Kestka is an elegant young swordswoman with a severe, composed silhouette that looks almost theatrical against the abandoned square. Within a minute of meeting her, people notice her teeth: the upper incisors are unusually broad and square, and when she laughs, which is rare, the expression looks startlingly childlike against her otherwise disciplined face. She moves with a measured half-step, favoring her left side as though every paving stone has to be negotiated with personally. Her stillness is more unnerving than her speed. She can stand beside the dry fountain for several minutes without shifting, then cross the square in a sudden, noiseless glide. Her beauty is sharpened by contradiction: she dresses like a court duelist but has the ink-stained hands and practical posture of a municipal clerk. The impression she leaves is of a blade carefully wrapped in ordinary paperwork.