Coming Home a Blademaster (Attn Kynwric)

[U4ea]

Edana kept the blade wrapped up as they entered the Tower grounds. It stayed wrapped up as she took care of her horse and carried her pack back to her room in the Yard. She closed the door behind her and laid it on the bed, unpacking her supplies and putting all of her things away and fighting looking at it. She pulled off clothes that reeked of a long journey and wrapped herself in a loose robe. She took a deep breath and eyed the bundle on her bed for a moment before heading down the hallway, barefoot, to the showers. 

 

A few minutes later, she stood on the outside of her door, a towel drying her hair as she debated going back inside her room. All of her dreams about her own bed were useless, now that the blade was laying on it. She'd have to deal with that and soon. She doubted Kynwric would let her pretend she didn't have it. The whole fight teased her like a dream, though the fresh stitches pulling on her skin went a long way towards reminding her that it was no dream. Cursing herself for being a ninny, she pushed her door open and dressed, then moved the still-wrapped blade to her side table and laid down. Sleep was illusive for a long while until exhaustion finally claimed her and she happily gave in to the blessed peace of sleep. 

 

**********************************

Being away afforded her some luxuries as she returned and the Captain granted her a few days without duty on the Wall. She hadn't told him about the blade. Sitting around her room looking at the bundle was driving her crazy, however, and she escaped with a book, finding a quiet place to try to think about something other than the hunk of steel that would change her life. That wasn't going to be good enough, though, and she knew it the second the scared recruit found her hiding under a tree on the far side of the Yard. 

 

"Master Kilrin wants to see you," the boy stammered out and Edana sighed. 

 

"I'll be along," Edana pretended to go back to her book, just to watch the boy squirm. 

 

"He said immediately and not to take your flippancy as an excuse," he paled as Edana looked up at him, her eyes narrowed. "His words, I swear!" 

 

Edana pushed herself to her feet, dropping the book behind her. "Very well, let's see what's got Kilrin's knickers in a twist this time, shall we?" 

 

The first thing she saw when she entered the room was the sword she'd been avoiding laying across Kilrin's desk, the wrapping laid open. Her face fell and she looked up at him. The recruit next to her scampered away and closed the door behind him, leaving her in the room with the Master at Arms and... she looked to her left and there stood Kynwric, not looking any happier to be there than she was. She closed her eyes and looked back at Kilrin, stiffening her shoulders. "You sent for me, Kilrin?" 

 

~Edana

[U4ea]

Kilrin steepled his fingers, bracing his elbows on his desk. Laying before him was a gorgeous hand and a half, well crafted and wonderfully wrought. The hilt was wrapped in red leather so supple it made goosebumps raise up your arms to hold it. The fuller creased the blade nearly to the tip, but started lower than most any other sword he'd seen. Between the cross guard and the fuller, however, was the thing he'd not thought to see on a sword in Edana's room for some time, yet. She was good, that much was plain, considering the fact that she was still alive. However, good enough for a heron-marked blade? 

 

A knock sounded on the door and it opened nearly before he could call for the visitor to enter.  "Kynwric," he acknowledged respectfully. "I apologize for calling you, but I need to know how this came to be in Edana's possession. Since she was with you and your Aes Sedai, perhaps you could shed some light... "

 

Another knock sounded on the door and he stopped, mid-sentence. The recruit he'd sent after Edana pushed the door open and left as soon as Kilrin nodded in his direction, closing the door quickly as if he feared Edana would bolt. He obviously didn't know Edana. She never ran away from anything. Which brought them to this.

 

You sent for me, Kilrin? came her stiff question and Kilrin took a deep breath before he let her bait him. She was always trying to rile him up and she wasn't going to succeed today. 

 

"Indeed. The maids entered your quarters for cleaning this morning and thought this bundle to be laundry from your trip. They found this, instead. Perhaps you could shed some light on this?" He nodded towards the sword on the table in front of him, but kept his eyes on her. 

