Tessa's mother stood off to the side with her arms folded beneath her chest, the amusement that had been plastered across her face for most of the morning still lingering at the corners of her lips.
She looked between the two men one final time.
"Since neither of you seems willing to behave like a reasonable person, I will make this simple," she said. "The moment I say the fight is over, it is over. Understood?"
Tessa's father grunted.
Elion nodded.
"Understood."
"Good."
The woman raised one hand, and the atmosphere inside the dojo changed immediately.
The teasing expressions of the surrounding clansmen disappeared as they focused entirely upon the centre of the room.
Even Tessa had stopped trying to hide her embarrassment, her eyes now fixed nervously upon her father and Elion.
She had warned Elion that this might happen before they decided to come here.
The patriarch's flaming red aura intensified.
