Pirata: The Black Flag

Book 1: Pirata

by Simon Scarrow, T.J. Andrews

Genres: General Fiction; Ancient; Historical Fiction

Synopsis

Part one in the brand new Roman pirate series by Sunday Times bestselling authors Simon Scarrow and T. J. Andrews.

It is AD 25. The Roman Empire stretches from Hispania in the west to Armenia in the east, Merchantmen roam the seas, transporting people, livestock and all manner of goods. And where there are merchant ships, there will be pirates ...

On a blustery night in the rough port of Piraeus, Captain Clemestes staggers drunkenly through the dark streets as he heads for his ship, Selene. When he becomes aware of the sinister figures following him, he fears the worst, for life is cheap in this den of thieves and cutthroats. Then a man bursts from the shadows and by brute force drives the attackers away. Clemestes is astounded to find that he has been saved not by a powerful soldier, or a fellow sailor, but by a half-starved youth, compelled to come to the aid of a stranger, in the face of impossible odds.

The youth is Telemachus, an orphan with a story that is both commonplace and tragic. When the kind-hearted Clemestes suggests he joins Selene's crew, Telemachus sees no reason to refuse. But little does he know of the dangers of his new world. There's no running away once a ship is at sea – and when a pirate fleet appears on the horizon, Telemachus's troubles have just begun ...

The full novel of PIRATA is available now.

(P)2019 Headline Publishing Group Ltd

Release date: January 24, 2019

Publisher: Headline

Print pages: 84

Sample

Chapter One

Piraeus, early AD 25

A sharp gust of wind and rain blasted the Greek captain as he staggered down the dimly lit street. It was a foul evening in early spring, and the streets in this quarter of the port were deserted. Clemestes hurried along, occasionally glancing over his shoulder at the three heavy-set figures a short distance behind him. The seasoned captain of the merchantman Selene had recently returned from a successful voyage to Salamis, landing a cargo of garum and salted fish. Although the journey had provided him with only a modest profit, after covering the expenses of his crew and ship, Clemestes had fared better than most of his fellow seamen. Times were hard for the merchant captains of Piraeus, after two years of poor harvests and pirate attacks that had caused a drop in trade passing through the port. Several had been forced out of business, and many of those who survived were forced to borrow substantial sums from the merchants to cover their losses. Clemestes had decided to celebrate a rare successful trip with a jar of mulsum at one of the local taverns, and as dusk settled over the port and the light faded he’d left the Jolly Sailor to return to the warmth of the small cabin aboard his ship. A short while later, he had spotted the men following him.

The rain continued to fall steadily, pattering against the shingle roof tiles of the surrounding buildings as Clemestes passed through the gloomy backstreets of the warehouse district. Even at this late hour the storehouses were usually busy with teams of stevedores unloading the goods from newly arrived merchantmen, much of it bound for Athens, but the streets were eerily quiet now. The threat of attack from the bands of pirates who were known to prey on the main trade routes had unnerved the local merchants and shipowners, with many of them reluctant to risk transporting their goods across the empire, and Piraeus had suffered badly as a result, plunged into a period of economic turmoil from which she showed little sign of recovering.

Clemestes glanced over his shoulder again as he continued down the street. The three men were keeping pace with him, brown tunics covering their burly physiques. They had remained a steady distance behind him, following his every move and never quite disappearing from view. At first he’d dismissed the notion that they were following him. But then he had caught a glimpse of their faces in the glow of an open doorway, and recognised them from the crowd at the tavern. They had been sitting at a trestle table in a corner, drinking and watching the other patrons with interest. An overly keen interest, Clemestes now reflected anxiously. There was no doubt in his mind. These men were footpads. They had seen him leaving the tavern and intended to rob him.

He swallowed hard and faced forward, pulling his cloak tight across his front as he increased his pace, cursing himself for not noticing the footpads earlier. If he had spotted them as soon as he’d left the tavern, he could have easily sought safety in one of the many cheap watering holes and wine shops that did a brisk trade along the central agora. Instead, he had been too busy congratulating himself on the safe conclusion of his voyage, and had only become aware of the footpads once he had veered off the main thoroughfare, making his way through the shady, winding alleys of the warehouse district. Now there was nowhere for Clemestes to hide, nowhere to seek shelter and wait for his pursuers to abandon their chase. No one to save him once they sprang their attack.

He shivered beneath his cloak and looked behind him once more. The men were now twenty paces back, moving swiftly in spite of their bulky frames. Clemestes himself walked with a pronounced limp that slowed him down, the result of an old injury he’d sustained during his years as a ship’s mate, and with a rising sense of dread he realised that his pursuers would soon catch up with him.

Shaking off the drunken fog behind his eyes, he decided that his best hope was to cut through the maze of storehouses and try to lose the footpads before returning to Selene. He had grown up in Piraeus, running errands for the warehouse managers as a young boy before joining the crew of a small fishing vessel, and he knew the streets in this part of town better than most. Better than the men following him, Clemestes hoped. With luck, he might be able to shake them off, and then he would be free to make his way back to the safety of his vessel and crew.

He darted down a side street and made a series of quick turns, heading in the direction of the large commercial emporium situated next to the quayside. A fetid stench emanating from the drains hung in the air as he hurried onward. His heart was beating faster now, and he prayed to the gods to protect him from his pursuers. He passed a smaller abandoned warehouse, another painful reminder of how Piraeus had fallen on hard times due to the depredations of the pirates. Although there had always been a few crews terrorising the sea lanes, picking off unsuspecting merchantman from time to time, the situation had worsened in recent years as the pirates, emboldened by their initial successes, had undertaken frequent and more daring raids across the eastern Mediterranean and beyond. The situation was now so bad that Clemestes had already decided to retire from the business as soon as he’d paid off his debts. In a year or two he planned to sell off Selene and settle down on one of the islands in the Aegean. He’d marry a local girl, buy a plot of land, tend his crop, and spend his evenings drinking in one of the village inns, swapping sailing tales with the other old sea dogs. If he managed to live that long.

His heart fell as he saw that two of the men were still behind him and drawing closer. He turned and limped on. In the distance he heard peals of laughter, and knew he was close to the quayside. Once he reached the packed quay, the men following him would be forced to give up the chase. Although the trade at Piraeus had suffered in recent times, the port was still bustling with merchants and sailors and wine shop regulars even at such a late hour. The footpads wouldn’t dare spring an attack in such a busy part of town, Clemestes hoped.

He ducked into an alley to his right, a cramped space between tw. . .