Arialla nodded with a bit of a rueful smile. Good, so she wouldn't be on the hook for too much. She wasn't sure what she could possibly do for the Wraith anyway, but she'd prefer to keep her debts small, if possible. (If only she'd realized that she could have argued. But she was already getting used to the Torcher system of favors, and accepted it as a matter of course.)
The selection of palm fronds surprised Arialla a bit -- she couldn't help raising an eyebrow -- but she had to assume Wessex knew best, so she didn't question it. Instead, she took the frond handed to her and raised it, holding the base in both hands, the way she'd always assumed a sword was held. The motion reminded her of playing soldiers as a child, though it had never been her preferred game. And that was about all the experience she had with a sword.
"All right," she said, a bit nervous but determined. She stepped forward and swung the frond at Wessex in a wide horizontal arc.
please don't take my sunshine away
