at him.
"That's none—"
"You idiot!" snarled the eunuch. "Kept them in the palace, didn't you? Planned to keep them unharmed, didn't you? So you'd have them available for later use."
John was still glaring, but he did not deny the charge.
Narses pointed to the chaos in the Hippodrome.
" 'Later use' is now, Cappadocian. Get them! With your thousand bucellarii added to the brew, we might still win this thing."
John started to protest. The eunuch drove him down.
"Do it!"
John argued no further. The Cappadocian charged down the corridor leading to the Great Palace. Narses went after him, dragging Pompeius by the arm. Before following, Ajatasutra ordered the kshatriya still in the kathisma to join Balban. As he left the kathisma—now unoccupied—the kshatriya were already climbing over the wall and dropping down into the Hippodrome.
In the corridor, Ajatasutra quickly caught up with Narses and Pompeius.
Smiling, the assassin leaned over and whispered:
" 'Years of civil war,' you said."
Narses glanced at him, but said nothing. The eunuch was concentrating his attention on forcing the gibbering Pompeius forward. The new "Emperor's" brother was practically paralyzed with fear.
"If you don't start moving," snarled Narses, "I'll just leave you here."
Pompeius suddenly began running down the corridor.
Narses let him go.
"At least he's headed in the right direction," grumbled the eunuch. "We'll catch him later. He'll stumble into a faint, somewhere up ahead."
The eunuch began trotting. Ajatasutra matched his pace easily.
Again, the assassin leaned over and whispered. Still smiling:
" 'The Roman Empire will be in chaos for a generation,' you said."
Narses ignored him.
Ajatasutra, grinning:
" 'Much better than just letting Justinian fight his stupid wars,' you said."
Narses ignored him.
They reached the end of the corridor. Now, they found themselves in one of the many buildings of the Great Palace. They could hear the sound of fighting coming from somewhere in the outer complex.
As Narses had predicted, Pompeius was waiting for them. In a manner of speaking: the nobleman was squatting on the
"That's none—"
"You idiot!" snarled the eunuch. "Kept them in the palace, didn't you? Planned to keep them unharmed, didn't you? So you'd have them available for later use."
John was still glaring, but he did not deny the charge.
Narses pointed to the chaos in the Hippodrome.
" 'Later use' is now, Cappadocian. Get them! With your thousand bucellarii added to the brew, we might still win this thing."
John started to protest. The eunuch drove him down.
"Do it!"
John argued no further. The Cappadocian charged down the corridor leading to the Great Palace. Narses went after him, dragging Pompeius by the arm. Before following, Ajatasutra ordered the kshatriya still in the kathisma to join Balban. As he left the kathisma—now unoccupied—the kshatriya were already climbing over the wall and dropping down into the Hippodrome.
In the corridor, Ajatasutra quickly caught up with Narses and Pompeius.
Smiling, the assassin leaned over and whispered:
" 'Years of civil war,' you said."
Narses glanced at him, but said nothing. The eunuch was concentrating his attention on forcing the gibbering Pompeius forward. The new "Emperor's" brother was practically paralyzed with fear.
"If you don't start moving," snarled Narses, "I'll just leave you here."
Pompeius suddenly began running down the corridor.
Narses let him go.
"At least he's headed in the right direction," grumbled the eunuch. "We'll catch him later. He'll stumble into a faint, somewhere up ahead."
The eunuch began trotting. Ajatasutra matched his pace easily.
Again, the assassin leaned over and whispered. Still smiling:
" 'The Roman Empire will be in chaos for a generation,' you said."
Narses ignored him.
Ajatasutra, grinning:
" 'Much better than just letting Justinian fight his stupid wars,' you said."
Narses ignored him.
They reached the end of the corridor. Now, they found themselves in one of the many buildings of the Great Palace. They could hear the sound of fighting coming from somewhere in the outer complex.
As Narses had predicted, Pompeius was waiting for them. In a manner of speaking: the nobleman was squatting on the