Leia rose to her feet with deliberate slowness, one hand still pressed against her ribs where Zaeryn's hook had landed. But the wince of pain had already vanished, replaced by something far more dangerous: cold, crystalline fury.
The crowd remained frozen in shocked silence, the kind of stunned quiet that followed the impossible. He'd humiliated her. Actually hurt her. Made her knee buckle. Forced her to stumble, to show weakness in front of dozens of witnesses who would carry this story through every corridor and common room in the academy.
The anomaly wasn't just talking anymore. He was adapting.
And despite the white-hot rage burning in her chest, despite the bruise already forming beneath her training uniform, a small part of her, a part she would never, ever acknowledge, found it almost... impressive.
"Smart move, fighting on your own terms," Leia conceded, her voice dropping to a low, dangerous growl that promised retribution. "I'll give you that."