 

~Kilrin

NPC, MaA

[_Kynwric_]

Kynwric was having a long day already, having a trainee show up at Loraine's chamber door was not what he wanted, and even less so when it was a summons to Kilrin's office. He didn't really pause to knock so much as knock at the door and push it open in one fell swoop, he'd never had much of a respect for the office of Master at Arms, one which took a dangerous swordsman and turned him into a clerk. When he entered he saw the bundle laying on the desk, unwrapped and showing the heron marked sword Edana had won, and at the question shrugged. He was about to asnewr Kilrin's question, but the knock that he assumed was Edana, and turned out to be true, sounded on the door. Kynwric moved to one side behind the door and waited. When Kilrin asked Edana the same question, Kynwric thoght to interject but held back. She was a blademaster in her own right, she could handle this confrontation. Of course, if Kilrin pushed things, Kynwric could always intercede. But, for now, he was content to let Edana answer first and see what she had to say. 

[U4ea]

Edana stiffened her spine. "Does it bother you to think I earned it, Kilrin?" Edana set aside the fact that it bothered her and focused on irritating the Master at Arms. "We had to fight our way out and I nearly died fighting off the man who owned that sword before me to get a new Novice to the Tower. I did kill him, however, and now the sword is mine." 

 

Keep it simple, no embellishments. No reason to get into detail with this man. She'd fought a Blade Master and won. WON! Standing in front of that sword, now, defending her right to hold it, the weight of that settled on her shoulders. I did kill him, she whispered to herself. His expression looked disbelieving and he cast a glance at Kynwric. 

 

Rage is a strange thing. She'd fought her way through training with her brothers, fought her way to the top of the Queen's guard, fought her way through training, fought her way... EVERYWHERE, EVERY DAY! And now? She was going to have to fight to get respected for the fight she'd already fought! She stepped forward and curled her hand around the hilt of the sword, picking it up. "Do you distrust my word so much? Do you truly believe I stole it? Is that why you call in for verification?" 

 

"If you earned it, why were you hiding it?" Kilrin snapped, standing up and leaning over the desk. "If you truly killed a Blade Master, why aren't you bragging like the loud mouthed hot shot you are?"

 

Edana snarled and leaned towards him. "Because he died a noble death and I'm not going to cheapen it by bragging about it. Perhaps I wasn't hiding it!? Perhaps I was giving the man the respect he deserves?" 

 

"You want me to believe that you, Edana Keller, loudest, most irritating guard to ever walk into this Yard, not only fought a Blade Master, but won? You can't even clean a latrine properly!" Kilrin was reaching for the blade, now and Edana nearly lost control of herself. Her grip tightened on the hilt and she twisted it out of his reach. 

 

"You want this blade, Kilrin, you're going to have to kill me to get it." Her voice dropped, the threat clear. 

 

~Edana

[_Kynwric_]

Kynwric stepped forward then, putting his hand on the blade and pushing the point down, away from Kilrin, he then set himself between the Master at Arms and Edana, and spoke softly and clear. "Kilrin, you've been nothing but a bully and clerk for far too long, you seem to have forgotten what it is like to stand in front of your foes and face the blade of someone your equal." The threat was intended and there for him to answer or not, "This is my word, and I swear it on my bond and marriage,  Edana Keller slew in single combat the man who bore that sword against her, who made claim the title of Blademaster, and showed the skill worthy of the claim. In my estimation she has earned the sword, earned the title, and earned the respect given to those who wear it." His hand had moved from the blade of Edana's sword, to the hilt of his own. "A loud mouth and inability to clean do not make a swordsman, just as a quiet mouth and swift rag do not, either." Kynwric took a step back, clearing space should he need it, as he expected Kilrin to not leave his slight unmet. 

[U4ea]

Kilrin growled at Kynwric, "You're defending her? Blade or not she's trouble! Always has been! That blade in her hand is just going to amplify that!" He glared at Edana, who hadn't stepped back as much as arranged herself to get set for a fight. "She doesn't need to be raised up, she needs to be taken down a few pegs!"

 

"And if you're not going to do it..." he launched himself at Edana, pulling a sword from the scabbard at his hip in a swift Unfolding the Fan, and swinging it low towards her hip.

[_Kynwric_]

Kynwric whipped his sword from it's scabbard in The Moon Rises Over the Lakes, and neatly and quickly flowed into Cutting the Clouds, he doubted he would score a hit but it would halt the advance of the Master at Arms. He then settled back into his defensive posture, waiting on the other man to attempt to get past him. Without turning his head away he told Edana, "Get out." He then glared at Kilrin, "attacking Guardsmen now is it? I knew you for a bully years ago, but I never thought you'd stoop so low as this." He backed away, towards the door of the office, having heard Edana move through it moments before. "You lack the poise of that office, it has never suited you." Kyn knew he was baiting Kilrin into a further attack, but he didn't want the man to regain his composure, bully or not, he was still and effective swordsman and any advantage he could keep, Kyn would want. 

