28th Day of Goodmonth, 565 CY
The Royal Palace, Chendl, Furyondy
"Tojo-sama? May I come in, please?"
Yanigasawa Tojo, currently sitting lotus-style upon his bed, opened his eyes and turned his head to the left, but the samurai's gaze took several leisurely seconds to come back into focus. As he lifted himself out of his meditative state, Tojo glanced down at his hands which lay in his lap, fingers clasped together. A ghost of a smile flickered for a moment on his face.
He might have known who the first one to return would be.
"Come in, Asran-sama," he said.
The sturdy wooden door of Tojo's guest room swung slowly inward, as if Aslan was afraid that Tojo might be standing right in front of it and he risked hitting the samurai in the face as he came in. The paladin's gaze alighted upon his friend and he smiled.
Tojo gave just enough of a return smile to show he understood and appreciated the gesture. No more.
"I know the hour is very late, Tojo-sama, but may I speak with you? Briefly?"
Tojo nodded and the paladin walked over to a nearby ornate wooden chair, which he pulled over to the side of Tojo's bed and sat down upon. Aslan was wearing tan cotton trousers covered by a simple undyed long tunic. The paladin wore a white, triangular, cotton hat which elicited a momentary eyebrow lift from Tojo. Aslan had abandoned his ponytail, and his hair hung loose down to his shoulders.
The samurai himself, bare-chested and wearing only a pair of dark green silk pantaloons, regarded his visitor with the same calm and patient expression as of old. For his part, Aslan had a hard time keeping his eyes away from the gaping, circular scar in the middle of the samurai's chest. He wondered if there was a matching scar on Tojo's back and supposed there was one. He then supposed that he was wasting his friend's time and should get down to the reason for this call.
He was about to do so when he noticed the gold bracers on the samurai's arms.
Tojo was once again wearing his dastana, and Aslan couldn't help rebuking himself for insisting that they bring the bracers, which they had discovered amongst their other possessions in the chest onboard the Water Dragon, back home with them. He wished the Slave Lords had simply thrown them away.
Tojo's eyes followed Aslan's stare back up to his face. "Do you stirr have question for me, Asran-sama?"
The meaning was clear to the paladin. Nothing had changed for Tojo in terms of his honor or his quest.
Some of Aslan's questions were indeed answered; and he was in fact grateful that he wasn't going to have to articulate them after all, but others still remained. However, he couldn't bring himself to omit at least some opening pleasantries. "Are you feeling more rested now?"
In mid-afternoon, Tojo had finally been released from the Room of Return by Gaereth Heldenster, and several servants had escorted him directly to the quarters prepared for him. Nesco had asked Comitello to remain in the chapel however and contact her and her friends when this returned. Thus, she and the others- including Elrohir but not Talass- were waiting outside this very door to greet him. Tojo had still been very groggy though and had managed only weak smiles and murmurs of greetings as they all greeted him joyfully. He had not even objected when Nesco had given him a brief hug. They had then all departed, promising to return once the samurai was better rested, presumably the next day.
But apparently, Tojo thought, Aslan had not been able to wait quite that long. It was just short of midnight.
"Yes, Asran-sama," Tojo replied. "I sreep most of day. Berieve gaijin saying is, 'I sreep rike dead man.'"
The paladin smiled again. "And you keep saying you have no sense of humor, Tojo."
"I do not, Asran-sama." The samurai stated, his expression still blank. "Onry say what I mean. Nothing more."
"I will try to be succinct as well with you, Tojo-sama, but I hope you can forgive my gaijin failings. It's hard not to see you alive and well again without becoming emotional with relief."
Tojo nodded. "I understand."
"First," Aslan asked, still skirting the issue, "has anyone filled you in on what happened after you, er-"
The samurai shrugged. "No need, Asran-sama. You are here; enemies are not. Easy to assume we triumph."
The paladin bit his lip. "Were you aware of what was going on back with us while you were…" he again trailed off.
