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The opening lines of each chapter. Open the book to read it all.
The world in which this story moves does not conform to modern notions of sexuality, identity, or morality. In ancient Greek and Roman culture, concepts such as “homosexual” or “heterosexual” did not exist. A man’s desire was not defined by whom he yearned for, but by the role he assumed, the self-control he…
They lay where they had fallen. The man by the hearth still had his arms stretched above his head, as if he had tried to warm his hands by the fire, but now he lay sprawled across the fireplace. A sword had split the back of his head, and death must have been instantaneous. Someone had poked four sheep's teeth into…
Sibbe sat in the glow of his oil lamp , writing down his memories and experiences from the adventures that had unfolded since he first arrived in Rome, and now he was leaving with nearly three hundred companions. He was tired after 17 Roman miles of rolling logs, carrying, and pulling, and the journey was not yet…
Ulv remembered it as if it were yesterday , despite almost two dozen years having passed since the events that would so profoundly shape the final years of his life as a soldier. At that time, he had been a simple legionary whose feet were his greatest asset, and they had marched north through Gaul during a cold…
The morning sun slowly rose over the city's silhouette , and its first rays fell upon the sandy courtyard where Flamma and Delicatus resided. It had been a long time since they were students at Ludus Magnus, the great gladiator school in Rome, but they were nonetheless admired by the younger students there, and were…
When Nikolaos, together with Flamma and Delicatus, left Ludus Magnus, it was the first time in three years that he would not sleep in the cramped and dark cell he shared with one of the other students. He would not miss it, and although he was nervous about what Flamma and Delicatus had in mind, he looked forward to…
Sibbe felt how the blood in the small cut on his arm had begun to coagulate beneath the sleeve of his tunic. He and Aulus walked in silence through the echoing colonnades back towards the scholae palatinae guard quarters on the Palatine. It wasn't until they stepped out into the cold night air that Sibbe noticed he…
Three hard knocks on the door tore Sibbe from Somnus’s warm embrace. The sound echoed in the small room, and the hard blows made the heavy iron bolt rattle in its staple. Sibbe was on his feet before the last knock had faded, trying confusedly to understand where he was, why he was there, and why it was as black as…
Varrus counted the small tesserae in the leather pouch . Each wooden tablet was a promise, a key, or a bribe, and was a model the Sacred Band had borrowed from the Roman army. It was a simple and ingenious way to distinguish friend from foe and to open doors that would otherwise have remained locked. Beside him sat…
Severus's small officium was housed in one of the palace's side wings on the Palatine, where it shared space with other administrative functions for the guard. It was thus strategically located between the guard's barracks and the imperial chancelleries, and right next to the Domus Flavia. In a way, the location was…
The light in the insula was pale and grey after filtering through the clouds that covered the sky above Rome this morning. Cato laid a tender hand on Laro's neck, and although the gesture was encouraging, it also served as a reminder of the gravity of the moment. "Today, you are no longer a boy apprenticing to become…
The silence that followed Laro’s words was so thick it felt as if the oxygen in the small room had run out. The oil lamp’s flame flickered, casting a long, dancing shadow of Varrus against the bare stone wall. Laro sat with his hands in his lap; his fingers were still dark with soot and wax, stains that not even the…
While Laro ran to perform his part of the plan in the garrison, Cato and Varrus wasted no time. As liaison officers in the Sacred Band, they knew where to find what they needed and how to get it. “We need linen from the Egyptians down at the Tiber’s emporia ,” Varrus said, pulling his dark and worn paenula over his…
“Listen,” Varrus said, when they had shoved closed the lower entrance to the shaft and were on their way, shoulders and necks aching. “I think we’ve been blind. Severus wouldn’t become a traitor and emperor-killer for a bet. We’re not seeing the whole picture here, and that worries me.” Cato nodded in agreement. “No,…
The darkness in the small chamber was absolute , but Sibbe could feel the warmth of Aulus's body through the oxhide as they sat shoulder to shoulder on the cot they had placed against the bolted door. It was an extra precaution against attack, should the traitors decide to search for survivors. Sibbe drew a deep…
The night air at Porta Capena was cool , but inside the unassuming house where Varrus and Cato lived with their adept Laro, the atmosphere was oppressive despite the breeze that found its way in through the opening in the wall. They sat in the dark; they did not want any light to betray their presence in their insula,…
The wind that tore at the trading ship's sails carried a foretaste of winter's treacherous weather. There were not many days left until October, and the autumn equinox was around the corner. In the sky over the Tyrrhenian Sea, the clouds began to display shades of autumn's grey tones. Varrus and Cato stood by the…
While Nereis moved towards Constantinople , two other ships sailed towards Massilia and Carthage Spartaria. Their mission was unknown to both captains, but if they failed to carry it out, it would cause great problems for the fractured Band. In the bustling harbour of Massilia, the scent of salt, rotting seaweed, and…
