condign
Americanadjective
********************************
The was going wild. That was understandable. The fight had been quite the spectacle, after all. Especially because of the upset victory. Who would have expected the arena champion to lose to a woman? A champion losing was nothing new. It was practically expected that a champion would eventually fall to a new fighter. But to a woman? That was unheard of.
The noble’s box had a much more subdued reaction. The people there were dead silent. To them, what they had just witnessed was a complete impossibility.
“She must have cheated.” One of them said, breaking the silence.
“Agreed.” Another replied. “I bet she seduced him into losing.
Many others gave their own ideas as to how she won. All of them involved underhanded or sneaky tactics. Several of them even thought the now former champion had simply gone easy on her. Only one man stood silent amidst the chatter.
“What about you, Marcus?” one of the nobles asked the silent man. “You can probably tell better than any of us. What tricks did the woman pull?”
Marcus slowly looked around the room. Most of them had ignored the question, and were engrossed in their own wild speculations and conversations.
“Her trick? Easy. It’s an old one called being better than her opponent.”
“What?”
“It’s simple. She was the more skilled fighter, so she won. It’s as simple as that.”
“That’s impossible. There’s no way a woman can win in a martial contest.” The man scoffed. Marcus did not remember his name. Nor did he care to be reminded.
“Why not?”
“Why? It’s obvious. Men are easily twice as strong and capable as a woman.”
“Even if that was true, which it isn’t, then the solution is simple. All she had to do was train twice as hard.”
“But that’s—”
“I guarantee you whatever you’re about to say has absolutely no merit. When you look at her, I imagine you see some delicate little thing playing with a sword. I see a warrior who has dedicated herself to the blade. If you look at her, really look at her, even you should be able to see it. See the scars along her arms? Wounds from fights she’s been through. And beyond that, I dare say she has more muscle than you, just trained to be compact and efficient. A warrior’s build if I ever saw one. She earned her victory through blood and sweat. I can’t even begin to imagine how long she spent training.”
“Oh please. No woman would have the temperament to undergo that amount of training.”
“I disagree. I’ve met many a woman who have more of a warrior’s spirit than any ten men.”
“But that’s—”
“Enough.” Marcus said, firmly cutting off the other man. “The fact is she used no tricks. No underhanded methods. She fought well and earned her victory through her skill and efforts. Nothing more, nothing less. Your misplaced beliefs in the capability of women won’t change that. Now, I have better places to be.”
Without waiting for any further comments from the unpleasant man, Marcus left the noble’s box. He had a very interesting lady to meet. He was very eager to test the results of her efforts with his own blade. And maybe he would have a new retainer on hand, if things went well for both of them.
