Troy: A Brand of Fire

by Ben Blake

  *

  Far to the west, two days after Menelaus had set sail from Gythium, a ship nosed into the harbour.

  It looked like a Phoenician vessel, with a raised stern and square-cut mast, only a little larger. Larger than any Greek ship too, come to that. Only an Argonaut would have known that the Colchians built their ships that way, and they were nearly all dead now. Certainly no one in Gythium knew. This was one of Phereclus’ designs, not seen yet on the Greensea. The crew unloaded crates onto wagons, ignoring the cries of the townsfolk to be allowed to buy any food they carried. By early afternoon twenty-five men were heading north, most of them walking beside the wagons with bows in hand and swords at their belts.

  The cargo crates held spears and shields, and un-lacquered armour from the workshops of Troy.