Dion hesitated. ‘My brother took back the city. I last saw him yesterday. He remains there as king.’
Aristocles was stunned. ‘He is not coming to our aid?’
‘No, First Consul,’ Dion said sadly. ‘I’m afraid he is not. He lost his whole family. Father, wife, son . . . And all because of a close friend’s betrayal. The shock is too much; he’s withdrawn into himself.’
‘But’—Aristocles struggled to comprehend the news—‘our alliance. Surely he knows the Ilean attack was none of our doing?’
‘First Consul!’ the officer with the indigo crest on his helmet cried. ‘The enemy approaches!’
Chloe heard a chorus of gasps; her father went rigid. Everyone’s eyes turned to the sea.
It was time.
A long line of Ilean warships filled the horizon, evenly spaced and approaching the harbor with speed. Oars rose and fell, their tempo increasing with every sweep. Soldiers swarmed on every deck.
Chloe watched the line of warships loom larger in her vision as they grew ever closer to the wall of Phalesian galleys.
‘So many ships,’ she whispered.
Her heart sank as she saw sinuous serpents lunge out of the water before plunging back into the sea – a deadly force of Triton’s eldren. She swiftly counted; there were two dozen biremes facing the Phalesian fleet of fourteen war galleys. With the serpents aiding them in the sea, the defeat of the Phalesian fleet was guaranteed.
‘First Consul.’
Aristocles tore his eyes away from the harbor as Zachary spoke.
The eldran indicated the others with him. ‘We have all decided we will fight in the sea. The more ships we sink, the fewer soldiers will reach the land.’
Aristocles swallowed. ‘Do what you can but no more,’ he said. ‘Don’t push yourselves too far. We all know the risks you are taking, not only to your lives but also to your sanity. Remember, the eldren fighting for the sun king will also suffer the same fears, and our navy will fight with you.’
Zachary nodded. As he led his people to a cleared space in the agora away from people, Chloe saw the eldren meet one another’s eyes.
And then smoke clouded the air around them.
57
The Nexotardis was just in front of the line of biremes, leading the charge. The drum pounded so quickly that the oarsmen could barely keep up. At ramming speed the ships traveled in a direct line for the Phalesian fleet arrayed against them.
Solon and Kargan stood close to the bow, where they had a view of the wall of Phalesian war galleys ahead and the biremes arranged at either side. The sun king saw Kargan frowning as he looked down into the water, where one-eyed Triton, now in the form of a mighty serpent, lunged in and out of the water.
‘Our allies are powerful,’ Kargan muttered.
Solon glanced at his commander and smiled with thin lips. ‘Speak plainly, Kargan. No one else can hear you.’
‘I will.’ Kargan scowled at Solon. ‘I fear this alliance has been made in haste.’
Solon spread his long-fingered hands. ‘Triton is desperate for the ark. Once we have it, and what is inside, we will be safe from any treachery.’
Kargan nodded, but Solon could see he was unconvinced. ‘Not all goes to plan,’ the barrel-chested naval commander said.
‘You are speaking of the attack on Xanthos,’ said Solon. ‘I place no blame on your shoulders. The spy who burned our ships evidently provided enough warning for their army to seize the pass. But it was always a gamble, and look’—he nodded in the direction of the city—‘the true prize awaits.’
The Phalesian galleys now plunged their oars into the water and commenced their own speeding attack. The distance between the two forces narrowed to five hundred paces, then four.
‘I will get the gold for myself,’ Solon said. ‘We can put whatever we find inside the ark into an iron box, and we will have control over the eldren forever.’
‘And if we don’t get the ark?’
Solon turned his feverish gaze on Kargan. ‘We must get it, mustn’t we?’
Kargan didn’t reply. ‘I must see to my ship,’ he said, leaving Solon alone at the bow.
Each vessel, Phalesian and Ilean alike, now chose a target, angling to approach with a glancing blow. The Nexotardis skimmed over the water as she flew like a spear at a Phalesian war galley, which came in to meet her as the distance shrank to fifty paces.