Chapter 34: The Honor of the King

AYLETH

There was a moment of silence in which Ayleth would have sworn she could have heard a leaf flutter to the ground. Then a booming roar that vibrated in her bones shook the entire arena, as the crowd realized who they'd witnessed win the fight.

Ayleth blushed and bowed and the applause climbed higher. It wasn't a real win, she reminded herself. Etan had been distracted by learning it was her. He was a man of honor who would not raise a hand to a woman. He'd been unwilling to hurt her once he'd known. But she comforted herself that he hadn't beaten her outright.

Falek was smiling and clapping with the crowd, but he kept shooting glances at her father who still stood in silence, his expression wide with shock as he tried to process what he'd just seen. What he was still seeing: His daughter in trousers, sweating and dirtied from hand-to-hand combat.