Knife fighting had been the challenge that had earned him the rank of Ten; something Elisha , had, in retrospect, only gone after for the sake of the girl in front of him. At the time he'd claimed it had been because he needed to do something in the wake of the tragedy. He'd claimed more privately, to close friends, that it was because he hadn't trusted Alexander. Both of those things were true.

But really, it had been for the girl in front of him.

He knows better than to reassure her that Somma will be alright. She knows that. That's not what's got that look in her eyes. It's hard the first time you hurt someone. It's harder the first time you intended to.

Instead, he reaches up and loosens the pink silk ribbon a little. "That's going to give you a headache if you keep it pulled back too long, princess."