They fled the Colosseum through the Gate of Heralds, a hundred thousand voices chanting steadily at their backs. Juna hauled the exhausted princess across her shoulders while Loccy cradled Nyra and Ferra clutched her spare hammers.
"Left," Hajin barked, one arm clamped over his bleeding shoulder, "then left again, then straight through the fish market."
"Where in the nine hells are we going?" Juna snarled, vaulting a kneeling grocer.
"Somewhere nobody can order me around."
Every street they crossed looked the same, with citizens kneeling in doorways and gold burning on their wrists.
Dozens lurched upright to give chase, then collapsed, tangled in their own weeping, contradictory commands.
"The root takes only one clear voice, the babble is protecting us for now," Aria said.
"Until somebody organises it," Cassie panted from the rear, hauling Toby along by his sleeve.
"Then we had better find somewhere nobody ever organised anything."
