Celia touched the sword instructor’s shoulder before his second feint finished.
The practice blade landed cleanly on the marked pad. He stepped back, acknowledged the point and reset his stance without the indulgent smile Lyra had expected him to offer a family claimant.
He was trying.
Celia was better than the first exchange had suggested.
On the next approach, she let him take the apparent opening, changed her footwork and scored at his side. Her release stayed inside the agreed allowance. No hidden surge, no opponent obligingly falling over.
The instructor changed his opening for the final measured exchange. Instead of offering a high line, he stepped toward her leading foot and made the court feel smaller.
Celia retreated once.
Lyra knew the invitation. A second retreat would put the claimant near the boundary, where a defender had fewer useful angles and an audience behind the rail to make yielding feel worse.
