Chapter 3:

Saving Face

Brynn and Touga squared off in the courtyard. They gripped wooden practice swords, and left their steel blades resting in their scabbards off to the side. Neither actually wanted to hurt the other, both just wanted to see if the balance of years before had changed, and if it had, in whose favor.

Despite the great leaps Brynn had made in her skill as a Kensai, she still remembered having never defeated Touga in a sparring match. Ever. She still saw him as the man who had trained a little wisp of a half-elf girl for nearly ten years, but never seemed to teach her everything he knew. Around him, she still felt like a child.

To Touga too, she still was a child in many ways. He had heard only second or third hand the stories of her accomplishments, and though he had always respected her skill and talent, he put all the amazing incidents of the last few years on a combination of good luck, good back up, and good training, and a good deal of exaggeration and poetic license on the part of the bards that retold the stories, not legendary skill and power. He was proud of his pupil, but he never suspected that he would lose to her. After all, he had not been sitting idle for the past five years either.

"I see you are still using that clumsy two-sword style," Touga said disapprovingly to Brynn as he warmed up, deftly moving through a series of classic sword forms.

Brynn smiled. "I may have been clumsy with it when you last saw me, Master, but now I am the definition of grace." She raised both wooden katanas to the ready, getting used to the different weight of them compared to her steel blades. She didn't think it would affect her very much. She took a few experimental swipes in the air and briefly went through a series of forms she'd come up with to help her manage her two blades without getting tangled up or slicing off one of her own hands. It was a simple maneuver really, but to the eyes of the guards that watched, and several of the maids who had come to see the spectacle of their Lady in match against her former sword master, it was almost like a dance; exquisitely choreographed and endlessly complex.

"Is that a western form?" Touga inquired politely as they both stopped showing off and got down to business.

"Nope," Brynn replied. "I made it up. The old forms didn't work all that well. They were meant for one weapon, and either defense of offense. I had to work out a way to practice with two swords and defense and offense at the same time. That's one of the benefits of dual-wielding, Master. I combined some of the forms you taught me with some of my own maneuvers and came up with my own style. I've found it works rather well."

"So I see."

Then, as if cued by some signal only they two could see, the two combatants began their match. Everyone could see that both Brynn and Touga were exceptionally skilled, but those who knew what to look for saw that Brynn was just warming up and Touga was working hard to keep her at bay. The tables had turned.

Brynn's heart began to sink as she saw the discrepancy between her skill and her former Master's. He was still a superb Kensai, but she was far better, and it would be embarrassing for him if she were to beat him so easily before not only her friends, but the servants and the palace guards as well. But how could she not beat him? She was faster, she was stronger and she was more skilled. But how could she beat him, knowing that if she did it might very well break him?

She began to fight as if it was all she could do to hold Touga back; going on the defense and scrunching her face up like she was concentrating all of her power on each parry. She did it slowly so that it seemed like Touga had worn her down, beaten past her youthful strength with skill and perseverance. She made openings for him to attack, and then blocked him at the last second, making it look for all the world that she was straining to keep up with him. At last she thought the time was right to provide the perfect opening, and masked her move to expose herself as a mistake. Touga's wooden sword came down on her right shoulder hard enough for it to sting a little, and Brynn panting, not from the effort of defending herself, but from the effort of making it possible for her master to win, lowered her two blades and bowed to him.

"You're still better than I, Master," she said, trying to catch her breath. She prayed that her ploy had worked and that Touga had not noticed that she had thrown the match.

"But you have improved, little one," Touga praised her. "You had me for a time, but your strength faltered. I believe those forms that you 'made up' need work to be more effective. I noticed several flaws, and because I was able to exploit them, I won."

"Ah, well it is fortunate that none of Brynn's other opponents found such flaws, neh?" Yoshimo said, coming up to stand by Brynn. His eyes were cool and distant as he looked at Touga, and Brynn wondered if the two of them would ever sort out the animosity that was between them.

Imoen bounded up, grinning. "That was amazing!" she said to Touga. "Brynn hasn't been beaten since... since... well five years ago when you sparred last!"

Brynn played the polite loser as the rest of the Blades came up and congratulated Touga, wondering over his stunning victory. None of them had expected it of course, and all of them seemed to genuinely believe Touga had won of his own merit. Brynn breathed a sigh of relief, glad that her ruse had worked. She hoped fervently that she would never have to do anything like that again; throwing the match had gone against her sense of honor and honesty.

But the look of happiness on Touga's lined face made it worth it.

