Vellmar the Blade by Fletcher DeLancey

Author:Fletcher DeLancey [DeLancey, Fletcher]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Ylva Publishing
Published: 2016-07-06T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 14:

Laughingstock

“I cannot believe I gave up the title for a passel of vallcat kittens,” Vellmar said for at least the fourth time.

“I can.” Salomen reached across the table and topped off her glass. “Here, drink up. You still need it.”

Blindly, Vellmar picked up the glass and took a deep draught. She wasn’t certain how she had gotten to the Lancer’s State House quarters. The details were a bit fuzzy after leaving the Games. She remembered the crowd of journalists, volunteers, and spectators that had surrounded her in the field, calling out questions and frightening the kittens back into their den with the commotion. She had sympathized with the kittens, thinking that she would have followed them down their tunnel if only she could have fit. Overwhelmed by the sheer size and volume of the crowd, she had finally shouted at everyone to back away and demanded that the area be cordoned off so that no harm would come to the den while the Games were still running. Lancer Tal had appeared from out of nowhere and taken over, ordering the safety of the den and telling Vellmar to go with Salomen and her Guards. From that moment to this one, however, she could recall nothing but a gray blur.

“What a mess,” she mumbled, dropping her head to the table. “This is probably the best day of Jerran’s life. He would have flown around the planet twice just to see this. Everyone must think I’m as cracked as a bad blacknut.”

“Fianna, nobody thinks that. You acted on pure instinct—a very good instinct, it turned out. It just took some time before everyone realized it. Linzine said she would have been devastated had she impaled a vallcat kitten on her sword, and that’s exactly what would have happened if you hadn’t done what you did.”

“But I’m a laughingstock! How am I supposed to command a Guard unit now?”

“You are not a laughingstock. Don’t you realize what you did? You knocked your mother’s sword out of the air! Andira said she’s never seen anything like it. She thought you were skilled back in Koneza, when you hit a tin of shannel, but she says this was much more difficult. My own Guards think you’re half a goddess. If the championship were awarded on skill alone, versus hitting an approved target, you’d have it right now.”

“But I don’t have it, do I? Because I disqualified myself.”

Salomen made an inarticulate sound of exasperation. “Perhaps I should save my breath until you’re sober and just focus on getting you so drunk that your brain lets go of this single thought you seem to be fixed on.”

“You don’t understand! I worked so hard. I trained for moons for this.”

“No, you didn’t.”

Vellmar lifted her head. “I didn’t?”

“No, you grainbird. You trained for the medals. And you brought home four of them.”

She blinked. There was something wrong with this logic, but it was true that she had four medals. Except…except she didn’t know where they were!

“My medals.” She stood with some difficulty and braced herself on the table.

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