Quibble, 71. Im-hel-qah

Asreh fights a duel she cannot win. Quibble gambles to save her from the whispering sword.

71. Im-hel-qah @Lurah

The sah gathered around the fire in a wide circle two ranks deep, the nahli-sah forming one group and the Aht-sah another. Many looked anxious, but they kept silent. The rest of the Aht fell back a ways behind us, talking excitedly.

As the challenged, the nah could ask someone to fight in her stead, in which case the jah could appeal for her own champion. As I foresaw, Lapi chose to fight herself. So now the jah had to find a sword comparable to the nah’s whispering sword. The two of them strolled together like friends within the circle of sah.

Asreh pointed. “That one.”

The nah agreed and walked off to speak with Nahli-aht-sah-luht, opposite the fire. The Aht-sah unsheathed her sword and handed it to the jah. It was straight, less wieldy than the nah’s curved sword, but it was double-edged.

Asreh stabbed it in the sand, disrobed to cotton jerkin and leggings, and turned to Quibble. She drew her dagger and, extending a bare forearm, lay the tip to her skin and gently described two lengthwise lines from halfway between wrist and elbow to the heel of her hand. She changed hands, did the same with her other forearm. Quibble gave im, took the dagger, and stepped back into the circle of sah next to Yahn.

Now she was Asreh’s qahli. I had explained to Quibble what it meant, but I was unsure she was ready to do what hel demanded, should her plan meet with disaster. She was brave, I knew, but she was softhearted. It was one thing to offer her own life, but could she kill Asreh?

Lapi swooped her sword twice through the air. Asreh took her sword from the sand, raised it, and widened her stance.

Now I regretted that I had not trained Asreh alongside Hnefn while she was still young. By law, as a jah forbidden to embrace the sword, she wore only a dagger. I only began training her with the sword, in secret, after her mother died. Asreh was inept at it and our secrecy made her training infrequent, so now she knew the theory of the sword but little of its real use. She knew stances, basic defense and attack, but she was not yet intuitive and creative in combat. Though her grip was loose enough to let her move the sword, her movements were stiff, unpracticed. She clasped the pommel in her left hand, trying to steady the blade. It shook from her fear.

Lapi began circling the fire. Asreh stood still and waited. Almost within range, Lapi lunged. Asreh parried. Steel cried. The nah stepped back, still cautious, testing the jah’s skill and nerve. Asreh backed away slowly around the fire, enticing Lapi to follow.

Instead, the nah turned, circling to come from the left. Asreh glanced at her feet. She was changing her stance when Lapi sprang over the fire at her, shouting. No doubt the shout was meant to make Asreh panic and misjudge her defense. Rather, it alerted her, and she backed quickly to her left, just out of the way of a swing at her midsection.

Lapi’s swing was too fierce. The weight of her sword dragged her forward and exposed the right side of her back. Rather than pounce on her opponent’s mistake as a practiced fighter would, Asreh scurried away, apparently rattled by the surprise attack. Realizing her weakness, Lapi swung back around with a wild, uncontrolled slash. Her sword whispered through empty air. Then, perhaps seeing herself as humiliated by an inept foe, Lapi lost her temper and ran at Asreh head-on.

Another wild slash, a clumsy parry. Asreh’s sword was knocked clean from her hands. The sah chanted in unison, “Hel!”

Lapi took three steps back, frustration on her face. Asreh stepped sideways to her sword, keeping her eyes on Lapi as she knelt to retrieve it. They began circling the fire once more. Asreh’s brows dripped with sweat. She wiped them with her pommel hand as she gave ground before Lapi.

Do it now! I thought. Do it or she will grind you down!