It had always amazed her how quickly an army could come apart once the panic started to spread. Like pulling out the keystone of a bridge, the whole thing, so firm and ordered one minute, could be nothing but ruins the next.
“So this is he. Why is he not kneeling?”
“He does not kneel, apparently,” said Ganmark.
“Everyone else kneels. What makes you special?”
“Nothing,” said Shenkt.
“But you do not kneel.”
“I used to. Long ago. No more.”
Orso's eyes narrowed. “And what if a man tried to make you?”
“Some have tried.”
“And?”
“And I do not kneel.”