Kael
The visitor asked which targets were legal before asking my name.
I liked her immediately.
Then she asked whether I always moved my left foot that way.
Less immediately.
We stood beside the ordinary practice lane while the supervisor checked our guarded swords. The visitor had a brown braid, a narrow strip of cloth around one wrist and the calm expression of someone who had already found the water station.
Her group had arrived ahead of the main delegations to arrange its equipment.
They had also found the practice floor.
"Which way?" I asked.
"Back before you turn."
"Sometimes."
"I saw sometimes twice yesterday."
She had been waiting by the hall when I finished the previous session. I remembered the braid. I hadn't thought to remember what she was watching.
The supervisor handed back the swords.
"Three short exchanges. Legal panels only. No powered techniques. Stop means stop."
We confirmed the conditions.
