"Can you possibly commit such a dreadful crime against one who has never harmed you, who asks for nothing but the freedom to leave this country ?" Pundita secretly caught Kathlyn's hand and pressed it.
"Once more!" said Umballa, his compassion touched for the first time.
But he had gone too far; for the safety of his own head he must go on.
"I am ready!" The four men salaamed gravely.

They turned, the flowing yellow robes of the council fluttering in the wind, the sun lighting with green and red fires the hilt of Umballa's sword.

Not one of them but would have emptied his private coffers to undo what he had done.

It was too late.
Already a priest had announced the ordeals to the swarming populace.
You feed a tiger to pacify him; you give a populace a spectacle.
That night Umballa did not rest particularly well.

But he became determined upon one thing: no actual harm should befall Kathlyn.