Now I Rise (The Conqueror's Saga #2)(74)

“We will be our own undoing yet.”

Radu hoped that was true, but still wanted to extend some comfort to Cyprian. It was an impulse he could not deny, and he thought again how this would all have been easier had Cyprian abandoned them to their fortunes once they had reached the city. His insistence on friendship made everything tight and aching in Radu’s chest.

Radu again opted for truth as a way to avoid lying. “But the Ottomans cannot get past the chain.”

“And neither can anyone else. Which means we are cut off from help. Men, weapons, supplies—nothing more is coming. What we have now is what we will have at the end, whatever that may be.”

“Still, the seawalls are safe. Even if the Ottomans get past the chain, launching an assault from this side is nearly impossible. The sultan knows that. He means to press from all sides to wear you down. But you will not have to spare too many extra men to guard this wall. The Lycus River is his avenue in.”

Cyprian considered Radu wryly. “You still think more like an attacker than a defender.”

Radu blushed, his sheepish expression unfeigned. “I spent many years looking at maps over Mehmed’s shoulder.”

“What is he like? As a person, not as a sultan.”

“This past year the sultan and the person have become inseparable.” As Radu had seen Mehmed grow into himself and his power, he had also seen Mehmed grow further away. He was both proud and dismayed. “Before that? Focused. Driven. He had a burning intensity that did not slacken no matter what area of his life he directed it toward. He saw something unobtainable, and that was the only thing he wanted.”

“Like you?” Cyprian’s tone was soft and without accusation. It was merely curious, as though he was trying to fill in parts to a story he had heard only a few passages of.

Radu shook his head, keeping his eyes fixed on the water. The skies were leaden above them, making the sea the same color as Cyprian’s eyes. But the sea was safer to look at. “No, it was the other Draculesti sibling who was the challenge.”

“Your sister? She was part of his harem?”

“No.” Radu grinned ruefully, finally looking at his companion. “That was precisely the problem. She was not, and she never would be, and so he wanted her more than anything else.”

“What happened?”

“She left.”

“She should not have left you.”

“I wanted her to. I pushed her toward it. I thought that if she was gone, Mehmed would finally see—” Radu bit off the end of the sentence. It was so easy to talk to Cyprian. Too easy. He should not be admitting these things, not to him, not to anyone.

Cyprian filled in the rest of the sentence for him. “But Mehmed could only see the things he did not have. He is blind.”

Radu cleared his throat and looked away. “Well. She left me, and she left him, too. And because of that, I think he will always love her. Or at least want her. He cannot abide failure.”

“She was his Constantinople.”

Radu smiled, having entertained the same thought before. But it was not quite right. “I am afraid Constantinople is his Constantinople. Nothing could ever overtake this city in his heart.”

A shout from the tower next to them drew their attention back to the water. The Ottoman ships had broken formation and were turning away from the chain. Radu could not understand why, until he saw four huge merchant ships, barreling through the water toward the horn.

And directly toward the Ottoman navy.

“Those are Italian ships!” Cyprian said, leaning out over the wall. “They are making a run for the horn!”

The ships safely in the horn edged closer to the chain, uselessly firing cannons at the Ottoman fleet. They were too far away to make a difference. Radu could almost feel the desperation from here. Everyone could see the Italian ships, but no one could help them.

“It is four ships against more than a hundred. They will never make it through.”

Cyprian smiled grimly. “Do not discount them. They are born on the water. If the wind stays with them, if luck is on our side …” Cyprian’s lips moved silently, whether in prayer or something else, Radu did not know.

Together they watched the battle play out from above. Radu did not even have to pretend to be emotionally invested in the other side—he could look on with the same intensity as everyone else, and no one would know his hopes were with the Ottoman navy.

It did not look promising. He had assumed the numbers would give them the advantage, but the tall, heavy merchant ships cut through the water as though it were nothing. The smaller galleys struggled to navigate the choppy sea, their inexperience showing immediately. They fired cannons at the Italian ships, but no cannons large enough to be effective could be placed on the lightweight galleys.

The four ships barreled straight through the middle of the entire might of the Ottoman navy.

Cyprian cheered with the crowd that had gathered on the wall. Excited chatter around them made it feel more like a sporting event than a battle. Radu was devastated to see that it was not anything like a battle after all. His navy was useless.

Then he realized the wind was no longer flinging sea air in his face. Everything had gone still around them—and around the merchant ships. As fast as they had been slicing through the water, they now drifted directionless.

And the galleys had oars.