But the test was that war was never a fair fight. They wouldn’t always have the advantage. They wouldn’t always be able to regroup and recover. Fordham had instilled that in her while they were training for her fight with Basem. Pain was part of the game. Sometimes, you were exhausted, and you still had to lift your sword, even against a better opponent. You still had to win.

“Little girl,” Cannon growled.

“Giant beast,” she snapped back, pushing his blade back enough to break his hold on her.

She paced backward, making him come after her. There wasn’t much room, but this would have to do. Then, they danced. Strike, parry, feint, strike, dodge. They moved flawlessly through Ravendin’s twelve paces and into Chutrick’s art-of-war formations. They were evenly matched in footwork at least. Cannon had strength and years more experience than her. But she held her own.

Until he got under her guard. The blades were blunted, but his sword crashing into her shoulder still hurt. It would leave a nasty bruise too. Kerrigan gasped. He used the moment to push his luck, slapping the handle down on her wrist and forcing her to drop her blade.

And then she saw, for just a split second, Lorian leering over the fight from the stands. A cruel smile twisted his face as he watched his champion destroy the girl that he didn’t believe belonged. That he’d planned to destroy all along. He was using this opportunity to get her kicked out.

She would never give him the satisfaction. That smile turned her gut to lead. Screw him. Screw him.

Kerrigan jerked backward out of the reach of Cannon’s weapon. Getting far enough out of range that it wouldn’t mean a gutting. If Lorian wasn’t playing fair by giving her the best sword master in a century, then why should she fight fair? No magic in the arena. Sure. Fine. But that didn’t mean that this wasn’t like every other fight she’d ever had. And she didn’t always need magic for those either.

“Fordham,” she shouted. “On me.”

He didn’t even hesitate. He ducked his attacker’s advance and then rushed to her aid. He took the brunt of Cannon’s attack, holding off both of them for a few seconds as she dive-rolled to retrieve her weapon.

Kerrigan came up again, swinging. Fordham remained at her side, and together, they worked as a team.

Cannon smirked. “Clever trick. More experienced fighters have lost for less.”

“Yeah, well, I’m not most.”

Then, she showed him the real reason for her dive roll. She threw a fistful of sand into his eyes. He cried out, retreating two whole steps as he blinked the dirt out of his eyes. He was too well trained to fully falter.