"I believe we had an agreement, My Lord," Heena stated, her voice ringing out clearly across the silent field.
The young nobleman froze. He looked up at her towering figure, his face burning beneath the layer of mud. He had completely forgotten the stakes of the bet in the chaos of his near-death experience. Now, the reality of it hit him like a physical blow.
"You... you tricked me," the man stammered, his voice trembling with humiliated rage. "That is a Vanguard warhorse!"
"And yours is a horse," Heena replied flatly. "You challenged my riding skills, I accepted. I didn't realize I needed to bring a crippled donkey just to make it fair for you. Now, hand over the reins."
The nobleman looked around wildly, hoping his friends or the older ministers would intervene and save him from this absolute disgrace. But the older men just stroked their beards, highly amused by the brutal lesson in humility, and his friends actively looked away, refusing to meet his eyes.
