They scattered. Even Arakenys soldiers, with all their training and all their cold efficiency, scattered when the ground under them came apart.
He dropped from the harness.
His boots hit the courtyard stone and he was already moving — the short knife out, not a fighting weapon, a tool, used to cut the strap of the first Arakenys soldier who grabbed him from the side, the grab itself turned into a throw, the soldier going down across the courtyard's central drainage channel. The next one was farther back, weapon raised, lining up a shot with the precise unhurried patience of something that didn't miss at this range.
