"Will it work?"
Outside Tavitsky City that night, Valentin sat in a carriage beside the torchlit road, gazing anxiously at the walls hidden in the darkness and thinking of those five young men.
"Will they make it back to Bagnia alive?"
The sudden signal sent the other four players into action at once. Alibaba lunged at the nearest halberd-bearing guard, seized the gilded shaft with both hands, and drove his right knee viciously into the man's crotch.
"Let go, pal!"
As the guard doubled over in pain, he used that momentum to wrench the entire two-meter halberd free. Its gilded decorations broke loose in the struggle and flew past the nearest noblewoman's cheek, leaving a bloody line across her delicate face.
Meanwhile, the player who had been playing the harp overturned the three-tiered cake tower. He grabbed the heavy silver tray and hurled it like a discus at the helmet of the second guard charging toward him.
With a deafening clang, the guard staggered backward. The player seized the chance to draw the sword at the man's waist, its hilt still smeared with cream and strawberries.
"Protect the king! Protect the king!"
Leonard shouted from behind Oakland. There was nothing elderly about him now; he moved with incredible agility, grabbing Oakland by the arm and hauling him to his feet before running toward the nearest entrance to Rose Hall.
Albert III, the guest of honor at the banquet, did the same, and moved even faster than Oakland. Oakland had only an elderly attendant helping him along, while Albert III had two strong young sword-bearing guards dragging him at a run.
The banquet hall had descended into chaos. Noblemen and noblewomen screamed and ran in panic, preventing the attendants inside from advancing.
The guards outside the banquet hall had already