‘Why do we keep having these conversations in graveyards?’ Tyler quipped as Halvar bent to light the cigarette from Tyler’s proffered flame.
They waited in silence until Halvar was confident they had not been followed. ‘Since when has Radspakr known about your sister?’
‘Since the night of the Oath-Taking, but I don’t think he believed me until we spoke again on the night I first entered the Valhalla stronghold.’
‘By all the gods,’ Halvar swore under his breath and drew angrily on the cigarette. ‘This is becoming a bloody mess! It explains your selection as the White Warrior.’
‘You mean it was his suggestion?’
‘What better way to silence you than to convince Sveinn to promote you to become the Titan’s number one target?’
‘Radspakr wants to silence me?’ Halvar was looking at the ground and Tyler stepped closer, squaring up to him. ‘Housecarl or not, you need to begin explaining things.’
Halvar pushed him back and leaned wearily on a tombstone as he flicked his cigarette away. He squinted up at the blue sky overhead. A blackbird was calling from the yew and there were snowdrops thrusting between the graves, peppering the grass with droplets of joyous white.
‘I had five years of happiness with your sister. It began innocently enough in a bar and it was months before we realised we were both players in the Pantheon.’ He laughed mirthlessly. ‘We told each other tall lies about working night shifts. Then it began to dawn on us that we were always hurrying off at the same time on the same nights. We had a rip-roaring argument and convinced ourselves we had to end it. But we couldn’t, despite the dangers, because we knew we were falling for each other. So we worked out elaborate rituals for ensuring we weren’t followed. We would meet at my house mostly and sometimes I came to your place when you were at school.’
Tyler puffed out his cheeks, trying to picture Halvar in their little flat.
‘And then we did something so bloody stupid…’ Halvar reached out a hand. ‘I need another.’
They both lit up again and he inhaled deeply, drawing in the smoke with his eyes closed. ‘Like little lovebirds, we fantasised about being together in the Pantheon. We would lie in each other’s arms during the long afternoons and whisper about how we could do it. I think perhaps it was just an irrational dream for me, but Morgan became more and more consumed by the idea. All she could think about was how she might join the Horde and fight alongside me. Such stupid lovesick fools!’
Halvar spat out the last words, but Tyler barely noticed. He was frozen to the spot, his cigarette burning forgotten between two fingers. ‘What do you mean join the Horde…?’
The two men looked at each other and realisation flooded through Tyler. Halvar put it into words. ‘Her name was Olena – torch of light. It took her four years to work her way through the ranks of the Titan Sky-God Palatinate to become Captain of Alexander’s Companion Bodyguard.’
Tyler let out the breath he had been unconsciously holding and stepped sideways, reaching for a tombstone to hold. He gripped the granite, roughened with age, and tried to make sense of Halvar’s revelation. He reached under his shirt and grabbed the Odin amulet around his neck. ‘But she left one of these for me… I have it on my dresser. It was always the Horde.’ But even as he said this, he was thinking about the tiny Star of Macedon etched onto the reverse of that specific amulet.
‘Like I said, she became obsessed with the idea that she would join me. It was our stupid dream.’
‘You mean I’ve come into the Pantheon to find Morgan, and I’m on the wrong bloody side?’
Halvar drew on his cigarette and didn’t answer. He squinted at the yew tree and then continued. ‘So I did something I’ll always regret. You know how it is when a man’s head is stuffed stupid with love and he thinks the maddest schemes make sense? I went to Radspakr and I told him of my relationship with a senior officer in the Titan Palatinate. I thought he would see the value and might know how to pull strings behind the scenes to bring her over to the Horde.’ He grunted viciously. ‘Aye, the bastard saw the value alright. Just not in the way we’d foreseen.’
‘And by then he had you.’
