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She almost missed it.

Bootlaces tied, Sarnai had twisted her body to start adjusting the belts around her waist, making sure all her pouches and bags were where they ought to have been, when all the hairs on her neck stood up on their ends. The smell struck her first, the air burning, transforming, as a golden resplendence scarred the atmosphere. She swung her head up, dark eyes squinting towards that radiance. She had seen lightning during the flood months, slicing across the sky, bolts of blue that left only an impression in her gaze as it faded away into green. But this lightning, tamed by the will of a princeling, was held with just as much surety as his arrow between his fingers. An impossible color, held for a half second that extended into an eternity.

An entirety that then was reduced to an instant.

Lightning struck four times with unerring accuracy and control, each arrow splitting its predecessor until the shattered shafts resembled a blooming flower, still crackling with warm sparks. There was no doubt in her mind, indeed, that he could have pierced through four different targets instead, such was the power he commanded, and yet, the restraint indicated a discipline beneath his well-deserved pride. An archer who could not only slay evil, but also simply stun and disable petty miscreants.

Sarnai swallowed. It felt easier to accept now, in a way. It wasn't about hard work after all. Wasn't about the years wasted, the opportunities lost from her meandering and hesitation. There was simply the immeasurable gap of talent and wealth, scarred into her gaze like vestigial lightning. Against such towering capacity for mercy and destruction, it was almost like...

...she got closer to those 'regular, capable prospects', simply from the new heights that had been demonstrated here.

Her heartbeat slowed. She finished securing her belts. She rolled up her sleeves. Loosened her corset. Stood up, patting the hesitation out of her dress. She turned towards her superior kinsman, gaze pointed downwards slightly in respect to his higher station, both as a warrior and as a person.

[b]"Though I can't say you're the best ever, you certainly are doubtlessly the best amongst those taking the trial,"[/b] Sarnai spoke. [b]"Thank you kindly for your display of skill. There's no doubt of the quality of your bow, and only fools would think that a crossbow in the hands of a commoner would surpass a masterwork of a bow in the arms of an archer."[/b]

She set her crossbow to the ground, her boot sliding into the stirrup. Seizing the string with both hands, Sarnai drew in a breath, then let it out as she pulled up, her back muscles extending beneath her blouse. The bow bent, the string set.

[b]"But this is what I can afford and what I have used my whole life. So I do beg your pardon."[/b]