Then pain whitened her mind. Lan was only aware of her legs buckling beneath her. She did not fall to the ground. A pair of arms caught her, firm with steel-plated armor. Held her. “You did well,” Yeshin Noro Ulara said. Lan looked up at the Master of Swords. “I didn’t think I’d live to hear you compliment me,” she croaked. And there it was, an image that would remain etched in her memories: the faint tug of a corner of Ulara’s lips. A half smile.
