As he brings his fist back for another punch for the probation page, he has to notice how, even when the tide was against her, Keladry didn't falter for a moment.
But neither did she.
After the fight, the girl page didn't go cry to the healers or her friends. She simply left for her rooms to clean up and care for her wounds by herself, not bothering the others.
But so did she.
At the spidren hunt, Keladry nearly sacrificed herself to save her year-mates, as would anyone in the forces. And then, Zahir realized that being a woman doesn't make you weaker. It's being a true warrior that puts you in the line of danger.
And so, when Zahir's older sister's body was brought back, laden with arrows that she took for her Rider group, years before Zahir would ever meet another woman warrior, he swore he would to anything possible to send them back to safety. Even drive them away by bullying. Whatever was necessary to save another brother, another family this grief.