When the Dragon Rider Arrived

The battle outside was urgent, as though time had been turned back to the divine wars of antiquity.

In a mansion in Galata across the Golden Horn, the Crusaders' nominal leader had nonetheless been left behind, sitting alone in the courtyard and playing chess. He displayed an impressive composure, as immovable as a mountain.

"Your Majesty, I just checked. Those Latins are driving dragons and giants, and they're about to take Constantinople. How can you still sit here so calmly?"

Oros hesitated several times before finally being unable to restrain himself from asking.

As a household retainer and guard of the Angelos family, he had followed Alexios through their most difficult years of exile. His loyalty was beyond question, yet now that they were about to return to Constantinople, unease grew within him instead.

Compared to the Greeks, those Crusader nobles were cruder, but also more straightforward.

They had only thirty-odd retainers under their command, far too few to earn the Crusaders' respect. They had not even been allowed to attend the war councils.

He deeply doubted the Latins' trustworthiness. Would they truly hand Constantinople over to them when the time came?

Alexios chuckled. "Relax. Let those barbaric Latins and the rebels who follow the false emperor slaughter each other to their hearts' content. Barbarians excel at war, so this is precisely the sort of work they ought to do."

"My father once kept a group of Latin Knights. They were unruly, vicious, coarse, and greedy, like wolves. But as long as you hold meat in your hand, they may well bow down and become your hunting hounds."

He sighed softly, smiling without really smiling. "Oros, our family's foundation cannot compare to great houses like the Komnenos and Ducas. If we want to take Constantinople securely, we must use extraordinary