First of all let me apologize to readers: I have had more than one beginning chapter to this story posted on this site and the chapters have not been posted sequentially. This is because I have been writing the work in a piece-meal fashion, and until yesterday I wasn't sure how to delete superseded items. In coming weeks I'll try and have a more comprehensive and chronological set of chapters in-place. The chapters are in the correct order now and there are no duplicates. Synopsis: Julian is a native of Crete, which in the 16th century was a colony of Venice. After his family is reduced to humble circumstances, at the age of 15 he travels to Venice with nine other young men from his town to become a ward of the trading house of Zorzi, which had had commercial relations with his father. Eventually he joins a mercenary company which is one of the "assets" of the Zorzi family. He takes part in the battles of Pavia (1525), Mohacs (1526), and the first siege of Vienna (1529). At Pavia quite by chance Julian is present when the French King Francis I is captured. At Mohacs, however, the company barely manages to withdraw in the aftermath of a total defeat inflicted by the army of the Ottoman Sultan Sulayman the Great. During the first siege of Vienna Julian, who speaks Turkish, is given a special mission.
14 parts