Sweat soaked Trendil’s body and trickled down her brow into her eyes, but she could do nothing about it but try to blink it away as she moved through the forms with her heavy wooden practice sword. Her mother circled, eyes sharp, voice calm.
“Keep ke us. Lebzus êzhaa.” An exasperated sigh. “No, child. Focus! You cannot become distracted, even for a moment. Start again. Shûmlon.”
Trendil winced and shifted back to the Ready position, then did her best to keep the forms c