Lady Trina advances to the final duel

The first round of duels proceeds rather quickly, as those whose ambitions outweighed their abilities are eliminated. It is not until only eight contestants remain that the crowd can be guaranteed of battles between those of true skill with the sword; the bouts are drawn out longer, but that is more than made up for by the quality of the fights.

Lady Trina, of course, remains in the contest, having won her next two fights nearly as quickly as her first. By now, though, she is up against those who are not only more masterful with the sword, but who have learned not to underestimate her.

Her next duel is with a knight of Sir Cottingham's entourage, one named Sir Graham of Lockwood. He begins with a surprise lunge directly to her chest; Lady Trina tries to step back but she is too late, and the swordpoint barely grazes her breastplate. In true combat it would mean nothing, but the rules of the tournament state that any touch to the torso is a point; it is the first time an opponent has scored against her.

Trina recovers quickly, however, and re-establishes her defense in time to deflect his next attack. She remains on the defensive for a moment, moving around the circle to dodge instead of stepping back. You know what she is doing, having sparred with her frequently in the practice yard; she's looking for a pattern in her opponent's attacks, something which will give away his next move.

Then, she sees it - and as Sir Graham moves to bring his sword down onto her shoulder, Trina drops to one knee and takes the blade of her own sword in her gauntlet, holding it like a staff over her head to block the blow. For just a moment, she supports her opponent's weight, and in that moment she drops down on her back, forcing him to stumble forward. As he does, Trina jams her swordpoint into his gut, and Sir Graham cries out and falls to one side - the crowd gasps for a moment, as even with a tourney sword this would be a lethal stab! However, Graham gets to his feet almost immediately, completely unharmed... and then you see that Trina kept her gauntlet closed over the swordpoint, so that she could safely deliver the "killing" blow. The crowd cheers her victory once again, and Sir Graham bows to her with his hand upon his heart, certainly the most respectful acknowledgement she has received thus far.

Her next duel, though, seems to be a farce; her opponent (a man who gave his name as Dragutin) clearly allows her to score her first three points, even deliberately stepping outside the circle twice. The crowd reacts with boos and jeers, and you are on the verge of standing up and announcing that prizes will be withdrawn from contestants who refuse to put up a decent fight. But just then, Dragutin seems to spring into action, striking fast and hard blows which **** Lady Trina almost to the edge of the circle. The crowd cheers out loud then, as it becomes clear that he had merely been attempting to lull Trina into dropping her guard.

Lady Trina, however, never drops her guard. She recovers quickly and spins away from his next attack, letting Dragutin's momentum carry him past her. Continuing her spin as he stumbles, she raises her sword high over her head in both hands and brings it crashing down upon his weapon's crossguard. Trina's tourney sword breaks in two from the **** of the blow - but Dragutin's weapon is knocked from his hand!

"Winner by disarmament - Lady Trina of Elyssia!" the referee shouts, barely heard over the roars of approval from the crowd. Dragutin seems disgusted, and refuses to return her salute... but he removes his helm and breastplate, casting them at her feet as he walks away defeated.

"Lady Trina of the Elyssian Kingsguard shall advance to the final duel!" Sir Magnus bellows. "She and Abdul Hai el-Anwar, Warrior of Al-Mansoura, shall have one quarter hour to rest before the deciding match!"