With Gallus’ attempt to break the stalemate, he did something that even Ri’vashi did not find likely. It was obvious to both of them that Gallus could not outmatch Ri’vashi in terms of raw strength. But, with his momentum and the force he could use to grab her shield, he did delay her, if only briefly. Had she the use of her other hand, she would have had more options, but that was not the situation she had to deal with. She reacted just as quickly as ever and attempted to bash the rim of her shield against his blade. She did indeed overpower Gallus’ grip and successfully hit the blade, but Gallus’ delaying tactic gave him just enough time. While the blade did not hit exactly where Gallus had aimed it, it did slash across her side, just above her hip. It was difficult to say what kind of damage it would have done in a real fight, but it was enough to end the duel. 

“Ah!” Ri’vashi exclaimed, standing up straight and lowering her guard. “Well done. You got through unscathed…well, mostly.”

---

The moment they were given the word, Peiter and Sabine stood up together. Peiter groaned as his joints popped and his muscles were finally allowed to stretch. He quickly noticed how sore he had become, though it would just take a few minutes of walking around to recover. Naturally, he was just as curious as Tzirret, perhaps even moreso, about the progress that La’khay had made on the painting. He was not even sure how much time he and Sabine had spent modeling for it, but he certainly wanted to see the results of all of the effort they had put in to it. He walked around to the other side of the easel, and to his surprise, actually found himself smiling at what he saw. In his upbringing in Chorrol, he had only limited exposure to actual artwork. Like most of the residents, he was used to seeing the statue just inside the city gates, and the stained-glass windows of the city’s chapel, but paintings were more rare. They could, of course, be found in the city’s keep and the homes of its upper class residents, but he had never once set foot in either of those. Some merchants had paintings hanging on their walls, but they did not commission portraits of themselves. To see his own image painted onto a canvas was not something he had ever thought he would see. 

When Sabine came close, Peiter put his arm around her waist. “I think it’s looking pretty good.” He commented. For the moment, he was distracted enough that he had forgotten about his current lack of body hair and was not attempting to hide it from Tzirret.