such fantasies—’ Arik suddenly looked up and Levi did likewise, but he saw nothing but empty sky.
Then a cry came from above, and a distant speck became the silhouette of a bird.
Arik swallowed his tea and leapt up. ‘Come. Dhib has found something.’
That night Sofia slept on the walls, keeping the child warm against her own body. Bad dreams were interrupted by cries as the knights fought back half-hearted invasions of the lecherous dead. After the third such attempt, Sofia gave up any hope of sleep and sat up to watch the carnival. One of the Lazars, a young recruit, was badly bitten and she bandaged his wound. When the baby awoke, she was careful to keep her faced away from the city.
The streets were awash with drunken revellers and the alleyways with frantic couplings as long-dead lovers sought each other out with no regard to who or what their host might be; prim matrons pressed spread-eagled against walls, mothers and sons copulated, fathers and daughters; hardened sailors sweated with priests, tight-fisted merchants wept with joy as their slaves straddled them … This night Akka’s walls were a pen that kept the dead from spilling into the desert and the sea.
Sofia noticed some of the younger Lazars watching the proceeding with prurient interest: so not everyone was as committed as Fulk, as fully convinced that they had chosen wisely when they doomed themselves to corruption, isolation and chastity. She watched Fulk moving between these regretful souls throughout the night, bolstering their sagging spirits.
The carnality of the dead was insatiable. Although they only had new faces, Sofia could hardly recognise courtiers she saw every day, for their movements were at odds with their bodies: girls quivered arthritically and leered at mincing old men. Sofia was shocked to hear the queen’s voice amongst the moaning throng. She was lying on a stairway, grunting passionate imprecations as the patriarch’s head bobbed between her legs, gnawing away like a pig eating old vegetables.
They followed the bird’s shadow across the dunes until they came to a place where the sand gave way to rock. Arik promptly found the trail in the moonlight, but he was obviously puzzled. ‘He’s this way – but this is a different camel to the one he set out on. This one is near death. See, how close together the footprints are.’
When they caught their first sight of him, the prince’s camel appeared to be wandering aimlessly.
‘Looks like he’s sleeping in the saddle,’ Levi remarked, puzzled.
When they got closer the camel turned, braying plaintively, and Prince Andronikos tumbled to the ground. His throat had been cut and the smell was enough to tell them he’d been dead a while, though they had found him before the vultures could do much damage.
‘Sicarii,’ said Arik. ‘They wanted us to catch him, but not this quick.’
‘What’s going on?’ said Levi uneasily.
‘Get back on your camel.’ Arik handed Levi his waterskin. ‘Drink.’
‘What’s the rush?’
‘We don’t stop until we reach Akka. They mounted a dead man on a thirsty camel that knows this area. There’s water on the other side of this wadi. Don’t you see? They wanted us to follow the camel, but we caught it too early. Look: either side of the slope, see those rocks at the end of the wadi, in the shadows there?’
‘An ambush?’
‘And one we’ve not escaped yet. Are you ready? Ride!’
When the sun dawned, hundreds of discarded masks littered the otherwise empty streets. Naked, half-dressed citizens stole homewards, limping and bow-legged, their bodies left stiff, bruised and bleeding by their temporary occupants. Usually at this hour the bazaars would be filling with merchants preparing for the day, but all was quiet as the city slept off the previous night’s orgy.
Sofia woke to see Fulk and his men quietly descending from the walls. ‘Where are you going?’
‘I have to check for deserters. Stay here: this is when it’s most dangerous,’
‘No way. You watched my back all night.’
‘I don’t have time to argue.’
‘So don’t.’ She gave the infant to the injured Lazar and joined Fulk’s troop. Fulk unclipped his axe as he stepped onto the street. ‘People lock up when they get home so it’s easy to find the deserters. They make lots of noise. If you hear anything, get behind me.’ He divided his men into fours and sent them out across the city.
Fulk glanced at Sofia. ‘Feel the air?’
‘It’s clean,’ she said in wonder, ‘like the desert.’
Fulk inhaled with relish. ‘Enjoy it while you can. Hello, who’s this?’
Just inside