ary to him. They could not actually
see the river through the rushes, and they dared not go closer for
fear of being spotted by whatever traffic moved on the icy waters.
Then what was the point of them standing here, half-frozen with the
cold, waiting for an assailant who would never come?

And while he was thinking thus, the girl virtually walked into Pirum's
arms. At first he heard a faint rustling in the rushes and, before he
could investigate, the tallest of the dry plants had parted and a
lovely bronze-skinned girl appeared. She turned to run, but Pirum
caught her in his muscular arms and held her despite her struggles.

She bit his arm and, with an oath, he caught her hair and twisted her
head back. "Who are you?" he said. "Who are you, eh?"

The girl glowered at him.

Pirum dragged her along. She continued to struggle. Shaking his head,
he hit her on the jaw with his fist and caught her before she could
fall. Then, swinging her up over his broad shoulder, he stalked
through the rushes toward Nadia City.

CHAPTER XVII

_The Prison Without Bars_

No one tried to stop Bram Forest until he reached the very gates of
the amphitheater. But there a guard with drawn whip-sword barred the
way and demanded: "You don't look Nadian to me. What delegation are
you with, man?"

Bram Forest had no time to parry words with words. He tried to push
his way past the guard who, too surprised to thrust with his weapon,
used his free hand to grab Bram Forest by the shoulder and spin him
around. Bram Forest drove his left fist into the guard's belly and
heard the whoosh of air escaping from his lungs.

That was the last thing he heard for some time. A second guard crept
up quietly behind him and struck expertly with the hilt of his
whip-sword just behind the left ear. Bram Forest fell as if the ground
dropped out from under him.

"By all the fiery gods of Tarth, will you look at that!" the first
guard exclaimed.

The second guard could only gawk, not comprehending.

The unconscious man was growing tenuous.

The first guard in confused alarm, lashed down with the whip-sword.
But its point passed through Bram Forest's now transparent body
without meeting any resistance.

"Right through him! Right through him!" cried the guard.

And, by the time he said it, and coiled his sword again, Bram Forest
had vanished.

* * * * *

When an urgent message had come for Retoc, the Princess Vo