Kael
Someone had put a water bucket in my escape route.
The marshal moved it when I pointed.
No argument. No sinister reluctance. A worker had set it down while cleaning a mark and intended to collect it before we began.
I waited until it was gone.
The worker took the cloth with it and moved toward the equipment passage. The marshal checked the place where the bucket had stood before returning to the ring.
There was a damp mark on the stone. He had it dried as part of clearing the square, without asking whether my interest in that particular patch of floor was excessive.
I watched the surface after the cloth passed over it.
The preparation yesterday had been useful. It had also happened yesterday. Today had brought a bucket, a worker and a perfectly reasonable intention to collect it later.
Later would have been an unpleasantly vague appointment if I arrived first.
