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He looked exactly the same as when Alexis had left on the Galata docks two hundred and forty-nine years before, except the small lines at his eyes had deepened into something that was both kinder and wearier. His face lit up when he saw Alexis.

"Amico mio," Alexis replied. "Forgive the timing. It seems we have arrived in the middle of a siege."

"I knew you would come." Arslan crossed the chapel in three strides and hugged him tight.

Alexis held him, and for a long moment neither of them moved.

"Phaidros," Arslan said over Alexis's shoulder, releasing him. "You're here too!"

"Grand Master." Phaidros bowed with theatrical sincerity before Arslan pulled him into a hug too. "It is good to see you in one piece."

Arslan patted Phaidros's back. "Come. Your journey must have been terrible, and we need to talk."

"You have no idea. I haven't been able to keep a full stomach for over a week," Phaidros complained, looping his arm in Arslan's.

Arslan led them past the altar through a low arch into the courtyard. It had filled out since 1204. Where Alexis remembered bare flagstones and a single fig tree, there were now pomegranate and lemon trees in well-kept beds, low alcoves with cushions, and two long stone tables for reading.

Two men in plain dark robes sat at one of the tables, heads bent over, speaking in low voices. A third stood at the gate to the apartments on the far side, eyes on the dark beyond the wall, a curved blade laid across his knees.

"Brothers in shifts," Arslan said, following his eyes. "We don’t sleep all at once anymore. Not since November."

"How many of you now?"

"Eleven in the city. Forty across the world. They are not all here, obviously. Some are in Cairo, some in Aleppo, some in Rhodes, a few in places in between." Arslan glanced over his shoulder at Alexis. "All mortal still. I've followed your advice on that point, but no one has been given the elixir."

"You always were a slow student."

"You always were a faster teacher than my patience permitted."

Phaidros made a small approving sound before kissing Arslan's cheek. "I've missed you and how you sass Alexis."

"I've missed you too."

At the far end of the courtyard, between two pomegranate trees, stood a freestanding statue in old gray stone. The figure of a dog-headed man, perhaps half life-size, stood on a square plinth. In one hand, he held an ankh. In the other, a set of scales.

"You kept it," Alexis said, smiling widely.

"Of course I did. It’s one of my favorite presents I've ever received," Arslan replied.

He put his palm flat to the ankh. He had carved it for Arslan as a thank you for his help the first time they met.

"Turn it," Arslan said gently. "I've made some modifications I think you will like."

Alexis closed his hand on the ankh and turned it a quarter to the right. The whole figure, plinth, dog-head, and scales together, slid back and to the side with a scrape of stone against stone. Lamplight rose from the dark below, revealing the stairs that led down.

"I love a secret passage!" Phaidros said behind them, winking at Arslan. "Amico, you are the first person I've met to make Alexis's art useful."

Arslan smiled. "You're terrible. Don't listen to him, Alexis. Your art is always beautiful."

"Don't worry. I haven't listened to Phaidros's opinion on art since Atlantis," Alexis replied.

In the time Alexis had been away, Arslan had expanded his cistern. Wooden walkways laid with old Turkish carpets ran out over the now dry canals. They led between sitting areas with low tables and flat cushions, and past archways into chambers that Alexis remembered as empty, now filled with shelves, books, and the flickering presence of more lamps.

"You have built a library down here," Alexis commented, his smile widening.

"Most of the cistern is a place for supplies and study in equal measure," Arslan said simply. "We drained parts of it to keep the damp out, but made sure we still have access to the deeper water if we need it."

Alexis's heart clenched a little. He is preparing for the inevitable fire.