She nodded and slipped gracefully from the table and to her feet, closing her eyes and pressing her hands downward in front of her, then slowly streaming a sliver of ice from the top of the block, melting it, and then moving into her forms with the stream following the orchestrations of her body.

She performed with her eyes half-closed, not needing to watch the water to sense its movement, or to avoid the furnishings of his tent. This was not so much a drill as a ritual dance, serene motions of deep, inner peace that flowed into one another with controlled, flowing perfection.