The air around the stone platform carried a charge, like the air before a thunderstorm preparing to break.
On one side, the knights of Aleese had gathered to support their lord, standing along with several men-at-arms who had left their seats among the common folk in a show of support for Lord Tybal and Lord Reynold.
On the opposite side, the men and women of Dirar's Stone Guard stood menacingly, many of them towering over the men of Aleese who stood across from them. Even the ones who weren't looming quadrupeds, the Golden Maned sorcerers in their star-covered robes, loomed large in the minds of everyone who had just witnessed the power of their fallen captain's sorcery.
Perhaps Aspakos and the witches could defend themselves from such menacing magic, but the knights of Aleese knew full well that they had no counter for it.
Still, they stood, shoulder to shoulder, in support of their lords.