‘Aye. One word from him and the Vigiles would crucify me. A second word from him and they’d do it to Morgan. So the game changed to his rules. From then on, we were still free to engage in our secret rendezvous, but she always had to come armed with information. The Titan’s numbers. Their deployment. Their plans. Their strongest warriors. Their weak spots. Where they would be and when. Everything we needed to know during last year’s Raiding Season, she had to give it to us on a plate.’ He stopped and gripped his fists to control his emotions. ‘So fight by fight, skirmish by skirmish, we were always one step ahead of them, and one by one, they started to fall. The once great Titans, the unassailable Sky-Gods. Now every move they made, we were always there, cutting them down, paring their numbers.
‘Then at some point, we started to realise that Radspakr was just as afraid as we were. He had told the Valhalla Caelestis of this prize and that changed everything. Odin used the secret to bleed dry the others on the Curiate whom he thought of as his rivals. New wagers were laid, bent wagers, against all the rules of the Pantheon. Sums beyond our imagining were won and lost on the information Morgan provided, enough to make powerful men enemies for life. If he had been exposed, Odin would have been stripped of his position and thrown from the Pantheon. Yet, if his secret was kept, he had the greatest opportunity in the history of the Pantheon to ruin his rival, Zeus, and perhaps even destroy the Titan Palatinate. It was the ultimate gamble that seduced him.’ Halvar looked across at Tyler, who was still leaning on the tombstone. ‘Your sister and I were embroiled in something far over our heads.’
‘What did you do?’
‘We thought it couldn’t get any worse, but then Alexander began to ask questions. The Titans became suspicious. How could it be, they asked, that the Horde was always one step ahead of them? How could they be losing so many good soldiers so swiftly? They smelt a rat.
‘Radspakr realised it wouldn’t be long before the plot was uncovered and it would all come tumbling down around us. So he gave us an ultimatum – or maybe it came from Odin, I’ll never know. One raid. In the weeks just before the final Grand Battle, Olena must lead the Titan elite into a trap. Not just any old ambush, but one that would suck them in so far that we could cut their best soldiers to pieces. Then, when we faced them on the field of the Grand Battle, their numbers would be so weakened that my Wolf Kill squads would have one incredible chance to take Alexander. The collapse of the Titan Palatinate! Imagine it. Somehow – in some stupid lovesick part of our brains – your sister and I convinced ourselves that it might even work out for the best. If the Palatinate collapsed then she really would be free to join me in Valhalla.’ He growled in exasperation. ‘What stupid bloody fools.’
‘So what happened?’
‘Olena did what was required of her. She risked everything for our love. She led her Titan comrades into the trap and we reaped their destruction and took the scalp of Timanthes, their greatest warrior.’
Tyler recalled Leiv’s words at the feast of the Oath-Taking. ‘But at the Grand Battle itself, you failed to kill Alexander. You sent your Wolves and they were close enough to see the fear in his eyes, but then the Sacred Band came from nowhere. Agape. And the attack was over.’
‘Aye. It was still a victory, but nothing like it could have been.’
‘And what of Morgan?’
Halvar took a few moments to answer. ‘Olena wasn’t present at the battle. At first I was relieved, but then a growing horror dawned on me. Had she been exposed? Was she even then in chains awaiting the justice of the Vigiles? Afterwards she didn’t come to me at the house, nor answer her phone. I went to your flat, searched it while you were out. Returned and stared through the windows while you sat in front of the television. But I knew she wasn’t there.
‘I cornered Radspakr and almost took his head
off, but I could see he was just as afraid as me and just as confused. If she’d been taken by the Vigiles all hell would have broken loose. But no word came from Atilius. No formal enquiry. Not even informal questions. Just silence. The Titans seemed none the wiser about their mole. The Season ended as normal. She had simply disappeared.’ He drew the last millimetres from his cigarette and stamped the stub on the grass beside a gravestone. ‘I could see that Radspakr was shitting himself. If Odin thought there was any risk of his illegal wagers coming to the attention of the Pantheon authorities, he would have silenced us all permanently and that would have included his greedy, ingratiating little Thane. But she was gone, so it didn’t come to that and gradually the risk seemed to pass.
