The Emperor reached up to the heavy lintel and moved a stone engraved with a double-headed eagle. The Emperor pushed it open and led them down a steep flight of steps, worn with age.Īt the bottom, Siward took a torch from its sconce and lit their way across a hall to a door in the far wall.

The five men’s footsteps echoed through the corridors of the empty palace until they arrived at a courtyard silhouetted by flame. ‘Now your Emperor needs one more service.’Īlexios stepped forward and looked at each man in turn. You, your father, his father … all those years.’ He looked up and smiled. When has it not?’Ī woman’s scream came from below, then the crash of a falling building. Alexios had known the commander of his guard for thirty years. The moon emerged from behind a cloud and its light fell upon eyes that hadn’t closed in days.

Metal scraped on metal as one of them shifted pressure from a wound. They managed to enter through one of the sea gates. Give me an army such as these.Ī Varangian stepped forward. They carried axes and their armour was spattered with blood. All were over six feet tall and had fair hair that fell in plaits either side of faces cracked with fatigue. Standing between the pillars were four men of his Varangian Guard. The cough came again and the Emperor turned. Alexios V, Emperor of Byzantium, heard only hoofbeats from his balcony overlooking the Hippodrome.

Crusader kings 2 complete torrent