Vervain
Vai said nothing, offering only a wicked sort of smile at his proclamations, standing back to let him flourish with the bow. He was a showman through and through, she was learning, and she folded her arms to enjoy this last hurrah at their little competition. Except... there wasn’t really a last hurrah to be had. Catching Zeph’s flinch, the way the arrow fumbled from his hands... that was her first clue that something had gone awry.
Her second was that he told her, and the world, in no uncertain terms. If not for the pang of concern Vai might have remarked at the creativity in his cursing, but it didn’t really seem like the time. Stepping over the bow and caring little for the broken arrow, she reached up to grasp his good shoulder, nodding at a nearby log that had been made into a makeshift bench.
”Sit down and let me take a look?” she asked. ”I get my forfeit anyway, so now’s as good a time as any.”
Her second was that he told her, and the world, in no uncertain terms. If not for the pang of concern Vai might have remarked at the creativity in his cursing, but it didn’t really seem like the time. Stepping over the bow and caring little for the broken arrow, she reached up to grasp his good shoulder, nodding at a nearby log that had been made into a makeshift bench.
”Sit down and let me take a look?” she asked. ”I get my forfeit anyway, so now’s as good a time as any.”
