Cullen blocks with the shield -- and it's not as though he was expecting delicacy; he knows better -- it's the smoothness with which she moves that takes him aback.

Still: he's not going to go on the offensive until he's got a better idea of what she might do.

(When Cullen can't sleep, or doesn't wish to go back to sleep, and more prayer and more letter-writing and more responsibility weigh heavy, he reads everything he can get his hands on about swordplay, tactics, siege engines, fortresses, and ways to accomplish concrete goals involving the tools of war.

If he's to be a leader, he must be ready; he must be patient; he must be able to teach.)