POV: adolin
Summary
Adolin crosses the arena sand against Elit and immediately throws out the script. His father has told him to win Shards from the Sadeas coalition with as much fanfare as possible; today, instead, Adolin decides that the fanfare will be his refusal to give the crowd what it has come for. The peace talks died on the Parshendi plateau yesterday and his anger needs somewhere to live; he puts it underneath ideal form and lets Elit come.
He holds Windstance precisely — sweep, parry, step, sweep — and refuses the showy counterstrike at every opportunity. Behind him in the stands Sadeas, Aladar, and Ruthar watch the heart of the anti-Kholin coalition shape itself; Ruthar shouts that Adolin is trying to wear his cousin down and that Elit should not let him. Elit obliges. He thrusts for the face, hoping to crack the helm and the head with it. Adolin raises a gauntlet under the oncoming Blade, lets it slide along the metal of his palm — a move you could only attempt in Plate — and sweeps in with the flat of his Blade against the body, taking the body when classical form would have demanded he take the head. The crowd boos. Cracks open in a dozen small places along Elit's armour and bleed Stormlight. Adolin strolls back and waits. Elit lurches forward, then locks up entirely, the Stormlight drained out of his Plate by attrition. Adolin walks up, presses one gauntleted hand against his chest, and tips him over. Brightlady Istow awards the Plate. The crowd boos louder.
Under the seats in the staging room, Adolin sits and drains a cup of water from Peet while Renarin notes from the door that the spectators hated him faster than they hated him last time and longer. Adolin tells Navani he won and that fanfare is about being remembered, not about being liked; she checks him for wounds and starts a glyphward of thanks. He is asking Navani again about the favour he wants from her on Shallan's behalf when Shallan herself bursts in in a violet dress with a grin on her face, having watched most of the fight after stopping to burn a prayer. Navani cools the room, makes her excuses, and is gone before Shallan can finish the apology in her throat; Adolin tells her, again, that his aunt needs a few more days and will come around.
He has a dinner to offer her. She refuses tonight — she has business of her own she will not name — and trades him a date tomorrow for a hint instead. She has been turning over King Gavilar's biography in the spare hours between Sebarial's ledgers and thinks there is something in it Adolin could use in the arena — but it requires a duel won spectacularly. He scratches his head and says fewer boos would suit him fine.
The door slams open. Relis Ruthar — the current dueling champion, Ruthar's eldest — stalks in with Brightlady Istow and a small gaggle of lighteyes behind him to demand the duel be invalidated. Adolin sets Shallan gently to one side, asks if Relis would like to fight him for the Plate, and then names a wager: a single bout, two days from now, six Shards on the line — his own, his brother's, Eranniv's, and Elit's. Relis refuses the goading. Adolin looks at Shallan, remembers his father's words about fanfare, and tells Relis that if he is afraid to face him one-on-one he is welcome to bring a friend. Relis freezes mid-turn, asks if Adolin really means he will take a second Shardbearer in the ring at the same time, and agrees in two days when Adolin confirms it. Istow witnesses. Relis storms out.
Peet closes the door and raises an eyebrow at Adolin like the rest of Kaladin's bridgemen have started doing lately, which Adolin does not particularly love. He drops onto the bench beside Shallan and asks if that will pass for spectacular and whether the plan she promised actually exists. She sits down beside him and starts to tell him about Highprince Yenev.