On the sands of the arena, chaos reigned. Carpenters rushed in dragging tools and lengths of lumber, while warriors in Almecho’s white armour escorted handlers to gather up and bind the stunned warriors.
Warned by some nameless instinct, Kevin knew an instant of apprehension. The vast crowd in the amphitheatre seemed locked in the grip of the moment, mesmerized by fascination. Catcalls and shouts wavered off into silence, and all eyes watched the dark-robed figure next to the Warlord’s box.
Milamber raised his arm. Blue flames slashed the air, scintillating even in full sunlight, and a bolt hurled downward and exploded amid the Warlord’s guards. Living men were tossed in all directions, scattered like leaves before wind. Carpenters and craftsmen lost their footing, and the boards and tools brought for scaffolding were whirled away like straw. Nobles in the lower seats were hammered into their chairbacks by the fury of the detonation, and a gust clapped in backlash over the rising tiers of seats. Milamber’s hand made a striking motion, and his voice cut through the stunned silence left in the aftermath of the explosion. ‘No more!’
The fat magician abruptly gave up pursuit. As fast as stout legs could carry him, he rushed into the imperial box, his thin companion right behind him. The two Great Ones conferred briefly with the Light of Heaven, who arose from his chair. The next instant, with no warning, both Great Ones and Emperor vanished.
Too shaken to examine his amazement, Kevin caught Mara’s arm. ‘Right. That tears it.’ Unceremoniously he raised her from her chair, if His Majesty sees fit to depart, we’re leaving, too.’
Lujan raised no objection, but drew his sword and leaped over the back of his bench. At his orders, Strike Leader Kenji and both other warriors formed a rear guard, while the Acoma Force Commander forged ahead to keep up with Kevin and Mara. Down the narrow aisle between boxes, the small party retreated in what approached unmannerly haste. Milamber’s actions held most other spectators riveted, and those in the rows above Mara’s line of flight called down irritable comments as the passage of the Lady and her escort momentarily interrupted their view.
Tension built to a fever pitch as the Warlord’s voice rang out in unmitigated fury. ‘Who dares this?’
Milamber shouted answer, ‘I dare this! This cannot be, will not be!’ But the rest of his words went unheeded by Acoma warriors as running footsteps approached their party from behind. By now at the juncture of the aisle and the stair to the upper levels, Kevin spun around. He saw two strange soldiers in maroon armour racing to overtake the Acoma escort.
Mara’s rear-guard warriors halted and immediately drew their swords. Left with only Kenji for protection, Kevin shouted warning. ‘Lujan!’
The Force Commander looked back. He took in the threat and identified the armour at a glance. ‘Sajaio! They serve the Minwanabi!’ Still moving, he signalled to the two warriors who prepared to stand interference: ‘Keep station at your Lady’s back.’ To Kevin he added, ‘We could take them. But first we get Mara to safety.’
For the commotion in the arena showed no sign of abating. The Warlord screamed at the Magician, ‘By what right do you do this thing?’
Milamber’s reply seemed to scourge the very air with his fury. ‘By my right to do as I see fit!’
Aware of little else beyond a sense of impending disaster, Kevin hurried Mara urgently forward. She tackled the stone stair gamely, despite the pegged soles of her sandals, which unreliably caught on the treads and threatened to trip her up. Through whitened lips she gasped, ‘All we know is in shambles. Chaos is upon us.’
Other figures stirred in the cross aisles; the guards of the Sajaio hesitated in their pursuit of the Acoma. They conferred, and one doubled back. The other diligently resumed chase.
Now other retinues crowded the concourse stair, nobles and ladies and warriors withdrawing before the charged air of threat that lapped across the amphitheatre like the swelling quiet before cataclysm.
Lujan noted Kevin’s shout, that one Sajaio warrior had broken away, presumably with instructions to fetch reinforcements. The Force Commander never missed stride.
‘Only a fool would start a fight now. Or haven’t you been listening?’
Shouts from the imperial box ended with, ‘My words are as law! Go!’
Mara started in fright and caught her sole on a cracked edge of paving. Kevin snatched her back from a fall, all but scooping her slight weight into his arms to keep her upright. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Milamber directing white-clad Imperial Guards to free the prisoners who still lay in unconscious heaps on the sand.
The Warlord gave way to uncontained outrage. ‘You break the law! No one may free a slave!’
Milamber’s wrath towered and his voice sharpened to steel. ‘I can! I am outside the law.’