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Rainfall on Judgment Day

Chapter 11

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present

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"Chancellor!" Arden's face shines through a thin sheen of sweat in the noonday sun, and Sain suspects that it is not solely from the heat. "Milord, where have you been?"

Sain smiled. "My apologies, Arden," he says. "I am sorry for causing you unnecessary worry. I was… otherwise preoccupied."

Arden looks at him, the confusion plain on his face. "Sir?"

"Don't worry yourself about this," Sain tells him. He turns to the page standing at attention near the balcony door. "Come here, lad."

The boy approaches and bows low. "Yes, milord?" He has a slight lisp, and Sain smiles.

"Go to the kitchens and bring some chilled wine and two goblets," he says. Sain looks at Arden. "You look as if you could use a glass."

The page bows again and scurries away; Arden, too, bows. "Thank you, Chancellor," he says as the horn sounds once more.

"It's the least I can do for troubling you like this," Sain replies as he takes his seat. "Now, relax—the matches are about to resume."

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Xirysa Says: Aaaand... that brings us to the end of this particular bout of updating. I guess I was more out of touch with writing Sain than I thought, but hopefully I kept him consistent enough with the earlier chapters. There's also really no plot movement of any kind, but, well. I suppose there's more... Emotional development? Well, that's as good a word as any for what I have in mind, so let's just leave it at that.

Thank you for reading! Feedback and critiques are appreciated, as always.