I gazed up in disbelief at her. Time to learn these skills? In a fortnight? Was she serious? When females were already killing themselves building the Wall? The males wouldn’t have to waste time training, just the poor females. They couldn’t suddenly put on ninety pounds of muscle. They couldn’t very well turn into a male. Not that they would ever want to.
Thansius nodded at one of the Council members down below. The Wug stood and held up a cloth bag. Thansius said, “The prize of five hundred coins.”
Wugs made a great fuss over this great bag of wealth. And then Thansius added, “In order to make things a bit more enticing” — he paused for effect — “if a female were to win the Duelum, the prize will be increased to one thousand coins.”
There was no cheering over this from any females. They obviously could see that no female would claim it, so what was there to get excited about?
Thansius then told us that the competition rounds would be posted soon, showing who would be competing against whom in the first round. He said that they had already calculated the number of eligible competitors, and five rounds would be necessary to declare a champion. He wished us all good luck and then told us the “meeting” was over.
As Wugs started to slowly drift away, I made a beeline for the platform. I wanted to see John. However, before I could get there, someone blocked my way.
Cletus Loon looked me up and down, a murderous expression on his face. “It’s a good thing you’re too young to fight. I might draw you in the first round,” he said.
“It is a good thing I’m too young to fight,” I replied. “A good thing for you. Now get out of my way, you git.”
I tried to brush past him, but he put a hand on my shoulder. Before I could react or a growling Harry Two could take a bite out of him, Cletus was flying backward and landing hard on the cobblestones, his morta and knife flying away.
Before he could even attempt to get up, Delph put a huge boot on his chest and held him down.
Cletus yelled, “You take your filthy foot off me.”
One of Cletus’s friends came up and said, “Look at Da-Da-Da-Delph.”
Delph grabbed him by the shirt, hoisted him full off the cobblestones and held him close to his face. “The name is Daniel Delphia to you, you little prat. And next time I won’t be so polite in reminding you. Now shove off.”
He let the Wug drop, and the git ran off as fast as he could. Then Delph removed his foot from Cletus, who was staring up with an amazed look.
“Y-you’re not stut-stuttering,” said Cletus in a quavering voice.
“But you are.” Delph knelt down so he and Cletus were eye to eye. “You best hope I don’t draw you first, Loon. And if you lay another hand on Vega Jane, you’ll pray for death by garm once I get ahold of you. Now clear off!”
Cletus scrambled to his feet and raced away.
“Thanks, Delph,” I said, my face full of the deep gratitude I was feeling.
“You could have taken care of that git yourself, Vega Jane.”
“Maybe. But it’s nice to have help.” Then I remembered where I was going. John was almost at the carriage. “Good luck in the Duelum, Delph,” I said. “I hope you win the five hundred coins.”
I turned and sprinted down the cobblestones and reached John just as he was about to climb aboard after Morrigone.
“John?”
He turned and smiled, but the smile was … forced. I could tell that instantly.
“Hello, Vega,” he said stiffly. But I still sensed my little brother inside. Although, maybe I just wanted it to be so.
Morrigone leaned out the door. When she saw me, she said, “John, we must go. There is last meal and then we must work on your lessons.”
“It’ll only take a sliver, Morrigone,” I said hurriedly.
She nodded curtly and sat back in her seat. However, I suspected she was listening intently.
“What is it, Vega?” asked John. He looked down at Harry Two but made no move to pet him or even ask about him. My brother’s hair was even shorter, shaved very close to his scalp. He was very nearly unrecognizable to me.
“How are you?” I said. “It seems like our last visit was a session ago.”
“I’ve been very busy with the Wall and my lessons,” he said.
“Yes, the Wall is keeping every Wug busy,” I replied, hoping he heard my emphasis.
“But we’re still behind schedule,” John said. “The official timetable will not be met. We need to work harder. The Outliers may strike at any time. We must have a sense of urgency.”
His strident tone caught me off guard.
“Uh, you look well,” I said, changing the subject.
He seemed to calm, but all enthusiasm drained from his face as he focused on my simple observation. “I am very well. And you?”
“Fine.” It felt like two strangers meeting.
“Have you been to the Care?” asked John.
I flinched and then my gaze darted to the carriage. “Not recently, no.”
“I’ve wanted to visit our parents, but Morrigone says I must stay focused.”
I hesitated. I was trying very hard not to jump into the carriage and have a personal Duelum with Morrigone. But I had given her my word. “I’m sure she does,” I said loudly so that Morrigone was certain to hear.
Morrigone poked her head out. “We must go, John.”
“Just one more sliver,” I called out, staring directly at her. “And don’t worry, Morrigone, I’ll keep focused on what needs to be said and what doesn’t.”
She gave me a piercing look and then withdrew into the carriage once more.
“I miss you, John.” Then I stepped forward and hugged him. I could feel him tense under my embrace.
I felt him mechanically patting my arm. “Things will be fine, I’m sure, Vega. You have a canine now, I see.”
I stepped back and looked down at him. “I’m living in our old house.”
He looked startled by this.
“Our old house?”
I nodded. “Loon won’t allow canines. But it was good to go home. Very good. Reminds you of how important families are.”
Morrigone looked out of the window and glared at me.
“I hope you have been enjoying your time, Vega.”
I did a bit of a double take, as I focused on the emphasis she had placed on the word time.
“I’m not sure what you mean.”
“You will,” she said cryptically.
And for a fleeting moment, I thought I saw great sadness on Morrigone’s features, but it happened so fast that I could not be sure.
She looked past me and said, “Come along, John. We have things we must accomplish this night.”
John boarded the carriage.
Morrigone and I stared at each other for a half sliver longer and then Bogle whipped up the sleps and they were off.
I spun around on my heels and walked off, pushing my way through huddles of Wugs who were lingering to talk about the Duelum. I felt a sharp pain in my side and looked over to see Cletus Loon running away with what looked like a rock in his hand. I called Harry Two back because he had started to tear off after Cletus. I took a deep breath, stopped thinking about the pain and hurried on. Harry Two snorted twice and glanced back at Cletus, obviously miffed about being called off.
I reached my digs, pulled out the Adder Stone, waved it over my hurt and thought good thoughts. The hurt instantly vanished, as did the swelling.
I placed the Stone, along with Destin and the shrunken Elemental, in my cloak pocket and hung it on a wall peg. As I rubbed my side, I truly believed this was to be the last time I would ever be pain free.