‘Then one day last summer, I heard from her. A handwritten note. She’d been to my house at night while I was in Valhalla, let herself in, left the note by the kettle. It said she was okay, but after the battle in the cellar she was so frightened that she confessed everything to Agape, and Agape told her to get away, hide, because others would be bound to discover her treachery and come looking for her.’ He stopped and took a deep breath. ‘She also said she blamed me for telling Radspakr and that I had to forget about her.’
Tyler slumped down onto the damp grass and leaned his bag against the gravestone. ‘Shit,’ he said to himself as the full ramifications of all this new information began to hit him. ‘Does Sveinn know about you and her?’
‘No. He guessed the Sky-Rats must have a mole because of our unaccountable victories, but he was too clever to delve further. In such situations, ignorance is by far the best insurance policy for keeping your head attached to your shoulders.’
‘And the others?’
‘I thought it was only Radspakr, but Bjarke’s become the Thane’s man and I suspect he’s somehow in the loop. So beware of him. He acts the bellowing fool, but there is cunning beneath the bravado.’
‘Hence his decision to send me into battle against the Titans in two nights with a Bodyguard packed with enemies.’
‘Radspakr will be behind that decision, make no mistake. Your presence in the Horde will be terrifying the bugger. There’ll be so many questions burning through his evil little skull. What do you know? Why are you here? Even more importantly, how are you here when it contravenes fundamental Pantheon laws? Think about it from his perspective. His Titan mole is allowed to disappear without any fuss coming from the Pantheon authorities and then her brother is allowed to join.’ Halvar smiled grimly. ‘Oh he’ll be crapping himself. At least we have that thought to console us.’
‘And what of the other player? Agape. Why would the Captain of the Sacred Band help my sister and then stay her sword at your command during last night’s little show?’
Halvar mulled Tyler’s question, staring at the graves beyond them. ‘Agape and your sister, they were… well, they had a special relationship. With the exception of Timanthes, they were Alexander’s strongest warriors and I think they recognised that quality in each other.’
‘And that was enough for her to spare me?’
Halvar inclined his head. ‘It would seem she recognised you.’
Tyler looked at the other man with a new resolve. ‘This is too bloody complicated, Halvar. I can’t take part in the next Raid. I won’t do it. I owe the Horde nothing, least of all my life.’
XXXV
Agape stood upon the roof of the Court Houses, facing south, her back to St Giles’ Cathedral. One o’clock precisely. Go, go go! Everything tonight was about speed. Already Parmenion’s scouts and archers were rappelling down the ropes to street level from four separate rooflines south of the Mile. They would move swiftly along predetermined routes to converge on Old College and then take to the skies again. Each team contained the Titans’ best climbers, capable of ascending almost every building the capital could throw at them, even the most modern minimalist structures. From their eyries they would drop ropes for their teams and then set about fixing further pre-agreed ascent points for the Companions who would follow.
Speed. Get to these stations before the Horde could deploy, then send the Titan White Warrior at once. Better to fight their way out of Old College with the Asset already claimed than to wait and have to fight their way in. The Horde were no fools. They would be coming from their South Gate on Blair Street even at that moment. Fanning out and aiming for the quieter routes to Old College. They would avoid South Bridge which would be crowded with people and traffic even at this hour, and would come instead up the back roads of Guthrie Street and Robertson’s Close.
The rain soaked through her blue horsehair plume and cascaded from her helmet. Her hair was plastered to the nape of her neck and her cloak hung heavy. Behind her waited the Band. So few now. Only fifteen since the catastrophe of the raid last Season. Tonight they had a new role, not as the Titan’s hunter-killers, but as the White Warrior’s protectors, for tonight two Palatinates were coming straight for each other, shield to shield, and the price would be heavy. Her elite fighters would circle Lenore and give up their lives for her if the gods dictated. Lenore was standing with them now. She was a brave lass, thought Agape, dressed in her white regalia in the full knowledge this would be the Raid when the Horde’s Wolves hunted her.
