One of the sleeves I remember best is the one I wore against a tall, athletic boy. His short, brown hair and troubling green eyes made him attractive. He looked only a little older than me and his name was Angal. I did not know his name until much later. He fought the sword very well, better than me, but luck was against him.

When I finally managed to put my sword in his throat, he lost his balance and cut himself on my blade, uttering a cry of pain. I leaned over him immediately, mortified. I caught myself healing the wound by bringing my hand closer to it to limit the bleeding.

Silly, I helped him up, while he watched me, as disconcerted as I by this healing. Her look, where the slightest resentment did not pierce me, troubled me. The counselor put a hand on my shoulder and said in a dull tone:

- You won.

"It's a way of seeing," I replied, shocked that the young man's health did not worry him more.

Two members of the medical corps eventually arrived and took him away. The counselor explained to me that one more victory would qualify me definitively. A selection that I was always ignorant of the purpose. The frustration of this situation was beginning to take precedence over the attraction of the initial mystery.

When I found myself facing Mnémésyne in the next round, this tournament disgusted me. We refused to fight each other. The image of Mnemésyne wounded in the dust, never ceased to appear in my mind. The counselor's tone mounted against our refusal.

- And why not? he asked in an inquisitive tone.

- I refuse to fight my sister.

- If you persist, I disqualify you both!

- In this case, I prefer to leave.

Mnemésyne wished to support me, but remained silent when I made him a sign not to insist. I left the enclosure under the dazed look of our referee.

I went back to the inn, strolling, absorbing the atmosphere of the street to clear my head. I would have liked at least to know why these fights had been organized. But anyway, I could not bring myself to fight my sister at heart. Especially after the accident that had just occurred, the image of his injury did not leave my mind.

Following my abandonment, Mnemésyne was qualified by office, but she still did not know why. I decided to stay with her in town. We made ourselves useful to the inn, to pay for the room we were going to have to keep longer.