I'm happy for you too, Master, she thought. But I'll never spar with you again.

***

After the match in the courtyard the Blades and their guest ate an early dinner and swapped stories until dark. Touga wanted to explain his reasons for coming -apparently he had some important business to discuss with Brynn- but Brynn insisted on saving that discussion until the morning.

"This night is for laughing, not for business, Master," she said solemnly. "It's been too long since I've seen you, and the years in between have been too full of tears to let tonight go by in serious talk."

So they laughed and joked, and Haer'Dalis sang the ballads he wrote about the Blades' adventures, and Aerie, Nalia, Imoen and Dynaheir conjured up pretty illusion pictures for them all while Minsc told stories of Rasheman. In return Touga told about his life in the five years since he had left Candlekeep behind, and though his stories were not so dramatic and spectacular, they were just as fun to listen to.

It was well past midnight when the party broke up and everyone went to bed. A servant led Touga to one of the keep's guest rooms and settled him in, but he did not stay there long. As soon as he was sure the servant was gone, he left his room, leaving his cloak on his bed, but taking his katana with him -he always took his katana with him unless customs and circumstances forbid it- and went to the roof, seeking a little fresh air to clear his head. He did not notice that he was being followed at first, but then he caught a glimpse of a shadow being cast in the moonlight. He reached for the hilt of his katana, his fingers tightening around it, and he found comfort in the familiar feel of it in his hand.

"There is no need for that, Touga-san," Yoshimo called to him in their native language, stepping out of the shadows that had been hiding him. "I assure you I did not come to kill you in the night. Brynn would not be pleased."

Touga whirled around and, in the same tongue, snarled, "Then why did you sneak up on me like an assassin with your foul ninja tricks."

Yoshimo chuckled lightly. "I'm not a ninja, Touga-san, I'm a bounty hunter. And I didn't sneak up on you, I wasn't even trying to hide."

"Then why did you follow me, bounty hunter?" Touga demanded.

Yoshimo shrugged. "Curiosity I suppose. I was wondering why you had returned here."

"That," Touga growled, "is none of your business."

"It is," Yoshimo argued. "It's my business because it's Brynn's business, and anything that concerns her concerns me as well." He paused and gave Touga an serious look. "She is my light, old man, she saved my soul and my life and I'm indebted to her, but more than that, I love her, and she loves me."

Touga frowned, wondering how the innocent girl he had known could have gotten mixed up with a ninja... a bounty hunter like Yoshimo. He thought she had honor. "You are lying."

"I'm not," Yoshimo replied evenly. "I've no reason to lie, Touga-san, especially since if I was you could easily uncover my lie. I'm telling you the truth. I'm very... protective... of Brynn, and there's something not right about you, Touga-san, I can sense it on you. You're hiding something about why you're here, and I wanted to tell you in private that if that something that you're hiding bring Brynn harm I'll make sure you don't live to regret it long."

Touga laughed with contempt. "Even Brynn herself could not defeat me. What makes you believe that you, a dog-piss bounty hunter could?"

Yoshimo looked at him long and hard, and Touga met his eyes with equal ferocity. Yoshimo looked away first, by choice though, Touga noticed, not because the bounty hunter couldn't meet his gaze.

"Just keep in mind," Yoshimo said at last, in western common instead of his native language, "that if harm comes to Brynn you will suffer the consequences. Good night, Touga-san." He bowed mock-reverently, and then turned away from Touga and walked off.

Touga watched Yoshimo disappear again into the shadows of the night, catching a ripple of the hems of his tunic a moment after he faded out of sight. He gripped the hilt of his katana harder, but found no comfort in the familiar feel of it in his palm. He wondered how Brynn could possibly stand Yoshimo's company, let alone... let alone be romantic with him. Touga was sure he knew his pupil better than that. They had trained together for ten years and had spent a great deal of time together outside of the training, Touga learning western common and Brynn learning the common dialect of Wa, as well as facts about the culture. He was sure he knew Brynn better than that. She couldn't have changed that much, she still couldn't beat him sparring.

He turned his eyes to the moon just as it passed behind a fat clump of cumulus clouds, darkening the night even further, and decided that Yoshimo was up to no good, and that before long he would reveal that treachery to Brynn.

To Be Continued

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So what has Touga Kurai returned for anyway, and why in the world did he leave Candlekeep in the first place? The old wounds and anger between Touga and Yoshimo deepens as both men try to find out just what the other's hidden agenda is.