Nikolias, officer in the Imperial Guard, pulled off his helmet and wiped away the sweat from his brow. He watched the Lady Zoe move towards the Forum of Constantine. He had done his best to dissuade her, making it perfectly clear what awaited her; the terrible scenes of death and destruction, the masses of dispossessed, traumatised citizens, fearful, confused and desperate. She listened, steely-eyed, the determination obvious. Nothing he"d said made her change her mind.
The battle which raged through the forum and around the steps of the Royal Palace, furious and terrible, dead scattered everywhere, mangled flesh, headless corpses, limbs hacked and tossed into every corner only served to convince her of the need to address her people. The stench of decay clung to the very stones of the on
