The Valkyrie Returns and Slays (Raven)

Chapter 31

Chapter 31

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"Ahem... Raven, listen, Brigadier General Grayson's getting old, and, uh, he's not all there anymore. I'll say sorry for him," Lorne said, rubbing the back of his neck with an awkward grin.

Then he even added. "And to make it real clear I'm totally against that stupid idea he had, I'm giving you a promotion."

"As of today, you're the military's fourth general!" he announced, his voice loud and firm.

The place burst into chatters.

The moment Lorne's words landed, it was like a shockwave hit everyone right in the head.

For a second, they thought they'd heard wrong.

The fourth general? Their minds buzzed with disbelief.

Vyrdenia's three current full-on generals were legends-people who'd fought hard

and spilled blood for the country's pride.

And in all of Vyrdenia's history, no one had ever made general before fifty.

But here was Lorne, handing the title to a girl barely past her teens.

He wasn't kidding-he was really doing this.

Next to Raven, Eddie just gaped at her, his jaw hanging loose.

He'd come from Regalhold to "lend a hand," full of himself and ready to play hero.

He'd thought he was the hotshot riding in to save the day-that's how he pictured it.

Yeah, Valhalla master, lieutenant general, whatever, he'd sucked it up and dealt with it.

But now they' were saying she was shooting up to a general rank he could only dream of? His head couldn't handle it.

Someone like that needing his help-he almost cracked up at the thought.

And since he got here, he hadn't done a thing.

shouting like a fool at the start, telling Raven to

been top dog among his buddies, wearing that pride like a

then, he felt

and what she'd done, he-a guy who came to

have told his grandpa to forget it, even if it

who'd been scheming about calling her lieutenant general uncle, stopped

seen the badge Raven tossed in Rex's face earlier-assumed Raven was maybe a

Lorne was saying Raven was a

military general, just the four

was someone the Jennings family would throw a whole welcome bash for- big dinner,

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Chapter 31

written Raven off as some nobody from a nowhere town. The ridiculousness

how she'd acted, she felt

had it all figured out. Yet now, she realized she'd played herself-she let out a

blinked out of his daze, shaking his

like a slap across his grizzled

down to colonel, and Lorne shot back by making her

a straight-up insult, and he

turned and glared at Raven, his resentment practically oozing

already too much,

at

never even let himself imagine, and it burned

take that general

as just a lieutenant general, she could still drop

if she locked in that top rank, unless she pulled some treason-level

a damn about Lorne's earlier threat. Throwing all caution out the window, he

words tumbling over each other before Lorne could shut him down. "Look, every general in Vyrdenia represents the

role, they'll think our military's a laughingstock. It could

down, his sharp eyes boring into

look wasn't just annoyed-it was past

Lorne would've stitched Rex's big mouth shut, hacked him up, and

screwing everything up today, this would've gone smoothly-perfect timing, all lined up. He'd

thanks to this clown, that chance was toast,

Once she said no, that was that-no changing her mind today,

go at asking