Tojo frowned and Aslan could see at once this was an uncomfortable subject for the samurai. His violet eyes did their familiar dance around the walls of the room rather than meeting the paladin's gaze as they had been up to this point.
"No, Asran-sama," he replied at length. "It- very hard to describe. I think hard on how to describe experience to you but cannot find right words at this time. Wirr say more when I can."
And that's that, thought Aslan. Subject closed. May as well move on to the main event.
"Tojo," he said slowly, "I ran into Sir Dorbin a little way ago. He's just returned with Sitdale and Sir Menn and he was heading to his quarters to retire for the night but he- I suppose the best word would be leaked- something to me."
Tojo cocked his head slightly, his eyes returning to his visitor's face..
"Something very important- and very disturbing- happened at the Brass Dragon while we were gone. Dorbin said that he does not want to explain until we are all assembled together back at the inn, so I guess we have no choice but to wait, but he did say that Caroline had been spending the last few days at the Castle Chauv."
"Dorbin-san must think she be safer there," the samurai mused.
"My thoughts exactly," Aslan agreed, "and since Dorbin made no mention of another attack upon the inn by anyone, I'm guessing Caroline had another dream- one explicit enough to convince Sir Dorbin to take action."
Tojo looked thoughtful but said nothing.
"What this all may be leading to," Aslan continued, "is that our troubles may not yet be over- and that's not even counting Nodyath and the Emerald Serpent. I know that you must be eager to resume your quest, Tojo, but if my presence is required at the Brass Dragon for a time-"
Tojo interrupted, a rarity for him.
"I wirr not abandon any of you, tomodachi."
"But," Aslan really didn't want to ask this, "wouldn't delaying your quest still further bring even more shame upon you? Isn't that the reason last time that you said you had to…"
The paladin desperately wanted Tojo to say something here; to help him avoid these uncomfortable questions, to explain, to fill the unexplained gaps in his knowledge.
Tojo however, said nothing. He merely looked away from Aslan again.
Again the paladin decided to detour. "I wanted to ask you about Icar's katana, Tojo. We've guessed that it was a magical weapon specifically designed for use against onis and that the phrase oni begone in the Nipponese tongue were the words that activated its special powers, but why didn't you simply tell Nesco that? You can be maddeningly oblique at times, you know."
Tojo shrugged, not taking offense at the remark. "Brackthorn was nearby, Asran-sama. Cood not risk having him overhear. Trusted in Nesco-sama to understand and she did."
"But," the paladin couldn't keep the sense of wonder out of his voice, "how in the name of Asgard did you ever know all this in the first place?"
Tojo raised an eyebrow at Aslan.
"Very simper, Asran-sama," the samurai replied. "Icar terr me, with his rast words."
The two were silent for a while.
"You always make it seem so easy, Tojo," the paladin said at length, shaking his head.
Tojo shrugged again. "Samurai prace honor above awe, Asran-sama. Remember that, and you wirr understand us."
In a display such as he always associated with the impetuous Argo, the paladin was suddenly speaking words without thinking first.
"Why did you come back, Tojo?"
Tojo took a very deep breath and looked away again. His bearing clearly suggested the question was not a welcome one.
"You know what I think?" Aslan asked.
The samurai stared straight ahead at the far wall. "Not have herm of terepathy, Asran-sama," he said coolly.
"I think you didn't come back for your quest at all, Tojo. I think you came back for us."
The samurai did not respond but his breathing became audibly heavier.
"I know you place honor above life itself, Tojo-sama," the paladin said softly. "What I don't know is in what place you put love."
Without any knocking, the door suddenly swung inwards. Standing in the open archway was Sir Davos Rahldent, dressed in his plate mail. He did not even glance at Tojo.
"His Most Pious Majesty requests your immediate presence, Aslan," the knight announced in his deep voice.
A kingly request, Aslan thought. Difficult to ignore.
Aslan stood up. Tojo met his eyes as the paladin turned to leave, but the samurai's expression was still neutral. Aslan left the room behind Sir Rahldent, closing the door quietly behind him.
Tojo continued to stare at the door for a long time.