But the second man of the first pair was now coming at him, spear held with the point too far down for Blade to get in under it. So Blade quickly reversed his spear and stabbed at the man's thigh. Spearheads met with a clang. Then Blade's spear butt crashed down on the man's head. He dropped in his tracks. Blade leaped high over the fallen body, deliberately making the leap as spectacular as possible. He went a good five feet into the air and came down well inside the Ulungas' circle, with four guards rushing him.

The first pair seemed to be tyros. They came in both together, spears held in a strictly conventional position. Blade's own shaft whirled like a windmill, and both spears went flying. The two men backed away as Blade threatened them with his point, then turned to meet the other pair. He decided it was time to show off a low-line thrust with the spear, and did so. A lightning jab, and the spear point grated on one man's thighbone. Then Blade whipped the heavy point up at top speed. Already red with blood, the point sank into the second man's upper arm.

Two more guards came at him, with a new variation in their stance. Their spears were held extra high, almost level. Blade decided to make that improvised variation look as ridiculous as it actually was. As they came at him, he did a forward roll, going completely over in a split second and coming up with his spear held crossways. With all the power of his arms and the speed and weight of his body behind it, his spear slammed across the stomachs of the two men. They doubled up as though they had been kicked, all their breath going out in a whooosh. As they toppled face down, Blade sprang up between them, waving his spear over his head in both hands, yelling and shouting joyfully. What he said made no sense. It wasn't supposed to make sense. It was all for effect for effect, and to call Nayung.

Instead of Nayung, he saw yet another pair of guards coming at him. No, it was the second pair he had disarmed. They had retrieved their spears and were coming at him in the attack Nayung and his last companion had used in the forest.

But they lacked Nayung's skill. The man covering his partner moved in so close he got in the way of the other's swing. The first man had to check his swing, and while the two were sorting themselves out, Blade moved in. In a deliberate display of sheer strength, he swung his spear one-handed like a club, smashing down across the first man's lowered spear. Blade's spearhead rose up the other man's spearshaft and slashed a bloody furrow across his stomach. Before the first victim could even step back, Blade swung his spear up again, shifted hands, and thrust single-handed at him. He was deliberately aiming high, and his thrust went straight to its target. The man gasped as Blade's spearhead tore open his left ear, and jumped back. From first to last the whole sequence had taken perhaps ten seconds.

It certainly made an impression, not only on the crowd but on the other guards. Gasps of amazement and awe rose all around Blade. The next two pairs of guards that had been rushing forward to the attack stopped where they were and fanned out into a circle around Blade. He whirled, reversing his spear as he turned, and drove the butt hard at the man behind him. For once, the intended target jumped back in time to escape being hit. All four of the men in the circle took a few more steps backward, holding their spears ready to guard against any more surprises.

Before Blade or his opponents could make another move, there was a flurry in the crowd. Voices rose in angry protest, spearheads clanged together, and then Nayung burst out into the open. He dashed toward the guards that had closed the Ulungas' circle behind Blade, but stopped just outside spear range. Then he raised his spear high over head in salute to King Afuno, threw back his head, and roared out his message.

«Oh, King, see the great warrior of the English and how he makes the best warriors of the Zungans fall over themselves like children playing in the dust. He has sworn before the Sky Father that he can teach each Zungan to fight as he does. The iron swords and the iron clothing of the slave raiders will no longer protect them. They will all hang from posts around our victory fires. Our wives and children will not be their slaves, but theirs will be ours. Let this warrior Blade speak to you, oh, King!»

While Nayung was shouting his message, Blade was doing his best to watch the four guards circling around him and King Afuno on his chair. Afuno held on to both of his spears, but lowered the one he had raised into throwing position. Otherwise he neither moved nor spoke during Nayung's entire speech. Once it seemed to Blade that the massive head jerked in surprise, but that might have only been his imagination.

Blade braced himself as Nayung came to the end of his speech. Had Afuno, understood their message? And even if he had, would he dare to encourage two men who were under the ban of the Ulungas? If the answer was no to either question, Blade knew that he and Nayung had only minutes at most to live. Perhaps less, if Afuno took it into his head to use his royal privileges and hurl those spears.

The minutes dragged on. The sun seemed hotter than ever, or was it just the strain? Blade knew that sweat was pouring off him as though he were melting away. Cautiously he reached up a hand to loosen a fold of the turban and wipe his streaming forehead with it. Then he turned back toward Afuno.

The king still stood motionless on his platform. Then Blade saw Princess Aumara get to her feet and spring lightly down from her platform. A moment later she was climbing up beside her father and talking urgently into his ear. Blade would have given a good deal to hear what she was saying.

Then Afuno turned back toward Blade and Nayung. He fixed the two men with a stare that even fifty feet away made Blade swallow and brace himself for action. Then in a clear, high-pitched voice he hailed them.

«D'bor Nayung, Richard Blade of the English, come into the king's circle.»

Blade's own whistling sigh of relief was lost in the gasps and murmurs of astonishment from the thousands of onlookers. For a moment he could not have said a word if he had had to. He could only turn to Nayung and see his own grin mirrored on the other's face. Nayung stretched out his hand toward Blade, Blade took it, and both turned toward the king's circle.

Before, they could take a single step, a voice roared out from the other side of the circles:

«Wait, oh, King!»

The voice was shrill with rage, but it was unmistakably Chamba's. Blade's grip on his spear tightened. Chamba went on. «Oh, great Afuno, shall you defy the Sky Father? These men were forbidden by the Ulungas to approach your person. The Ulungas have spoken!»

Again Blade tensed, waiting for Afuno's answer. If the king said, «Then, so be it,» or some other words of submission, Blade and Nayung would once again be facing a quick death.

Afuno's voice was calm at first. «Blade has shown himself a warrior who indeed may teach us much. If there is a wrongness in letting them approach me against the will of the Ulungas, let the wrath of the Sky Father fall on my head. Do not attempt to teach me how to be a king, Chamba.» Then Afuno's voice rose to an angry roar. «And by what right do you speak for the Ulungas, Chamba? Are their speakers all mute, that I do not hear their voices? Or are you lying? Oh, Speakers of the Ulungas, I am waiting for your answer.» There was no mistaking the sarcasm in Afuno's voice.

Nor was there any mistaking the silence that followed Afuno's question. Blade did not know which of the unarmed men in the Ulungas' circle might be speakers, but he did know that none of them were saying anything. The silence went on and on, and a triumphant grin spread across Nayung's face. He motioned Blade forward.