To Henry's relief, the younger boy bumped the edge of his silver sword against the onyx one he wielded.
It wasn't a rule to acknowledge someone's good sportsmanship, but it was a sign of respect. It would look bad from the audience's perspective if someone to be a knight one day wasn't polite.
With that, the match started, and they both backed away from each other.
Henry could already hear the noise of other swords clashing against each other as others had more energetic matches.
They circled slowly, never facing away from each other until Henry decided that he had better act first.
Cutting his raised onyx sword in a half circle, he tried to go for a side swipe and knock the boy back a few feet, but it didn't work and he was countered easily with a block. The metal of their swords striking each other felt like the loudest sound in the arena.
