652 - If You Die On Me...

My brother was just finished his Ten Tens and I was jumping up and down and cheering when I heard Virani-e yell that there was a dart.  Some asshole in the crowd shot Minis.  Jia went a funny colour and the Temple started making this noise.

As Idiesas grabbed Minis and dragged him into the Temple, my security captain Janirias, grabbed me right up off the ground and stuffed me into a stone niche right behind Oas and put his big, armoured back towards me, sword drawn. He didn't need Idiesas's orders, he knew what to do.

So did I. I couldn’t see anything that was going on as Jia and I got down onto the floor like we’re supposed to, but then I could see between Jan’s greaves and boots. There's Sereniteers running the way Virani-e pointed. People yelling.

There was this cage of lightning, almost a bubble just inside the Temple doors, full of light and haze and fire and lightning and the whole building was shaking, like there was an earthquake and lightning kept sticking its fingers down from the tops of the front two Temple columns into that.  Wasn’t that where Idiesas had put Minis down?

I wasn’t sure but I could see Idiesas on the other side, he's yelling orders still, I think, but can't hear him.  It was a giant ball of lightning just inside the doors of the Temple.

I could just see out the open doors, past the bubble and outside the crowd were mostly on the ground too as the alarm keep keening and the columns hummed and crackled and roared as they made more lightning. Things shook and thundered.

There were some people who hadn't just fallen down in shock at the noise. Some were kind of running but I couldn't see more than a lot of people moving. Outside, through the open doors, I could see one guy still on his feet, it looked like he was trying to run away.  The crowd all around him were piling on the guy.  Maybe he was the one who darted Minis?  I hoped so.

I wasn’t crying but it was so bright from all the lightning snakes my eyes were watering making everything blurry.

The awful shrieking alarm noise stopped, but there were still the hum of the lightnings all around the inside of that flaming cage thing where Minis was.  My ears were ringing still in the sudden quiet even though Jia had wrapped himself around my head.

The Fenjitzae and all the dekinae and priests were all just helping each other up and picking up the Imperial robe and all the stuff they'd dropped, if they fell down when the lightning started. 

Idiesas, with his sword out, Akminchaer and the visiting Haian, Zinchaer were all at the cage of lightning and Virani-e and Kallijas and Gannara... there were people all around, but the Temple wouldn’t let them in.

Idiesas waved, I think he shouted but my ears were ringing and there were a whole bunch of Sereniteers coming from across Presentation Square at a run to support the ones near the Temple and the crowd handed the limp body of the guy they'd grabbed over to the Sereniteers so they could drag him off to the Marble Palace.

The Temple still wasn’t letting anybody in with Minis. It was a ball of light and lightning and there were splashes of melted gold from where the fire fingers had touched tiles all around it. Ky was in there too.  Mama Selinae please protect my sister-by -marriage. Big brother, you shen-knot, if you die on me I’ll be pissed.