The gap opened all at once.
Real gaps always did.
They did not arrive as a gradual decline, some slow bleeding of advantage that gave everyone time to recognize what was happening. There was only a single moment in which the numbers stopped being close.
Ashe's guard failed on the sixth exchange.
Not from panic.
Not from fatigue alone.
Not because of any mistake Vane could have named, even though he had been watching for one with everything he had.
Kest's blade found the inside line. A precise turn knocked Ashe's weapon out of true, and one economical shift of weight put her on the ground.
It did not look like violence.
It looked like a lesson concluding exactly when its teacher had intended.
Kest's blade came to rest a hand's width from Ashe's throat.
Then stopped.
Perfectly still.
The valley seemed to hold its breath with it.
Vane found his opening at the same instant Kest found hers.
Everything inside him was ready.
