Something foul tasting, forced between her lips while she stared off into the middle distances, only partly aware of her surroundings. Even som dazed, she had chased off the practicioners of the healing arts effectively but not in what would be her own normal fashion. So, instead, they had sent people that bore draughts that were only slightly less effective, foul tasting, and bearing a number of other interesting side effects.
Aeyliea was awake. Wide awake, more awake than she could ever recall being in her life. She did not like it in the slightest. The headache that had come on shortly after drinking...whatever it was had swiftly subsided, leaving a faint pain behind the eyes that was swiftly disappearing.
She could not remember all the details of getting there, on the sidelines. She could only remember the giant she had faced, and despite remembering little of the match itself, a pervasive sense of dishonor tainted the entire encounter.
Now she stood on the sand again, sun blazing overhead. The intricate headdress made from her own braided hair was only a little mussed from the previous encounter, and dark circles underscored her eyes, but for all of that she was intensely alert. The fighting all around would have proven a fine distraction in her current state...
...except that state was being managed. The exercises were effective, and simple; she was one with the long, curved single-edged sword in her hands, one with the opponent that faced her on the other side of the ring. She carried the blade single-handedly, although it could never be effectively used in such capacity. The strap that held her scabbard on her back had broken in the previous fight, and she was forced to carry the unadorned blade naked to the cold sun. She had debated bringing buckler and spears, but it was by the blade she wished to tester her mettle. The organizers of this affair had rigged the first match against her - not that she would ever turn aside, or complain aloud.
She waited for her announced opponent to show his face.
seogsa
