Sword and Mind

17

Vinit tilted his head and turned to leave as did the pair. He stopped and looked Yunin over. "Do you not carry a sword, Yunin?"

"No."

"Do you know swordplay?"

He nodded. "Yes, Sir."

Vinit gave him a displeased look but said, "Pallu needs a partner. Would you mind?"

"Of course not." Just as Yunin was about to remind the sword master that he had no weapon, Vinit unbuckled his sword belt and handed it to Yunin. "Her guard is weak." A smirk crossed his wizened face. "If you get that far."

Yunin belted the master's sword, unsheathed, feeling the balance, and then set it back in the sheath without a glance down or holding the scabbard. Vinit's eyebrow rose appreciably. To sheath a sword in such a manner took years of practice.

"Perhaps you will last longer than most." With that, the master turned heel and vanished into the mansion.

"So much for your snack. I'm sorry about that. He's a little over protective," Pallu said as they walked back to the garden.

"I'm not bothered about it." When they entered the place where Pallu had been practicing, he unsheathed the sword and turned to face Pallu. "Take it easy on me, Pallu. I haven't done this in a while."

Her sword arched down towards him playfully, which he blocked easily. "I'll do no such thing. Don't think you can fool me as you have the others. I've seen you go off practicing."

Lu? Came Rumah's tentative voice.

Aye.

Vinit says ta stop playin' 'bout. Then she added in almost a whisper. He seems curious 'bout Yunin.

"We have an audience."

"Do we now."

Pallu hit him with a rapid succession of blows that left many of her opponents staggering away or on the ground. Apparently Yunin was not so easily beaten as he deflected each attempt with uncanny ease.

Her eyes narrowed, not from his besting her. It was his abilities. Where did he learn to fight like that? She had seen him leaving the western woods of Selaras several times in an exhausted sweat. From the speculations of his sister in her letters and the silence of their parents, she knew something was going on. But what?

She, with the thoughts shoved into the back of her mind, pressed him hard. He answered her with calm, too calm, parries and thrust...to force up her guard. After several minutes of sparing, Pallu heard footsteps along the path. Suddenly, her sword and his were pulled from their grasp by unseen hands. Vinit stood face inflamed and swords in hand.

"Master, the servants."

"They already know," he snapped. His sword struck at Yunin so fast that Pallu did not think Vinit could stop the motion or Yunin step out of the way. But stop it did and right against an unflinching Yunin's throat.

"Who or what are you?!"

Yunin glared at him from behind calm features. "Do you make a habit of threatening to slit the throats of those whom you question, Master Painter?"

Pallu was taken back by the mixture of emotions in Vinit's eyes. She was surprised when he lowered his sword.

"I am Yunin of Selaras. I am human."

"Who taught you?"

He looked around the garden and saw Nimshi and Rumah hurrying to them. "I can not say."