Tommy Goodrich [cid:85MO12MSGMVLGZOZ7LZV]

   "And what is to stop these men slaying us to please their masters?"
   Lucilius sneered.It had all been sea, Ganesha said: easy now to look at
   the slopes of the dunes and see the waves that had not glittered under
   the stars since their patterns had changed.True, there were only two
   White Naacals here. But as they marched imperturbably forward, Quintus
   saw what a force they must have been in the fullness of their
   power-thousands of them in procession, chanting, determined to serve
   what was not only what was just the law, but what was right. Draupadi
   and Ganesha might be alone in body, but in spirit, they were part of a
   host. Now they raised their hands and were singing in a language that
   Quintus had heard them use once or twice before."And what is to stop
   these men slaying us to please their masters?" Lucilius sneered."We
   ride!" he ordered. He didn't see who came up to lead-or carry-him to
   his horse because his eyes were fixed on Lucilius. Once again, the
   patrician had started toward the Eagle."We are weapons in your hands,"
   she cut into his objections. "Who knows better than we what they might
   do, and how to fight them? They destroyed our home! They destroyed our
   world! We have a right, Quintus!"And Quintus remembered. They had stood
   on the field of battle, and he had unleashed Pasupata. The price had
   been paid, and he had earned the right to wield it. And they had stood,
   very quietly, as its deadly danger passed over them to strike their
   enemies. He had the right. But there was one who could wield it, he
   thought, even more fully. However, there was another weapon to be
   used.The ground trembled underfoot, as if they stood on some great
   bubble that grew larger and larger and that would inevitably burst.
   Ssu-ma Chao cleared his throat. Was this going on too long? And what
   was "this"?