Chapter 41 Duel (1/2)
Arran woke up early the next ht he had not felt too worried, but now, the confrontation was coht, he put on the arht the previous day He did not think Lord Jiang would let it come to violence, but then, it was better to be needlessly prepared than to need it and not be prepared
He ate breakfast with Jiang Fei and Magistrate Huang, and much like the previous day, they were the only ones in the large dining hall By now, Arran was beginning to think that the people in Magistrate Huang's household were trying to avoid theht about it, thehi Fei, clearly still afraid of their powers That the rest of the household would be even more timid did not seem far-fetched at all
They left after the istrate Huang's servants and fa rid of them
The walk to the City Hall took them the better part of an hour, with the streets still elances in their direction, but quickly looked away as soon as Arran noticed the any trace of decoration or elegance To Arran's eyes it looked like a prison or even a fortress, and he had a hard ti the city froe open hallith few people inside them, and those few people ere there quickly scurried ahen they saw the group approach The one exception was a gaunt elderlyup to theistrate,” the gaunt man said with a respectful bow, ”the Redstone leader is here He's waiting for you in the court hall”
”Any sign of Lord Jiang?” Magistrate Huang's forehead creased in worry
The gaunt ht at that ed to Lord Jiang, Arran let out a silent sigh of relief
”Magistrate Huang,” Lord Jiang said All heads turned toward hi Fei small nods ”Would you please escort us to the court hall?”
”Of course, Lord Jiang” Magistrate Huang bowed so deeply it looked as if he was about to fall over
”Uncle Bear!” Jiang Fei said, looking relieved ”Yesterday, we—”
”I already knohat happened,” Lord Jiang interrupted her ”Now, it is time for us to deal with the situation”
They followed Magistrate Huang down the hallways, eventually stepping into a vast hall that Arran understood should be the court hall Inside, he saoman from the previous day, and an older man The second man was unusually tall, with a sharp face and close-cropped black hair
”Elder Redstone,” Lord Jiang said in a flat voice
”Lord Bear,” the tallto think you would stay holed up in your estate forever”
”That wassaid ”But it seeuests”
”Your guest assaulted one of my nephews, and his brother askedtoward the young man at his side ”But since you came in person, we havereplied ”And what o, you killed an Acadereat deal of trouble for the clan Although we reached an understanding with the Academy, the Council of Elders has sent me to retrieve you, so that the clan's Elders can decide on a proper punishment for your actions”
”If the Council wishes to seesaid
A pleased look appeared on Elder Redstone's face ”If that is the case, then I think we can forget about theman at his side scowled, and it looked like he was about to speak up Yet before he could, Lord Jiang spoke
”Certainly not,” Lord Jiang said ”A guest inClan Such a crio unpunished”
The answer seemed to take Elder Redstone by surprise, but after a ht, of course What do you have in mind?”
”Your nephew has quite the reputation as a swords man next to Elder Redstone ”Perhaps the h a duel?”
Elder Redstone nodded again ”A proper solution,” he said ”Very well”
Lord Jiang turned to Arran ”Draw your sword,” he said, ”and face your victiave Arran a wink