It was time. Agape extended a gloved fist and each member of her Sacred Band walked past in turn and smacked their right hand onto it. Then they followed her in two lines as they snaked across the Courts to the western side behind the Signet Library and jumped across to the eastern wing of the National Library. They would take an indirect route to Old College, coming at it from the rear. Ropes already waited for them at all the key places and squads of Parmenion’s archers would now be covering their route. Zeus willing, the Horde would be somewhere further east.
The smooth, angled roof of the library was slippery in the rain, but they were all as sure-footed as mountain goats. They reached Cowgate, waited for the signal from the scouts, then flew down the ropes and crossed the road into the alleys behind BrewDog and the Three Sisters Pub. They passed through a hidden deserted car park and then up once more using waiting rope ladders. In minutes they were standing over Chambers Street and looking east towards the rear of Old College. The Band squatted and Lenore crouched between them trying to keep her bright armour as low to the roof as possible.
The College was dark in the rain. It was the traditional heart of the university, but at this hour there were no lights. Vigiles would already have taken out the cameras and temporarily detained the two gate porters, and Agape guessed the surrounding roads would also be liberally sprinkled with more Vigiles, for the Pantheon authorities knew the scale of confrontation threatening to take place and would be determined to block passers-by. Each Vigilis would carry a camera and more would have been mounted around the College, because the Curiate wished to miss nothing.
Agape spied a signal from the roof on the opposite side of Chambers Street. It meant the scouts had scaled the rear of Old College and the ropes were in place. It also meant Menes and his regiment of Companion Bodyguard would already be making the ascent. Thirty of them. They would secure the back of the College, while Nicanor brought his Hoplite Heavy Infantry storming down on the front entrance. That, at least, was the plan.
She signalled to her team and they moved across the roof in single file. A rope awaited them at the eastern corner and they dropped to street level. Facing them was the grand entrance to the National Museum, usually brightly lit, but tonight the lights had been taken out, the entrance porters rounded up, and the building sat in gloom. Cars were parked along the road, but they too had been checked and confirmed empty. The Band set off at a run, heading east along the street, using the cars in the central reservation as cover until they reached the junction at the back of the College where they peeled off.
There was a thud and a gasp from behind Agape. One of her Band had been thrown backwards against a car and lay propped with an arrow shaft through his arm.
‘Cover!’ Agape yelled.
Fourteen bronze shields came around the White Warrior like flower petals. Agape stared over the rim and could see their adversaries. A litter of Valhalla scouts. They had climbed the lower roofs of the buildings opposite and had set up station. They had an arc of fire which covered much of the rear of the College and, more importantly, they would already be sending a runner with news that the Titans were bringing their White Warrior from the west. Another arrow smacked into one of the shields, but now there were Titan archers atop Old College and they were returning fire. The Valhalla scouts hunkered down.
Time to go. ‘Keep tight,’ Agape hissed. ‘Shields over Lenore at all times. Let’s move.’
They were skilled at this. They went at a firm run without a single shield loosening from its position. In moments they were in the shadow of the College, tight against its dripping walls. The building reared high above them and even Agape marvelled at the skill of the Titan climbers to scale such an edifice. Window ledges, drainpipes, balustrades, even the cemented joins between the sandstone, there were finger holds enough but it was still a formidable feat on such a wet night.
At her signal the rope ladders dropped again and the Band fixed their shields on their backs and began to ascend. If Valhalla archers made it to street level below them, the White Warrior would be horribly exposed mid-climb, but Agape had to trust that Parmenion’s own archers and the Companions of Menes were covering all approaches. The rungs of the ladder were soaked and treacherous and Agape had to cling for all her worth. The wind rose as they got higher, buffeting down the thin road below them and driving rain into their eyes.
Finally she reached the top and there were helping hands waiting to grab her. She stalked across the roof and looked down onto a grass quadrangle surrounded by sandstone terracing which formed the centre of the College. At the other end, the front wing rose above the main gate, up to a dome surmounted by a statue called the Figure of Youth.
The Wolf Mile Page 29