After the Match

-Dalen Capital, Valade Estate. Evening, 2 DSTR

Removing the padded fencing jacket, Kalena smoothed the dark curls of hair from her face and straightened her outfit, quickly running her hands down the gown to check what had been disturbed by the vigorous fencing match. She wasn't that badly dishevelled, but she would have to wear something more practical next time. "Well that was rather bracing," she said with emphatic approval, casting a satisfied smile around the room. "There are a precious few who can hold their own like that with me." She thought she caught sight of some of Kline's men discreetly exchanging money. Had any of them bet on a tie?

Eliza approached her and Lafayette. "How are you two so fast? I have never seen anything quite like that. I bet if you two fought side by side you could kill over one hundred men easily. Like in a story book or a bards ballet."

Kalena smiled at the noblewoman's admiration, but in the presence of veteran soldiers felt compelled to put a bit of a damper on it. "As Baron Lowson can well attest, this was more stylized duelling than anything else. Useful techniques for the street or home defence perhaps, but certainly not the kind of sword fighting one usually sees on a battlefield."

She turned back to Lafayette. "That was really something else. You didn't happen to train with a certain Old Man, did you? I'm sure you know to whom I'm referring, as he does hail from your side of the sea. I could not help but notice a few of his signature moves, however he is very particular about who he takes on. Not many survive the experience, but those that do tend to go on to greater things."

"Pardon me, my lady," her majordomo interjected. “Dinner will be ready shortly."

"Thank you, Perun," Kalena said. "Has Mister Akbaje or Count Soldor arrived yet?"

"No, but His Grace the Count RSVPed."

Kalena smiled. "Ah, excellent. Then I'm quite sure that he'll be along any time now."

If there was any one person that would know a lot of useful information about Tyreth it was Chiren, who as one of Thalia's leading advisors would have seen the former knight often around the royal palace. If she showed him the letter that was ample evidence of Tyreth colluding with bandits, Chiren might just go ahead and order Tyreth's immediate arrest, sparing Kline the complications of trying to resolve the matter himself.

Kalena looked to Kline and Gularzob with a cheeky smile. "There, gentlemen, you see? I was able to spar well enough, and without suffering so much as a scratch or a tear. Of course an épée doesn't have a cutting edge or even a sharp point," she said, gesturing to the silver-plated knob on the end of her sword before handing it off to an attending slave.

<Tag – Kline, Lafayette, Gularzob, Eliza, Chiren/Jack and optionally, Lars and Isai.>