Something flared in my mind, and I grasped at it desperately. It woke to my touch, filling me with a power I didn’t understand at the time. All I knew was I had to do something, anything, to stop that blade from cutting into my neck. The power flooded my mind, and it was like a shimmer passed through the air in front of my eyes. When the power faded to the back of my mind and the shimmer disappeared, the sword continued unhindered. My eyes closed reflexively.
A moment later, the cold steel touched my neck.
I opened my eyes.
The crowd had gone silent. Shock had replaced fear on Salli’s face. It was quickly replaced by something else – anger? Concern? She swung her blade again, this time at my head. I didn’t move, but I felt the same power as before, saw the same shimmer in the air. The steel made no noise as it bounced off of seemingly solid air an inch from my head. Again and again Salli swung at me, and my Ward moved to catch her blows.
My Ward.
Abruptly, Salli stopped attacking me, sheathed her sword, and looked down into my eyes. Around us, the crowd erupted into whispered conversation, like the drone of a thousand bees.
“I’m glad you’re not dead,” Salli said. “But you could have told me you were a Warder.”
“I didn’t know.”
She nodded and smiled sadly, glancing over my shoulder at the gate behind me. Leaning forward, she whispered in my ear. “Goodbye, Jordel.”
Her lips pressed against my cheek, and a moment later she was walking back to her gate, leaving me on my knee in the sand.
I didn’t try to run when the Quis came for me.
Yeah that is a dead give away, and Salli is sad and angry because she will probably never see Jordel again. She was probably looking forward to more bouts and just having fun.
Yep there is no point in running, no where else to go and work.
That’s part of her reason.
The other part is that she has a prejudice against Madmen, probably from being raised among Minders – you’ll see more of them in the next story.