Marie stepped into the sand-strewn arena. She looked so small and fragile, no matter that Isabelle knew she was as tough as seasoned oak. She strode to the center of the circle and stopped dead, so still that she might have been standing there since the Breaking of the World, as white as the great moon Kore and just as eternal.

After giving the stillness a moment to settle Marie raised her voice and declared, “I am Fellhand Marie of the Tall Clouds clan, daughter of the great pirate Jackhand Djordji. Are there any who dispute my claim?”

Despite her terror, amusement tickled Isabelle’s brain. Marie had tied her legal paternity into the outcome of the duel.

“I challenge,” came a ragged chorus from around the ring, and twelve champions entered the arena, each standing by their respective clan sections as the chorus boomed out their names:

“Fellhand Adelus of the First Owl clan!” He was a large man with shoulders like a ship’s beam, and carried a pair of longswords so lightly they might have been feathers.

“Fellhand Holden of the Stooping Falcon clan!” He was shorter and stouter with a thick black beard, armed with cutlass and a hook on a chain.

This went on, one fellhand after another, confident, experienced, and armed to the teeth.

“Fellhand Vexatious of the Lost Horizon clan!” She was the first woman on the list, as lean and tightly coiled as a new cable. She was armed with a rapier, and a dozen knives hung about her body.

After eleven were named, the last champion stepped onto the killing floor. He was a man Isabelle would not have picked out of a crowd. His clan colors were muted nearly to gray, and his long coat looked to have seen the service of many years. His expression was neither eager nor bored, contemptuous nor fey. He was but watchful, and though he shook neither his sword nor his fist, the crowd hushed when he stepped into the light.

The choir sang, “Fellhand Ghetorix of the Moon Catcher clan, champion of champions and lord of the arena!”

“Fellhand Marie,” said the choir. “There are twelve here who challenge your right to that title. Which one will you meet first?”

Marie slowly turned, surveying her selection of opponents.

Isabelle, trying not to squirm in her seat, asked, “How are there any fellhands at all with trials such as this?”

Feng said, “There are usually not trials such as this. Usually by the time someone claims the title fellhand they have already faced other champions in the ring. They are known and respected, and when they make the claim, only one or two will challenge them, and then mostly to demonstrate the challenger’s skill. No such courtesy is to be extended to an arrogant outsider who seeks to claim a famous father and a title she has never earned.”