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I: Gasshuku
Kel’s feet hurt, an intense burning pain that shot up her legs and lodged in her stomach, making her feel like she was about to throw up. Beside her, Yuki didn’t look much better—Kel could tell by the way that she was just a beat too slow to take the right kamae, from the slow, too-even gulps of breath she was taking. Cricket, on her other side, looked tired but was upright.
“It’s the last day,” she whispered, when Nariko-sensei had gone to examine the form of the girls on the other side of the dojo. “Don’t worry, it’ll be all engi today, no sparring. Not too bad.”
“I’d rather we sparred,” Yuki gasped. “If I put on my suneate, I won’t be able to feel my feet—I can come up with the energy. Another… five hours of basics? I’m dying.”
Kel smiled weakly, entirely in agreement. “But only an hour until lunch. And then we can sit down.”
Her feet hurt abominably. But she had friends, and they were almost at the end of summer training camp.
II: Shinsa
Yuki stood across from her, her breathing matching Kel’s. They’d worked for months on this—Kel had been shocked when Yuki had said that they were bringing over a few of the Yamani arms-mistresses over for a grading, and one specifically meant to allow Kel into the teaching ranks for the naginata. Not even Shinko had a teaching rank, though both Kel and Yuki were testing for it.
The written exam that morning had gone better than Kel had expected, and the teaching section had gone well too. But it was the techniques section that was the most difficult for her, because she hadn’t practiced the naginata with the same focus and dedication as Yuki, or Shinko, or anyone who would normally be looking at a teaching rank.
There was a whole room watching. If she passed, she’d be the first Tortallan to receive her renshi, the lowest level teaching rank.
Yuki took a breath in, and then she moved, and Kel responded. Engi forms one and two were about distancing and precision, the moves themselves so basic that any mistake would be all too painfully obvious; number three had the makiotoshi, a deflection that couldn’t be executed properly if Kel used the muscles she had worked so hard in her knight-training to build. Number Four had a furikaeshi, while five used the ebu to create an opening for the first time. Her six wasn’t graceful enough, and her harai-otoshi on number seven was too strong. She didn’t think her number eight was big enough.
But what was done was done, and she could only put the engi section out of her mind and move on to the shiai.
III: Taikai
“Hajime!” Kel yelled, and dropped her hands, red and white flags sailing down with them, to signal the start of the match. It was the first Queen’s Cup—after many years of watching other tournaments, the girls and women who practiced naginata had clamoured for their own competition to show their skill, and so they had received. Shinko was watching, in the seat of the Chief Referee for the tournament, while Kel stood in the centre of the field, the head shinpan for this match.
It was Hannah of Queenscove, Neal’s daughter, facing off against Sabine of King’s Reach, Faleron’s daughter. Two more different styles one couldn’t find; Hannah was bold and aggressive, while Sabine was patient and precise. Hannah made three or four attacks for each of Sabine’s, but Kel could see that Sabine was controlling the match. Sabine was holding the centre, and she was just waiting for a good opportunity.
And when it came, the monouchi of Sabine’s practice naginata slamming into Hannah’s suneate with a sharp crack, Kel's white flag flew up.
“Sune-ari!” she called out, and she could just hear Neal swearing from the audience. “Nihon-me—hajime!”
Sabine of King’s Reach was the first of many Tortallan naginata champions, the skill of each generation building upon the last.