From the walls, Videssian defenders cheered when they saw the imperial standard flying from the Renewal. Maniakes did not flatter himself that all those cheers were for him. He had taken to Makuran the best soldiers the Empire of Videssos had. Getting those soldiers back made Videssos the city likelier to hold. Had he been a defender hopefully awaiting them, he would have cheered their return, too.

«We'll land as many ships as we can in the little harbor for the palace quarter,» he told Thrax. «That will include the Renewal.»

«Aye, your Majesty,» the drungarios said, nodding in obedience. «You'll want to send the rest around to the Neorhesian harbor in the north?»

«That's right,» Maniakes agreed.

«When we tie up at that little harbor, you'll be able to get a good look at what's going on in Across,» Thrax said, as if the idea had only just occurred to him. It probably had only just occurred to him; that saddened Maniakes, who was used to looking further ahead. Thrax could, of course, have been the sort of man who did not look ahead at all; too many men were like that. But in that case he would not have been drungarios of the fleet.

Across looked to be buzzing. The red-lion banner of Makuran flew from a silk pavilion situated barely out of range of dart-throwers mounted on dromons. Yes, Abivard would know exactly how far that was, having spent so much time on the wrong—or, from the Videssian perspective, the right—side of the Cattle Crossing from Videssos the city.

Maniakes wondered whether the Makuraner marshal remained on the western side of the Cattle Crossing, or whether the Kubratoi had sneaked him over the narrow strait so he could gauge the land walls of the imperial city with his own eyes. Suddenly and rather sharply, the Avtokrator wondered which side of the Cattle Crossing Tzikas was on these days. Before he began his treacheries, Tzikas had been a Videssian general, and a formidably good one. If anyone knew of weaknesses in the walls—if there were any weaknesses to know—he was likely to be the man.

The Makuraners saw the imperial standard, too, when the Renewal drew near Across to give Maniakes a closer look at them. The curses they sent his way warred with the cheers from Videssos the city. Their whole camp was much closer to the Cattle Crossing than had been their way during earlier stays in Across. Then they had seemed content merely to have come so close to Videssos' capital. Now they had the notion they could cross, could reach the goal so long denied them.

They're wrong,» Maniakes murmured. Saying that and ensuring ft was true, though, were two different things. Maniakes turned back to Thrax. «Take us to the harbor. I've seen enough here.»

With his father, and with Rhegorios and Symvatios, Maniakes passed through the Silver Gate's opening in the inner wall of Videssos the city and strode out toward the lower outer wall. «By the lord with the great and good mind, the parasol-bearers are still fuming because I wouldn't let them come out here with me,» he said, fuming himself. «That would be all I needed, wouldn't it? Showing the Kubratoi exactly whom to shoot, I mean.»

That's the kind of nonsense you don't have to put up with in the field,» the elder Maniakes agreed. «I don't blame you for getting out of Videssos the city whenever you can, son. You don't nave idiots getting in the way of what needs doing.»

«No,» the Avtokrator said. Escaping the stifling ceremonial of the imperial court was one reason he was glad to get out of Videssos the city. He noticed his father did not mention the other one. The elder Maniakes did not approve of his marriage to Lysia, either, but, unlike so many in the city, was at least willing to keep quiet about it.

The massive portals of the Silver Gate's entryway through the outer wall were shut. The even more massive bars that held those portals closed were in place in their great iron brackets. Behind the gate, the iron-faced portcullis was lowered into its place in the gateway. Up above it, murder holes let defenders pour boiling water and heated sand down on the heads of warriors who might try to break down the defenses. Maniakes would not have cared to assault the Silver Gate, were he besieger rather than besieged. But, if the Makuraners taught the Kubratoi how to build and use siege engines, they would not have to attack the gate. They might choose instead to try to break down some less heavily defended stretch of wall. If they had any sense, that was what they would do. But who could say for certain what lay in Etzilios' mind? Maniakes wondered whether the Kubrati khagan himself knew.

The Avtokrator climbed the stone stairway to the walk atop the outer wall. His father, cousin, and uncle followed. He tried to make himself climb slowly out of consideration for the elder Maniakes and Symvatios, but they were both breathing hard by the time they gained the walkway.

Maniakes peered out toward the Kubratoi camp nearby. Etzilios had chosen to set his own tent opposite the Silver Gate, the chief way into Videssos the city. The horsetail standards that marked his tent were unmistakable. Also as near unmistakable as made no difference was the banner fluttering next to that standard. White and red… Maniakes could not make out the lion of Makuran on the flag, but had no doubt it was there.

Kubratoi rode back and forth, out beyond the ditch in front of the wall. They weren't doing much: he didn't see any of them shooting arrows at the Videssians defending the city, for instance. But they were alert enough to make a sally look like a bad idea.

«How are we fixed for grain?» Maniakes asked. He looked back over his shoulder. The bulk of the inner wall hid Videssos the city from his view. He could feel the weight of its populace pressing out at him all the same. How many people did the city hold? A hundred thousand? A quarter of a million? Twice that? He didn't know, not even within such a broad range. What he did know was that, however many of them there were, they all needed to eat and to keep on eating.

«We're not too bad off,» Symvatios answered. «The granaries were fairly full when the siege started, and we've been bringing in more from further south and east, where the Kubratoi haven't reached. We can last… a while.»

«Other question is, how long can the Kubratoi last out there?» The elder Maniakes pointed toward Etzilios' encampment. «What do they do for food once they've eaten the countryside empty?» «Starve or go home,» Rhegorios said. «Those are the choices they have.»

«Those are two of the choices they have,» Maniakes said, which made his cousin look puzzled. Wishing he didn't have to, the Avtokrator explained: «They can also try breaking into the city. If they do that, it doesn't matter how much grain we have left or how little food they have. If they break in, they win.»

Rhegorios nodded, now unwontedly serious. «Do you know, cousin of mine—» He didn't string titles together now, either. «—that never crossed my mind. In spite of everything they've gathered out there, I have trouble making myself believe they might break in.»

«We all have trouble believing it,» the elder Maniakes said. «That may be good or bad. It's good if the Kubratoi have doubts in the same proportion as we have confidence. But if we're slack because we know Videssos the city has never fallen and they're all eager and zealous to make a first time, we're in trouble.»

«That's so,» Maniakes said: «They haven't tried storming the walls?»

His father shook his head. «No. Some days they aren't quiet like this, though. They'll come up into archery range and shoot at our people on the walls. They haven't done that so much lately. It's as if they're—waiting.»

«And we know what they're waiting for, too,» the Avtokrator said unhappily. «They're waiting to see what the Makuraners can show them and how much help it will be. The boiler boys are good at what they do, too. I wish they weren't, but they know as much about siege warfare as any Videssian.»