"Where's your honor, Old One?" snarled Kaz, struggling against his captors. "What has happened to the honor of the circus?"

As they forced the two new prisoners to the wall and chained them, Molus whispered, "You idealistic fools wouldn't understand."

Moments later, Molus and his guards departed, leaving the trio to themselves. Kaz's eyes grew accustomed to the cell's dimness. He looked at Ganth, then at Hecar. "What happened to you, Hecar? How did you end up here?"

"I don't really know." Hecar sounded better now that their captors had departed. There was a glint in his eye. He was obviously worn out, but evidently hardier than he wanted the jailer to know. "I've broken no laws that I can recall. I looked around, asked a few questions, and suddenly found others asking me questions. I stopped to see an old friend, but I couldn't find him. That's when they came for me." He took a breath. "Kaz, you remember Scum?"

"We met him," interjected Ganth. "He brought us in."

Hecar looked at the older minotaur for some time. "You! You're supposed to be dead."

"You should be, too. Give me time."

"But Gladiator-"

"He'll explain later, Hecar. Go on with your story." Kaz needed to hear everything.

"They seemed interested that I knew Jopfer, but-"

"I told you he did, Kaz, remember?" Ganth said, interrupting again. To Hecar he asked, "And did you ever get to see Jopfer?"

"No, I didn't."

"You would've, if you'd been brought before the high priest himself."

Hecar snorted. "What does that mean?"

"What he's saying in a roundabout way is that your old friend Jopfer is the high priest now."

"Jopfer?" The other minotaur sounded incredulous. "Jopfer as high priest? This is a jest, isn't it? A sorry jest."

"It was him all right, even if he pretended not to know me. Imagine that. Me!"

"Jopfer?" Hecar still sounded incredulous. "Jopfer never cared much for the calling. He followed Kiri-Jolith if he followed anything."

"Well, he's the high priest now, and a mighty strange one," Ganth concluded.

"Jopfer…" Hecar shook his head. "If he is high priest, then what's he up to? And why would he throw me into the circus just for asking a few innocent questions?"

"They're worried about the settlement, Hecar," Kaz said. He told the other minotaur about what the chief cleric had said and how there had to be at least one spy among the settlers. "This is a nation at war. Everything seems tensed toward some lightning strike. They expect to use a fleet, but whether they intend to travel north or south, I don't know."

"I think it might be south, Lad. Good land down there. Makes sense to spread the empire where the resources are best. Doubt if anyone there will be expecting an armada of minotaurs."

"Maybe, but I'd opt for north, Father. That place, Istar, is growing too, despite the effects of the war. It'll probably be the next big empire. I'd go there. It would satisfy their taste for revenge, since we've been beaten back before, plus it would quickly remove the biggest threat to our western border."

The old mariner considered that. "You could be right."

"Which still doesn't help us any," Kaz added. He tried the chains, but they were of good minotaur workmanship and easily held despite his most strenuous efforts.

"I've tried that over and over with my own chains," Helati's brother informed him. "I've pretended to be weaker than I really am just so they don't tax me in the combats. Now that you're here, though, I guess they won't worry about keeping me alive." He grunted. "All I am is bait."

"The emperor wants to tidy up loose ends before beginning his campaign. Kaz here was a big loose end. He was giving the people an option other than blind obedience to the cause. He told my boy to either join up or meet his end in the circus." Ganth broke into a smile. "Strange as it might sound, I'm happy to say that he turned the bugger down."

"I don't think it's the emperor as much as the high priest, Father," Kaz remarked. "I think he runs the empire, not whatever fool happens to sit on the throne."

"It's still Polik, Son."

"Is it?" Kaz grew silent.

Beside him, Ganth snorted in anger. "Polik, yes. They left that scraping cur in power even after he more or less played a puppet on a string for the warlords!"

"He keeps winning all of his blasted challenges," interjected Hecar. "That's enough to keep him in power, Master Ganth. He wins about ten to twelve challenges a year, all of them issued by him."

"And he wins-"

"He killed Raud, Father," interrupted Kaz, unable to keep the fury within him a secret. "He challenged Raud to combat even though Raud hadn't achieved the Grand Champion level yet."

"Raud…" Ganth stared at his son. "By the horns of the Just One!"

"Now that I think about it," Kaz continued, "the combat had to be sanctioned by the circle… and it was, after support for the emperor's challenge by the high priest himself. Not Jopfer, but his predecessor, I think."

"Comes back to the sons of Sargas again," Ganth muttered. There was still a trembling in his voice. "You had just become supreme champion, then…"

"He should've beaten the emperor, Father. Raud was good enough that he could've beaten me, eventually… not that he wanted to face me. Raud said he wanted to become a grand champion, then use the title to get the ship he wanted."

"How'd he lose? How'd Polik beat him?"

How indeed? Kaz recalled the day of the fight. For some reason, he had been kept from visiting his brother, who was preparing for single combat. An emperor could issue his own challenges, in this way eliminating rivals before they were ready to face him, but never could anyone recall someone below the rank of Grand Champion being challenged. Grand Champions were the top gladiators of a minor circus, of which there were eight in each of the two capital cities, Nethosak and Morthosak. Only after achieving this rank could a warrior move on to the next level, the Great Circus.

Although Raud had not been a grand champion, he had risen to fourth on the list at his particular arena and would have achieved his goal in less than a year. Kaz now knew the true reason for the challenge. His other siblings, save for a sister who had just given birth to her firstborn and another sister, Fliara, who was too young herself, had all been active in the arenas; but none had risen as high in ranking as Kaz or Raud, the sons of Ganth and Kyri. They were often touted as the champions of Orilg with the best hope of becoming emperor.

Polik was a tool of his masters. He had been chosen more for his ability to keep the race under control than anything else. It was essential that someone like him and not someone like Kaz be ruler. The human Crynus had desired that. Yet, even the Dark Lady's most devious warlord had known that to outright assassinate a supreme champion would turn the minotaurs on their masters. Even Polik would be unable to keep the revolt from spreading.

Raud had been challenged. Kaz had been shocked. Something was amiss, and he had tried to convince his younger brother of that, but Raud was too honorable and competitive to reject so important a challenge. He did not want to become emperor, but neither did he care to lose face.

They would not let Kaz see his brother, and so he had sat in the stands with the rest. His brother had come out onto the field, but only Kaz had noticed that he moved a little slower than usual and seemed hesitant. Nonetheless, Raud had made it to the huge, rotating platform where a combat against the emperor always took place. He mounted the platform and faced the emperor with determination. To all, save those who knew him as Kaz did, Raud seemed ready and able.

He died within a minute of the fight's beginning. His reactions were too slow, his moves foolish, unthinking. There were only two ways to leave an imperial combat: victory, or death. Kaz could do nothing as Polik brought his axe down and ended Raud's life. He could do nothing, not even voice the truth. Something had been done to his brother to prevent him from making full use of his mind and skills. It was almost as if he had been drugged or bespelled. The outcome had been decided before the start.