Chapter TwelveWithin the hour all of the friends, including Mardan who insisted that he was well enough to observe, if not compete in, a game of Vladokhyssum, arrived at the vast indoor courtyard specifically designed for the game. The building was an immense circle many hundreds of feet in diameter and height, its broad ceiling supported by arches of intricate metalwork. The grass playing field was well tended and green, stretched the entire circumference of the arena, and had at its center a tall shaft some fifty feet high, which supported a ring seven feet in diameter. The walls of the arena housed equidistantly mounted torches that provided ample lighting and had three broad sliding doors at ground level, which could be opened or closed for cooling and ventilation.
Standing near the c
