Meesei could hear shuffling feet before a set of raps on the door. It opened after a moment to reveal Sabine's face looking in. She caught Meesei's eye and smiled. As she stepped into the room and closed the door behind her, Meesei noticed that she was less tense and pale than she was in the infirmary. She walked up to Meesei to give her a quick hug.

"Hello. I am sorry if I kept you waiting," Sabine said. She had not kept Meesei waiting very long at all.

[hr]
Rhazii was only halfway through getting up before Ri'vashi struck. He barely managed to turn his waster in time to parry, yet the wooden slide stopped with the point roughly prodding his upper arm. He let out a small yell of pain before attempting a counterattack. He was clearly sluggish and tired. To his credit, Rhazii's cut to Ri'vashi's arm was made with proper footwork and covered his defences. He showed a better technique than Fendros had seen before today. However, even an amateur fighter had the time to defend against it.

One of the soldiers surreptitiously spoke up to Fendros and Ahnasha. "Uh, Ahnasha and Fendros, right?" He pointed to them both. Neither of them knew the soldier's name, but few soldiers in the clan didn't know them. "That's your son, isn't it? He's been sparring for at least an hour straight now. He won't take breaks or give up." The soldier winced as Rhazii was struck back once again. "You have an impressive boy, don't get me wrong, but...at this point he's just getting beaten to a pulp."

That was enough for Fendros. He stepped forward before Rhazii could get to his feet again. "Excuse me, Ri'vashi." He held up a hand as he stepped between the two. "Rhazii, what do you think you're doing?"

Rhazii closed his mouth and avoided eye contact. Even though he was breathing heavily from the activity, his brow betrayed some quiet anger. His voice was surprisingly subdued. "I'm training, father. Let me continue."