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Propping himself on his elbows, he looked behind him toward the
door. The chair he had occupied was smashed into firewood in the wake
of the melee. Bottlenecked by the door, the mass of bodies tumbled
apart, arms and legs flailing to the accompaniment of savage, joyous
shouting. Leaping to their feet in unison, the constituents of the
living ball threw the door open and dashed out into the hallway to
resume the riot.
Alone in the chamber, Phineas stood slowly and tried to shake
away the fuzziness inside his head. He'd been led a merry chase, then
nearly crushed by kender, and for what? Nothing! He still had no idea
where Trapspringer might be!
"I say, what a splendid Audience Day!" a voice said weakly from
behind the Bench of Authority. A small hand grasped the edge of the
bench and pulled up the owner of the voice. Phineas recognized the
disheveled head of Mayor Metwinger, his topknot completely undone.
"Oh, hello!" he said, spotting Phineas at the rear of the room.
"Hello, Your Honor," the human said politely. "You mean the
fight wasn't so very unusual?" His tone was incredulous.
"Oh, it certainly was. The brawl usually starts after the second
or third case," the mayor responded, his voice breathy as he smoothed
his tangled hair. His head was throbbing, and he didn't feel quite
right. "The last thing I remember is getting thumped on the noggin
with my own gavel." Drawing himself up, Mayor Meldon Metwinger brushed
off his sleeves and noticed that his purple mayoral robe had somehow
been exchanged with a bright blue cape that looked just like one
Feldon Cobblehammer had worn at the start of the Audience
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