“As you wish,” said Aedan. He swept his borrowed sword out to the side and bowed to her, then turned and left the practice ring to sit by Michael while another opponent, an elf, stepped up to take his place.
“I think you have annoyed her,” Michael said as Aedan sat down on a log beside him.
“Better that I cause her some annoyance than an injury,” said Aedan. “We are guests here, and I do not need to shore up my pride or endanger our position by besting a female in a practice match.”
“You may be rating yourself too highly, and her not highly enough,” Michael replied as he watched Sylvanna cross swords with her next opponent. “She knows what she’s about.”
As other elves watched, they moved around each other inside the practice circle. Each held a dagger in one hand and a sword in the other. They used no shields, and the blades were sharp. Sylvanna’s new opponent did not share Aedan’s hesitancy about engaging her. He darted in quickly and did not hold back in the least. The blades clanged against each other, and the daggers flashed, steel striking upon steel; then both combatants sprang apart and started circling once again.
Aedan frowned as he watched the contest. “Someone will get hurt if they keep that up,” he murmured. “The blades are unprotected, and they are not even wearing full armor.”
“That does not seem to cause them much concern,” Michael replied, his gaze intent on the circling combatants.
Aedan shook his head as he watched them engage, blades flashing, then spring apart again. “It is foolhardy to take such risks,” he said. “What are they trying to prove?”
“Perhaps they are not trying to prove anything,” said Michael without taking his eyes off the match inside the ring. “The intent may simply be to recreate the conditions of real combat as closely as possible.”
“Which increases the possibility of a very real injury,” said Aedan.
Even as he spoke, Sylvanna parried an attacking stroke, deflected a knife blade with her own, pivoted, and brought her sword around in a tight arc, opening a cut on her opponent’s upper arm. He gasped, and Aedan sprang to his feet as he saw the blood flow.
“Well struck!” the male elf said, and bowed to his opponent.
Sylvanna inclined her head toward him, acknowledging the compliment, but displaying no alarm or even any regret over having wounded him.
“Let me help you,” Aedan said. “I have healing ability.”
The elf simply shrugged. “It is of no consequence,” he said. “A minor cut is all it is. It will remind me to keep more on my toes the next time. But I thank you for your offer, just the same.”
Aedan stared at him as he walked away. What sort of people were these elves? The way they had been going at each other with no protection other than steel breastplates, one of them could easily have been seriously wounded, even killed. However, he saw what Sylvanna had meant when she stated without rancor that he had provided her no challenge. He had held back, because she was a girl, but now he saw that Michael had been absolutely right. He had rated himself too highly and her not highly enough. She was better than he was. Much better.
He watched as another opponent moved into the ring to take her on. Sylvanna stretched a few times and swung her blade about, then took her stance. She was about as tall as Aedan, with a typically elvish build—wiry and lean. However, her shoulders were broader than those of most young women Aedan had known, and the muscles of her back gave her a figure that tapered to her narrow waist. Like her brother, Sylvanna had long black hair streaked with silver highlights. She had gathered it in a ponytail for weapons practice, to keep it out of the way. Elven women were not buxom as human females often tended to be, and Sylvanna was no exception. She was long limbed and small breasted, but Aedan did not find that unattractive. Sylvanna was not as voluptuous as Laera, but she moved with the smooth litheness of a cat, and Aedan liked the way she bore herself.
He was surprised to find himself suddenly comparing her with Laera. They were completely un-alike in almost every way. Laera was beautiful, while Sylvanna was merely pretty at best, and took no pains at all to enhance her appearance. Laera was flirtatious and seductive; Sylvanna was unassuming and direct. Laera was soft, with smoldering dark eyes; Sylvanna was lean and muscular, with striking gray eyes so light that they seemed like cut crystal. But as he found himself comparing the two, Aedan realized Laera was found wanting.
The clang of steel against steel filled the clearing as the two opponents circled each other in the practice ring. The elves who waited their turn at practice, or simply watched, clapped their hands and called out encouragement at well-struck blows. If he hadn’t known better, Aedan might have thought the two were fighting in earnest. However, as he watched, he realized they took care to aim no cuts or blows at the face or neck, or at the legs. The target areas were the protected chest and the unprotected arms and shoulders, but any cuts aimed at the latter were carefully controlled. The blades were lighter than those used by most humans, and consequently quicker in action. A first cut ended the combat, but it was clearly not the object of the exercise. The idea was simply to penetrate the opponent’s defense. A light hit upon the steel breastplate was counted as a killing stroke and ended the match.
Sylvanna was not the only female who came to practice. Among humans, females did not generally participate in combat. Sometimes tomboys like Ariel played at war while they were young, but as they grew older, they usually followed more ladylike pursuits. Among the elves, things were apparently quite different. The women trained along with the men, and though most of them would have lacked the upper body strength to wield broadswords effectively, they seemed equally adept with the men in the use of the lighter, faster elvish blades.
Sylvanna defeated her second opponent with a touch to his breastplate, and he saluted her in acknowledgment as the next opponent stood up to take his place. Aedan marveled at Sylvanna’s strength and endurance. A short, unsatisfactory, aborted match with him, then two matches with full-grown male opponents, and she hadn’t even cracked a sweat. She used the blade as if it were a part of her and was clearly commanding of respect among her peers.
“I would not have thought a woman could fight as well as that,” said Michael as he watched her with admiration. “She is at least the equal of the best swordsmen in the house guard.”
“Yes, she is very good, indeed,” Aedan agreed, nodding emphatically. “After watching her, I feel foolish for holding back. On my best day, I would stand no chance against her.”
“The lesson here, I think, is not to underestimate a female just because she is a female,” Michael said. He glanced at Aedan and grinned. “I should have thought you would have learned that one before, with Ariel.”
Aedan scowled. “Apparently, I shall never hear the end of that,” he said. “If it weren’t for you, I might have been paying closer attention that day.”
“You mean it was all my fault?” asked Michael innocently. “It wasn’t my shield she hooked, nor was it my skull she nearly cracked.”
“As I recall, it was someone else’s skull that was very nearly cracked,” replied Aedan dryly.
“Yes, well, I will concede that we both took our share of lumps that day,” said Michael with a grin.
Sylvanna finished her third match by beating her opponent, scoring a light cut on his forearm. They saluted one another, and both left the practice ring. As two other fighters took their places, Sylvanna came back to where the two boys were sitting. There was a slight flush on her face from her exertions, but otherwise, she looked none the worse for wear. Aedan had grown tired merely watching her.
“I owe you an apology,” he said as she came up. “I held back because you were a woman, but even at my best, I would have proved a poor match for you.”