By rights, it was a gamble that neither of them could afford to make, for reasons of orders rather than realities of combat. But orders trumped all else. Obedience was non-negotiable. It was a gamble made simply to see who faltered first.

In the end, he did - too cognizant of the short distance between them and violation, too cognizant of how very weak and vulnerable the audience was compared to the two of them, unable to entirely trust that the other weapon would pull back in time if he continued to press the attack. Expression twisting slightly in faint distaste at being once again thwarted, a flicker that was as as good as a snarl, he stopped a scant two paces short of where he really needed to be. Instead, he pivoted to try and both get and stay between his opponent and the audience - an accident would be as good as willful disobedience - and swiped at the air in front of him with his shield. The two weapons gave a high ring where they collided, followed by a skittering screech of metal as the knife was deflected.

He immediately followed up with another swipe on the backswing. It would mean overextending himself half a pace, but he did so anyway, in the hopes that he could at least catch his foe a glancing blow before he recovered.