Frozen Prospects (The Guadel Chronicles Volume 1)

Chapter 11

Jain picked up a new spool of gurra wool yarn that she'd finished carding and spinning the week before, and wished once again that her life wasn't quite so regimented as she began stringing her loom.

Mali looked up from where she was working next to Jain, and sighed as she pulled her long black hair away from her face. "I can't believe that vile boy broke Be'ter's nose."

On the other hand, it's a very good thing they keep such a close eye on us considering how foolish some of us are.

The rest of the girls in the room twittered at the reminder that Mali had a crush on the older boy. "Don't worry, Mali, Healer Pati will fix him up just as handsome as always."

The last thing anyone needs to be doing is encouraging her to set her heart on that monster.

The shock that anyone could believe such stupidity made Jain forget her normal timidness. "Be'ter deserved that, maybe worse, for the way he acted yesterday."

"How can you say that? That failure attacked him for no cause. He was well within his rights to challenge, and then the boy used such underhanded tactics to win. Why, I've never seen someone drop their sword like that. It was shameful. No wonder Be'ter got a little angry."

Jain briefly considered a stronger response and then mentally shrugged. It was becoming evident to her that nothing was going to convince the other girls that Be'ter wasn't who he pretended to be. Even the instructors seemed to be realizing what a snake Be'ter was, but the rest of the Daughters seemed largely to think he was perfect.

"He insulted Va'del, lost the fight fair and square, and then tried to attack Va'del from behind. You can't say the attack on Be'ter was unprovoked but the one on Va'del wasn't. Be'ter ended up with a fat lip and a broken nose—Va'del would have been killed if Guadel Fi'lin hadn't stopped the blow."

Mali tossed her hair and then turned her back to Jain. "You sound like you like the ugly, scrawny thing. You're obviously not objective."

The willful, honest corner of Jain's mind that inevitably got her into trouble wanted to press the argument, but it was obvious the rest of the girls were all firmly on Mali's side.

Sighing once again, Jain returned to her work. He's actually quite attractive. Exotic, dark skin, and he's not scrawny, just tall.

As she listened to the other girls fawn over Be'ter, she wondered if even the Council would be smart enough to stop him from being made a full Guadel.

##

On'li walked into the suite of rooms her family shared and wished for the thousandth time that she and Javin didn't have to sit on the Council.

Mar'li looked up from the book she'd been reading as her sister-wife arrived. "Bad day?"

"Very much so. The girls in my class seem more inane every year. I refuse to believe I was ever that foolish as a teenager."

Mar'li chuckled as On'li kicked off her shoes and buried her toes in the thick, red gurra wool rug. "Careful. It wasn't that long ago that I was in your class behaving as if I didn't have a brain. You'll hurt my feelings."

"Hardly. It's been more than ten years since you were a student, and even when you were, you were too quiet to have possibly said half of the stupid things I hear on a regular basis."

Mar'li got up and poured a cup of tea. "Be that as it may, you've had plenty of time to accustom yourself to the frustrations of teaching. There must be something else going on to put your back up like this."

Accepting the tea with a nod of thanks, On'li sighed. "You wouldn't have heard yet, of course, even though the rest of this part of the Capital is positively abuzz with the news, but Va'del was in an honor match against Be'ter."