Given what horrors his mind was already dreaming up of what more might occur on this altar, being suddenly thrown away from it leaves him even more off-kilter. Being unable to predict his surroundings and situation is just one more way he feels out of control and not himself.

But somewhere in that, a sliver of very short-lived relief. A second or two where he can collect some semblance of his senses, with one less thing battering jis psyche.

And as he's pushing himself off the ground -- that command.

Gortash pales, his blood running cold. He's aware of every set of eyes on him. All of them. And for just an instant, one has to instinctively wonder, along with whatever slight he's apparently done to be abandoned, how much of a crime was it to kill to escape what he believed to be his own death?

He wants to say "no" and anyone can see it's a breath from being on his lips as a reflex. But the fear is also just as apparent. The shine of unbridled emotion in his eyes, the tremble in his jaw that warns him not to try to speak.

The total weight of it all leaves him frozen.