The bolt slammed into the beam and everything went raw.
For a second the square held its breath as if someone had pressed a hand over the city’s mouth. Then sound rushed back — a child’s cry, a dozen curses, the scrape of boots. Men dove for cover. A silk banner whipped loose and slapped against the scaffold like a wet flag.
“Down!” the captain shouted, voice like a hammer. His order tried to carve the panic into shape. Men hit the ground, faces pressed to wood. Rowan’s face changed in an instant from practiced prince to commander; the easy smile fell away and something sharp and quick moved into the lines around his mouth. He pointed at roofs, at galleries, at every dark slit where a bolt could have been loosed. “Sweep the roofs!” he barked. “Archers, answer! Seal the lanes!”
“Where fr
