Troy: A Brand of Fire
Page 35
*
They swam the first moat and scaled the wall, using grappling hooks and ropes. There were no guards at all, amazingly. The inner moat only came up to their thighs, except for one man who walked over a deep patch and vanished for a moment with a discreet plop. He bobbed up again a moment later, hair plastered down, and spouted a quick dribble of water from his lips.
The inner wall was guarded, but the sentries patrolled once and then vanished for ten minutes or more, presumably so they could enjoy a chat and a cup of something to warm them. Captain Molion waited for a gap and then whispered the order, and they all went up the ropes like spiders in the dark. They were down the inner side and into the shadows of the streets before the next guard emerged from the tower.
The palace was in the west of the city, on higher ground. The raiders had entered from the south because the walls were lower there, but it left them half a mile of twisted roads to navigate before they reached their goal. They did so without incident, streaming over the cobbles with cloths wrapped over their boots so they didn’t clack and clatter as they went. Less than half an hour after reaching the outer wall they were in the palace grounds, and nobody had seen them and no one knew they were there.
“Luck,” Molion whispered to Paris.
“Athena watch you,” the prince murmured. They clasped forearms briefly and then parted, Molion to deal with the guards at doors and windows, Paris to enter the chambers of the queen.