"What are you even thinking?"
Solenne bent and retrieved her rapier from the frost. She didn't look at him while she did it, which somehow made it worse.
"Training Stima and magic simultaneously." She stood and wiped the blade clean with two strokes of cloth. "You do understand that's near impossible. Yes?"
Arthur was still coughing. Both hands on his knees, blood taste sitting at the back of his throat. He spat sideways.
"I heard someone attempted it before." She examined the blade. "They died."
He straightened up. Wiped the saliva off his chin with the back of his sleeve.
"It is possible, princess." He met her eyes. "After all. You're looking at the success right now."
Solenne stared at him.
Then she laughed. A real one, not the polite variety that people in her position usually deployed. It started short and cracked open into something genuine.
