘I wasn’t asleep all the time, I know what I saw.’
Katerina brought her brows together. ‘The Palace, Anna, you are meant to be helping me, so I don’t make any more blunders.’
‘Any more blunders? Heavens, what happened?’
Sheepishly, Katerina gestured in a southerly direction. ‘I forgot something the Princess would never have forgotten. I forgot that it is Apulia that we are sailing past!’
Anna winced. ‘That is a pity. Do you think that he—?’
‘Anna, you must describe the Palace! He may return at any moment.’
‘My apologies. Where were we?’
‘Entering the Boukoleon Palace by the way of the harbour…’
‘Oh, yes. Kat—’ Anna flung a guilty look at the curtain ‘—Theodora, you won’t believe it when you see it. The Palace is a city in itself—there are gardens and fountains, there are orchards, there are halls with walls and ceilings covered with gold—’
‘Walls covered with gold?’ Katerina sent her a sceptical look. ‘You are teasing me…’
Eyes bright, Anna shook her head. ‘No, I am telling the truth, you will have to hide your amazement when we get there. The Great Palace is the most luxurious palace in Christendom, there is gold everywhere. And not just in the Great Palace, why, one of the city gates to the east…well, never mind, I think I had best stick to the Palace.’
‘Please.’
‘There are beautiful, beautiful tiled floors. Some of the walls are covered with thousands of coloured mosaics, others with paintings and frescoes. It is as though the people who lived in the Palace when the Empire was young still haunt it. The passage that leads from the Palace to the Emperor’s box in the Hippodrome has hunting scenes on it. There’s another that takes you straight from the Palace into Hagia Sophia, the great church where the Emperor hears Mass. It must be the biggest building ever made, it is like a mountain.’ Anna touched her hand and her voice became a dramatic whisper. ‘I have also been told there is a labyrinth of tunnels deep beneath the Palace.’
‘A labyrinth? Surely you exaggerate?’ Snatches of stories from Katerina’s childhood shot through her memory. Stories of another sprawling palace, from a time before time, of a maze of underground corridors, of a monster crouching in the darkness of a central chamber…
Shivering, she dragged a silk shawl about her shoulders.
‘I have never seen it, but I believe it exists. That is where the Imperial Treasury lies—deep beneath the Palace. They say that in good years when the revenues pour in from the provinces, they have to dig extra tunnels to make more vaults.’ Anna lifted an eyebrow. ‘Ask Ashfirth Saxon if you don’t believe me. He would know because of his right to pillage.’
‘His right to pillage?’ Katerina’s head was beginning to throb with the effort of imagining everything. Walls lined with gold? A labyrinth? Underground vaults?
Anna’s expression was nothing if not mischievous. ‘Hasn’t he told you about Varangian pillaging rights?’
Katerina rubbed her brow and shook her head. ‘We are hardly on intimate terms, Anna.’
‘The Varangian Guard won this right thanks to their unswerving loyalty to their Emperor. They are barbarians, but once they have sworn their oath, they remain loyal until death.’
‘They are honourable men.’ Katerina bit her lip, she was beginning to dislike the way Anna referred to the Commander and his comrades as barbarians, even though it was true that he was Anglo-Saxon and not Greek.
‘Yes, I believe they are. But once their Emperor has died, their duty is done until they swear their oath to the next one. At that point they tend to run wild. It has become their right to enter the Treasury and take as much as they can carry. They call it palace pillaging.’
Katerina snorted. ‘Now you are making fun of me.’
‘I swear it’s the truth! They may take what they can carry. It has become a tradition, but it only happens on the death of their Emperor.’
‘Death must invalidate their oath.’
‘Exactly. And after they have made their oath to the new Emperor they once again become the most loyal and trusted soldiers in the Empire. Ask Ashfirth Saxon, if you do not believe me.’
Days passed.
As the days extended into weeks, Katerina forgot all about the pillaging rights of the Varangian Guard, although she did spend much time gleaning what she could about life in the Great Palace—the rituals, the banquets, the ceremonies. She wanted to know how long the voyage might take, but Anna could not tell her, and Katerina was afraid of asking the Commander something that Princess Theodora would certainly have known.
Part of her—the cowardly part—hoped they never reached Constantinople and might stay for ever at sea.
One morning, Katerina was alone in her quarters as the merchantman rose and fell on a gentle swell. The sack-cloth curtain was looped back, she was studying a finely painted image of St Mark in Princess Theodora’s jewel-studded psalter.
‘Princess?’
