Codex - No Glove Lost

Section 4

We didn't quite get the promotion come the end of the year, but I scored so many points and assists that someone was bound to come knocking. I was offered a choice, Darat Miners, who'd gone straight back up to the big league or, champions Darat City.

I knew I wouldn't start for the City, and since my dad had been a miner, I picked the underdogs. Years later I met the King, and he asked why I didn't pick Darat City. Obviously I didn't tell him the real reason, so I told him about my dad instead. I remember he said I was "quaint," and that I "wouldn't have fitted in anyway."

My last season was the 2950 campaign. By then I held all the records, and the miners had aced the title fourteen times, more than any other team.

I was still the main man in the Bandinian national team. But the cup in 2950 left a sour taste in the mouth. A lot of people were hanging around the team at the tournament in Melliflua, and it didn't help us one bit. There was a lot of money changing hands, and a lot of our players weren't on great money.

On the court the big moment was in the first game, when the umpire, a Saborian, kept giving fouls against us. Obviously we complained, but rumours were going around about us by then, and the organisers ignored the complaint. After that we were fighting a losing battle, and Bandinia didn't make the second round for the first time on record. The Mellifluans had a pretty good team, and 'though they had nothing on us, they ended up winning it in the end.