The under-tier carried its wounded in so they would miss nothing. The kneeling soldiers of the personal guard were herded in too, disarmed and dazed, because tonight belonged to them as well, whether they understood that yet or not.
The First Hammer of the royal smithy lifted Everwright back off the table, walked the length of the hall, and stopped in front of the Primordial Villain.
The noise of the packed hall died on its own, tens of thousands of dwarves falling still at once, and the hush ran out the open doors and down every gallery until the whole vertical city held its breath.
"Unworthy kings ordered us," Brokk said. Her voice came off the walls flat and exact. "Corrupt councils demanded of us. That ends tonight."
Her eyes, under the helmet she had forged while her people rose, measured the man in front of her.
