Finley Bowman

No one leaves the jianghu easily, but at the timber tavern of Loch-na-Cailleach, an ancient custom offers an escape. A warrior wishing to put down their blade must travel to the water's edge and fight one last, bloodless farewell duel against a worthy foe before crossing the misty loch to peace. Lorcan-Rhu has fought for twenty bloody winters; he wants only to return to his neglected highland apple orchard. To grant his honorable release, the rival Storm-Petrel School sends Caoimhe, a prodigy spear-cultivator whose elder brother Lorcan once disarmed. Under the sharp, tea-scented gaze of Maolain, a legendary strike-master turned tavern keeper who values his ceramic teacups far more than martial reputations, they prepare for their solemn parting bout. But when an unyielding vendetta brigade arrives at the water's edge vowing that blood debts can never be washed clean, Lorcan-Rhu and his companions discover that walking away from violence demands their fiercest stand yet.