The storm had been tremendously taxing even for the seasoned sailors with whom they were traveling, and when the wind picked up even more, the captain decided to seek refuge in a sheltered cove off the island of Kefalonia to await better weather. They were nearing the treacherous cliffs and submerged reefs along the…
The crossing of the Adriatic Sea had become a brutal experience for Sarus and the other three huddled in the cargo hold. Bura Škura, the Dark Bora, had reigned for most of the journey, and on some days, the deck and the cargo hold’s floor had been covered in foul-smelling vomit. It was so bad that the waves crashing…
The nine men stood gathered at the railing of the corbita as it heaved in the choppy waves, approaching the mouth of the Bosphorus. Constantinople welcomed them with a pale November sun that day, which was a welcome change after several weeks of wind, rain, and freezing cold fog, which Aulus had said froze his very…
Hebdomon was located a few kilometres west of Constantinople’s western walls, on the coast of the Sea of Marmara, where the country’s open fields met the water. The place was both strategic and secluded, a natural base for the emperor's troops and for training elite units such as the Excubitores. The terrain was hilly…
The feast of the new god had come and gone , and winter in Constantinople was damp and raw as the new year began. Inside the immense Sacrum Palatium, fires burned around the clock to keep the raw cold and damp at bay, but despite the warmth, Emperor Leo shivered with a chill that seemed to emanate from within his own…
The Norns had proven to be in good spirits during their journey across the Black Sea. They had been greatly aided by the southerly Lodos wind, which gave their boats good speed across the otherwise capricious Black Sea. The cold had been more troublesome; it had caused the decks to become covered in ice, and they had…
The path that wound its way up the sandstone cliff was narrow and slippery with packed snow and frozen mud. The wind from the steppe grew stronger with altitude, and when they reached the crest, the dark waters of the Dnieper lay approximately 60 passus below. The view from up here was vast, and it was clear how a…
Gisisl, Rodulf, and several of their men had come down to the landing site to bid farewell to their guests. The company had found friendship here, and the few days they had stayed had done wonders for the men's appearance, bellies, and sense of smell. They felt well-equipped for the final leg towards Sibbe's home…
The narrow bends of Kaspljas finally ended when they reached the mighty Daugava. Now the world widened, and the ships could at last stretch out with full sails and the current astern. Winter’s hard grip had begun to loosen, and the ice floes that had recently gathered in the river bends were gone, replaced by a…
In the year that had passed since they arrived at Sibbe’s island , the fortress had been transformed into a true home for the Brothers... and sisters, he added silently. And since the fortress was something of a sanctuary without any local chieftain in charge, it had also become a trading post. Meanwhile, Sibbe’s role…
The first winters on the island had been harsh taskmasters , but their woollen tunics, furs, and cloaks had done their job to keep their limbs warm. And so had the seclusion within the walls. When the Cohort, during winter, had had time for each other in a different way, it had become a tradition to conclude council…
The midsummer sun did not let Sköll chase it from the sky until the hour was very late, and it wasn’t long before it rose again in the northeast. The shadows from Alvaret's junipers were long across the heath, and the sky was colored in light blue and orange. They had learned the meaning of the shortest night of the…
During the summer and autumn, sixteen boys between twelve and seventeen years of age arrived at their newly built longhouse. The joy this brought was, however, overshadowed by the sorrow that Drusus's loss of Vigilius spread among his friends. During the last month of summer, Vigilius had fallen victim to the…
Even as the torches in Sandbyborg burned out during the midwinter solstice in the year 476, the western part of the Roman Empire had fallen. The inhabitants of Öland were not yet aware of this. However, the collapse of the Western Roman Empire would ultimately have major consequences, not only for the peoples of…
During the roughly three years that had passed since Midwinter in the year 476, the Holy Brotherhood of Warriors had become complete. They were now the three hundred warriors they were destined to be, and the novitiates’ longhouse had been joined by another. In total, there were now just over two dozen youths living…
News of the changes in the world they had perceived as their own travelled with merchants and refugees who had come sailing from near and far. These were fragmented stories, and some of them sounded like pure fantasy, but slowly a picture of a world in ruins began to form. The mess table in the castle hall was sticky…
That winter became an ordeal for the people in the fortress . The snow, which should have brightened the dark months, failed to appear. Instead, a rainy autumn turned into a rainier and colder winter. The weather, the darkness, and the longing for their comrades – who had left them to seek a new life in the east and…
"I don't want to die, Berig." Silvanus's voice was calm and stating a fact, and he spoke the words as they broke their bread one morning in late March. "I know you wish to choose that path, but I do not want to follow you upon it." Berig paused with his piece of bread halfway to his mouth. It had never occurred to him…
Silvanus had pried four teeth from the jaw of a freshly slaughtered sheep. He carried them with him wherever he went, for he was afraid of losing them before the time was ripe. He spent more time than ever before sharpening his sword, something Laro had noticed. Without mentioning it to anyone, he followed Silvanus's…