As much as Sabine may have thought otherwise, she was tired and under-practised with a sword. She tried her best to deflect Peiter's sword, but she didn't react quickly enough. Her sword moved up and to one side, but not before Peiter managed to get her in the shoulder. She took a sharp breath in from the surprise, but it would be unlikely to leave more than a small bruise. "Sorry," she said without good reason, stepping back and looking a little ashamed.

When she stepped back in to try again, she was more alert. She tried attacking by taking a quick step forward and swatting Peiter's wrist. She was quick, but she didn't keep her stance very balanced.

[hr]
Gallus turned to one side and took exactly two slow paces, looking at the ground. "Well, that's a relief that there are no problems between you and Meesei. I would hate to have any attitude compromise our ability to all work together. Our mission will depend on it, after all. Perhaps you should talk to her more," Gallus looked sideways up at Irenya and smiled with mischief, "You might find that you share more interests than you think. There's no reason to be intimidated by her."

By putting words in her mouth, Gallus intended to coax Irenya into correcting him and giving a proper answer. He really preferred honest discourse with his pack mates, but he knew Irenya to be proud, which meant that getting through to her always required a bit of vocal sparring. He intended to get back to Fendros and Ahnasha once he had his answer.