You start to pace, connecting your thoughts. Through a window you notice an archer up on a nearby roof. He wasn’t there before.
It wasn’t Tus behind all this. It was Nizam! He never tried to take the robe off Sharaman. His hands should not have been burned.
You take off running.
Vwip! An arrow grazes your side, but you don’t stop.
“Dastan!” your uncle calls behind you. “Wait! I can speak to Tus!”
You don’t slow down. You race through the crowded marketplace.
You hear footsteps behind you and see crossbowmen on the roofs above you. A two-tiered assault! Another arrow comes at you. You drop to your knees and slide, feeling the arrow’s breeze as it whistles by. It clatters to the ground beside you.
You leap up and start running again. Now you see a squad of soldiers coming toward you! Your eyes flick left, then right. Nowhere to go.
You rush straight at them.