She looked up as Ashfirth Saxon came lightly down the stairway and bowed before her. Resplendent in the red dress uniform of the Varangian Guard, he was every inch the Commander. His dark hair was windswept, his blue eyes bright.
‘Sir?’ Katerina frowned. ‘I thought we agreed that you should not use my title on board ship.’
‘We have entered the Sea of Marmara, Constantinople is in sight. And since we shall be docking in the Palace Harbour rather than in the Golden Horn, it was time to tell the crew who has been voyaging with them. Your uncle’s standard has been raised and the look-out will have seen it. Doubtless there will be a reception party waiting to greet you.’
The bottom fell out of Katerina’s stomach. A reception party! Dear Lord, the true test is about to begin. Let me not fail.
The Commander crooked an arm at her, his smile offered reassurance. ‘We are in home waters, the danger is over. I came to see if you would care to catch a glimpse of the city as we approach?’
‘My thanks, I would.’ Carefully, Katerina set Princess Theodora’s psalter aside and took up her cloak. She found herself fussing with her hair, straightening her veil. Am I grand enough? Do I look the part? Ought I to change?
But Ashfirth Saxon was eager to be back on deck. ‘Come, my lady.’
As she tucked her arm into his, an ache in her chest told her that this was one familiarity she would miss when Ashfirth Saxon learned her true identity.
Up on deck, he led her to the handrail, and even if he had not warned her that the crew had been told of her supposed identity, she would have known it. Heads swivelled in her direction. Some men bowed, others simply stared. A few smiled and nodded.
‘I saw her uncle once,’ she heard a seaman mutter to his neighbour. ‘Her real uncle, the one who retired to a monastery.’
Katerina smiled and nodded back, it seemed the right thing to do. Then she turned and looked towards the city.
Constantinople!
Her breath left her. Even though Anna had warned her, it took all her will to hold her jaw in place.
Above the restless shimmer of the sea, the city walls gleamed like an endless white ribbon. Katerina had never seen their like, but it did not end there. Piled up behind the walls, seemingly crowded against them, were dozens of buildings of every shape and size. There were towers, a thousand windows, and the light was bouncing off an extraordinary golden column. A vast dome pushed up through a cluster of other, smaller, domes. One vast cliff of a building had rows of windows overlooking the sea, with terrace upon terrace and gilded balconies. In the fresh breeze, flags and pennons streamed out from several rooftops. This must be the Great Palace.
The deck shifted beneath her feet. Katerina had been warned that Constantinople was magnificent, but she had no
t been prepared for the sheer scale of it. For an instant it felt as though the city crouched on the edge of the sea was alive, and it was sailing towards them rather than the other way around.
She stared at the largest of the domes rising up from behind the sea walls. ‘Hagia Sophia,’ she murmured, determined to hang on to what she had been told.
‘It must feel very strange,’ Commander Ashfirth said.
She froze. ‘Commander?’
‘Coming home after so long, it must feel very strange.’
‘Yes, it does feel strange.’ More strange that you could know. She forced herself to meet that watchful gaze. Have I roused his suspicions? I ought to distract him. ‘And you, Commander, has our city won your heart? Or do you still think of England?’
A shadow fell over him. ‘England is ever in my thoughts.’ He shrugged the shadow away. ‘But Constantinople has become my home.’
A seagull swooped past.
‘You are certain you will never return?’
‘Not while a Norman sits on the English throne.’
‘Where in England were you born, Commander?’
Ashfirth’s gaze returned to the city on the horizon. Her question had caught him off-guard, but rather to his surprise the answer came easily. ‘Ringmer.’
That clear brow wrinkled. ‘Ringmer? Where is that?’
‘It is a village in the south of England, I am a South Saxon.’
And then, Ashfirth had no clear idea of how she did it, save that she was gently, quietly persistent, he found himself describing the death of Anglo-Saxon England as they sailed towards the Palace. It was not his habit to talk about his past, but he could not see the harm. Once he had escorted her to her quarters, she was not likely to see him again, and talking about England was certainly safer than discussing her uncle and risking revealing his true feelings about his suitability as Emperor.
As the sea hissed past the side of the ship, Ash explained how his father had, with the other South Saxon thanes, rallied to the call to arms and had gone to fight for King Harold. He told her about the long march they had made to the north to defeat the Norwegian King, Harald Hardrada. He told her about the long march back. About how the Anglo-Saxons had to fight the Norman forces before they had fully rested. About Hastings. And she hung on to his every word, or so it seemed.
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