Free Heart of Gold by Michael Pryor Page B

startled by his vehemence. He was stocky,
with a bald head and fringe of grey beard. His face
was very red, even in the yellow light of the electric
lamps on the bridge. As he ranted, he shook both fists
in the air. His comrades took steps backward as spittle
began to fly.
    Another voice rose from the Marchmainers, equally
angry. A tall youth on the far side of the bridge howled
bloodthirsty threats at the police. He leapt onto the guard
rail of the bridge and danced with rage. After a moment
of spiralling, lunatic shouting, he lost his footing and
plunged, still shouting, to the river below.
    Men rushed to the railing, but after a mighty splash, the
stream of angry abuse floated up to them uninterrupted.
Instead of relief, however, this seemed to prompt fury in
the rest of the Marchmainers. Anger swept through them
and soon the disciplined parade was a mob: hoarsethroated,
red-faced, fists shaking.
    Aubrey felt their wrath as something tangible. It
reached out and nudged him, rudely. What right do they have? he thought immediately, then he wondered who they were. His sudden temper was unfocused, but urgent
and hard to ignore. He glanced at George. His fists were
clenched and his nostrils flared. On his left, Duval was
muttering under his breath.
    Magic. How could I have forgotten? Aubrey pinched his
own cheek and his anger ebbed. He realised he had the
lamp post in a death grip. He let go, slowly. 'George,
Caroline. It's a spell. Don't let it consume you.'
    The magic had the same characteristics as the spell
they'd encountered following the assassination attempt
on the Crown Prince and the death of Caroline's father.
Then, they'd run into magic that distilled fear into a
paralysis-inducing terror – Dr Tremaine's handiwork and
part of his plans to bring Albion to war.
    This magic had all the same hallmarks: an emotion,
distilled and refined, ready to launch on unsuspecting
victims. An emotion bomb.
    He climbed down from the rail. George shook himself
then rubbed his face with both hands. 'Nasty stuff, that.'
He shuddered.
    'Magic,' Caroline said. She pushed her hair back. 'I can
still feel the anger. It crept up on me.'
    Duval stared at them. He had pushed the anger aside,
but the effort had left him pale-faced and shaking.
    More shouts rose, this time from the police. Aubrey
jerked around and saw that the calm, resigned faces of the
constables had gone. They were running, faces contorted
with hatred, truncheons held high.
    Aubrey stared. The Marchmainers heaved forward,
gibbering in anger, losing their words as they were swept
up by their fury. Their hobnails clattered as they hurried
to throw themselves at the police.
    The two forces crashed together. More shouting and
cries of pain erupted as bodies struck bodies, then it was
fist and truncheon work.
    As the brawl quickly spread, Aubrey realised that they
could be in danger. Men stood toe to toe, swinging wild
punches, roaring their wordless anger. Others wrestled,
heaving each other to the ground while crashing into
melees where screaming men pummelled each other.
    The sound of the battle was the sound of wild beasts,
an entire jungle gone mad.
    'We should leave,' he said to George and Caroline, but
just then the mayhem spilled over the bridge and down
the grassy bank. In an instant, they were swallowed up in
the clash.
    George raised his fists. Aubrey went to stand in front of
Caroline, but she stiff-armed a police office who clawed
at her. The officer staggered backward and was taken in a
clumsy bear hug by a Marchmainer with a torn, bloody
ear.
    Aubrey grinned at Caroline. She reached for him.
'Look out!'
    Aubrey was cannoned into from behind. His
momentum sent him right over the iron rail on the edge
of the embankment. He somersaulted through the air,
struck the greasy river, half-winded, and sank.
    Shocked by the coldness of the water, he tried to get
his breath back, which was a bad idea as he was now
well beneath the surface. He choked, thrashed, then shot
to the