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"Now, on to this ht of them fit into such a small case? Sophronia wondered

With a flourish, the olf flipped the lid, displaying the contents The case was full of fans--clunky and not very pretty fans, at that

"Ladies, please fore and each received a fan Sophronia was startled by how heavy hers was Close examination showed that the fan’s leaves were fabric but its ribs and guards were enious!

Captain Niall began to demonstrate movements Many of the techniques were similar to those of the letter opener, in whose deadly application they’d already receivedrepertoire, with butterfly-like ned to surprise There was no stabbing with the fan; the idea was to disar to see a aving a fan about like soirls practiced with leather guards over their fans, for safety This also kept Di to be an intelligencer and Di, she wasn’t meant for this lifestyle

Sophronia adored the bladed fan the h the first pass As a result, she tried extra hard to master the movements Captain Niall was impressed After an hour’s work, he summoned her forward

"Miss Te well How about a small duel?" The teacher’s lee

Sophronia had never before faced Preshea one-to-one, but she was gaatha

Preshea gave her a nasty slossy black hair behind one perfect, shell-like ear, and took up the guard position Or at least Sophronia assuuard position--hard to tell in skirts One of the advantages of being a fighting fes were, for all practical purposes, invisible

Theirlike Captain Niall’s speedy grace Preshea mostly attacked and Sophronia mostly defended

Captain Niall shouted instructions, which Sophronia--at least--tried to obey

"Miss Temminnick, try the treble clef defense Miss Buss, the fleur de lys attack Well done! And now, Miss Te it"

The girls crowded around, fascinated

Captain Niall switched from instruction to commentary

"Now Miss Temminnick has taken up the Valkyrie flip Note the curves of her movements? And a very nice snap of the wrist there froht the flicker of the olf’s hands as he gestured for the other students to collectively do soround beneath her feet beca the crowd to herd the two fighters onto the bank of the stream

Sophronia had barely a s happened in quick succession

Preshea stripped the leather guard off her fan With a yell of triu at Sophronia’s unprotected face

Sophronia reeled, raising her free hand in defense Her pagoda sleeve fell away, exposing the undersleeve Preshea’s fan sliced easily through the muslin and into the flesh below Sophronia’s left elbow A few of the younger girls shrieked There was a thump and skirts rustled Dimity had fainted