"The old boar is fighting?" Oliver 's words were incredulous though he had seen the lists.  He already knew the answer, leaning forward from his seat beside Cavin as the old man said something to Verana and turned to salute the King. 

Cavin nodded his acceptance of the salute and side glanced to Oliver as they watched the fighter say something to Verana again. Oliver smirking as he glanced to his friend. "Didn't he teach Sir Benchan how to fight?"

Cavin's reply was cut off as a sound far too loud and musical for it to  logically be coming from the blades in Verana's hands rang through the arena, followed by words in Feyshan.  But come from those blades it did, leaving him shivering ever so slightly at the feel of power that washed over him. 

The sound was multiplied, as the other two Feysha leapt to the top rung of the fence and echoed the call, ringing their own blades together. This was a Feyshan battle cry of sorts and it had an eery effect on those listening, the Humans who had been there out of perverse curiosity were suddenly taking note, eyes locked on the two fighters as they exchanged the crossed blade homage intimately. A fighting salute in that form was an old, abandoned custom, even to the man in the arena, but suddenly it seemed very relevant to all who were watching.

"He wanted to fight. He was my father's General and said that if he was going to fight beside anyone, he needed to see just how much of a fight they had in them. I think... I don't think he's quite so old as to have taught Benchan, though." Cavin trailed off as the fight began, watching Verana settle into a defence as Lord Felix began an impressive attack sequence with the massive double edged battle axe.

He moved well for the years under him and the Feyshan fighter allowed him his dignity  with it, her movement graceful but slower than Oliver had ever seen her move. She parried and blocked, testing and learning his movements, but not teasing him. Verana seemed to be giving Felix the fight the old man wanted, possibly needed, as he neared the end of his fighting days. Oliver felt certain that it was respect motivating her, more than anything else, though he couldn't say why he believed that so thoroughly.

Felix managed to clip her jaw with the edge of his shield, sending her stumbling into a roll to escape his axe's downswing. The ease in which she avoided his attack brought understanding into the man's expression and he grinned, saying something to the woman that only the two of them could hear. 

There was a shift in Verana's stance as she nodded as she went on the offensive, keeping her movements slow enough for humans to see. She was moving slower than he believed she could move, but  was still devastatingly quick and effective. 

The crowd had gone silent in surprise as suddenly the old war dog was on his heels. Felix grinned as he was put through his paces, defending until he couldn't any longer. The fight finished as the  axe flew from the man's hands,  Verana's two blades pressed to the soft, exposed part of Felix's throat.

The horn sounded the end of the fight and Verana took a step back, her blades disappearing into their sheaths before anyone could trace the movements. The herald announced her the winner and she bowed first to Lord Felix, her hands placed together, lips pressed to her finger tips, words quiet enough to be hidden by the sudden roar of the crowd.

Oliver stood and clapped his approval, grinning though he glanced to Cavin feeling a certainty growing within him. "She held back, didn't she?"

His friend hesitated for a moment before nodding. He shifted back in his chair and glanced to where Amiya and Reyani talked softly amongst themselves, then looked back to Oliver. "She moved at about half the speed she had used against Sir Benchan and even in that fight, I don't think she was moving as quickly as she is capable of moving."

As Oliver glanced to where Verana walked off the field, her head ducked as she listened to Lord Felix talking animatedly beside her, he noticed Shelby was standing against the fence with the other two Fey, accompanied by the young Lord Connaugh. 

Shelby was in his armour, waiting his turn to fight, as Connaugh filled his ear with some youthful enthusiasm to him. Beside them, the male Feysha were perched on the fence, watching  the exchange curiously. It seemed, oddly, a scene out of a painting or perhaps a dream.

 Otherworldly but normal, the peaceful companionship of a King's tournament and it had him wishing he had his sketch book with him in order to capture it. Connaugh moved forward to congratulate Verana and the pleasant exchange between her and the two formerly undecided Lords who would be sitting on the Council gave him hope as well. Though Oliver realized that the young boy looked in danger of becoming smitten.

"What's on your mind, My Liege?" Amiya used the title to address Cavin,  knowing there were enough ears around to need formality, but allowing her voice to pull him gently back to where they were. Cavin appeared to have been watching the exchange as well  and shared a glance with Oliver before turning to his betrothed.

Cavin nodded gently to the group. "I'm just reminded of something that Sencha said that first day... Watching that over there. Felix is the most ornery man I've ever met, he told me this morning that he thought I was a little lacking upstairs, in this whole business. And the young Connaugh nearly refused the invitation when he found out there were going to be Feysha... a few moments with Verana and they look to be allies, if not friends."

"She's precious to all of us." Reyani murmured softly, exhaling softly as she considered her words before speaking. "There's so many questions I want to ask about what all this means, they believe so much in fate. Her people must have some plan, some understanding of what is going to come of this." 

Oliver turned his attention to the woman, quirking a brow. "Fate is what we make it, m'lady." 

Reyani smirked to him and shook her head slowly. "No, I don't think that. Our responses are what we make them. But fate, I think there are things we don't understand and they're driving us onwards. Probably to places we do not yet know." 

A chill ran down his spine then, like the shifting of a wind before a sudden storm, causing him to glance up to the sky. Clear blue, with a deceptively soft breeze. He wondered if he were just being paranoid but the sailor in him felt a squall in the distance.