In the Greek camp, Diomedes built the ram.
Timber from the ships they had dismantled. Bronze fittings from the forges. Wheels from the platform carriages — repurposed, reinforced. The head was a bronze cap, heavy as a man's torso, mounted on a beam six men could carry.
Agamemnon watched from the palisade.
"How long," Agamemnon said.
"Five days," Diomedes said. "The inner gate is stone and bronze. But stone has seams. Bronze has rivets. I have broken gates like this before — in Thebes. In Thebes it took three days. This gate is heavier. Five."
Odysseus was beside them. "Five days is too long to wait. The men are restless. The kings are asking when the city falls."
"Five days," Diomedes repeated. "Unless the gate breaks from the other side."
Agamemnon looked at him. "The other side."
"The city is afraid. The wall fell. The granary burned. The people inside are counting days and the days are not enough. Fear does what rams cannot — it opens doors from the inside."