[U4ea]

Edana glared at Kynwric, but didn't question him as she backed out the door. She left it open, as far as it would go to keep it from being an obstacle for Kynwric. She didn't run, though. She didn't leave, either. Instead, she gained space and set herself just in case it happened to be Kilrin coming out the door after her. She was through with his bullying and desperately wanted to take a swing at him, herself. She'd been avoiding it for far longer than she should've had to. 

 

****************************

Kilrin roared in anger, meeting Kynwric's blade and watching Edana leave the office. "Cowards don't carry Heron-marked blades, Warder," Kilrin spat at Kynwric, squaring up against him. "It takes a fool to defend a coward, too. Is that what you've become, now, Kynwric? Your little Green's fool?" 

 

He didn't care much for the man to begin with, having sold out to that little tart from Cairhien long before she'd bonded him. "Are you going to follow Edana around like a lapdog, now? Did she have to bed you to get that kind of loyalty, too?" He launched himself at Kynwric, his sword slashing in bastardized forms that changed mid-swing. His left arm swung wide for balance as he lunged for the man, some unseen need to prove himself worthy after all his years of sitting at that desk urging him on. He backed Kynwric to the door, the man only throwing defensive blocks with his sword. "And not enough of a man to fight me, either?"  He powered through his shots, years of training and teaching, working on arm strength and shot accuracy taking over as he hammered down on Kynwric's blade, trying to weaken the defense to score a shot.

[_Kynwric_]

"Edana didn't have to bed me, she earned my trust the old-fashioned way, by being loyal and steadfast, something you know nothing about Kilrin." He left he coward comment alone for the moment, he knew his fight, he knew how to be patient, to stand against the storm, and still be standing when the sun came out again. "If you think me a fool Kilrin, come and prove it." He carefully backed his way out of the office and into the yard. Keeping his sword between Kilrin's and his own skin. When he felt the heat of the sun on his back, he threw a short flurry of attacks to give him a little space to exit and reset securely.  His voice raised for all in the yard to hear, "it's no wonder any one with a shawl left good distance between them and you, Kilrin. Look at you, you've the grace and posture of a banker, not a guardsman. How many times have those pants been let out?" He knew a fight between them would draw a crowd, he wondered how long it would take to get back to his wife that he'd picked a fight with the Master at Arms. "As for being a coward, I've stood on the blight against the shadow, I've stood in Amador against the Children, I've stood against whatever my Aes Sedai has required of me Kilrin, all while you sulked in an office. But I have never, ever, once in all my life struck out in anger at a subordinate, like you did today." They were fully out in the yard now, in the sun, and Kynwric moved to take advantage of his advantages. He closed the distance between Kilrin and himself, stalking the man at the edge of their ranges and waiting for the opportune moment to strike. 

 

When the moment came he didn't pause, The Courtier Taps his Fan led to Cat on Hot Sand, and countered Kilrin's own Hummingbird Kisses the Honey Rose, Ribbon in the Air was countered by Stones Falling from a Cliff by Kilrin, and so on and so on until both men were breathing hard and sweating from the exertion. "You are a disgrace Kilrin, and the only reason you are still here is because you are good with a sword." 

[U4ea]

Kilrin staggered to his knees, his eyes focusing on the crowd that had gathered around them. The expressions on the faces of the trainees and Guardsmen standing around began to crack the rage filled haze he'd been fighting through and he lowered his sword to the dirt. "Aye," Kilrin said, throwing his sword on the ground. "Not good enough, though." 

 

He snorted and pushed himself to his feet. "Report to the Captain at dawn," he said, his voice sharp and sour. "Blade Master," he spat blood filled spittle at Edana's feet and stormed back into his office, slamming the door behind him, leaving his sword in the dirt of the Yard.

 

******************

Edana felt his words like a slap in the face and the whispers started around her. She closed her eyes and breathed, looking down at the blade in her hand as if it were a viper. She didn't relax until his door was closed, however, and only then approached Kynwric. "You didn't have to do that," she said softly as the crowd dispersed. "I appreciate it, though." 

~Edana

[_Kynwric_]

"Aye, I did." Kynwric said, sheathing his sword and taking a deep breath to help clear the adrenaline from his system. "He questioned your word, and by extension hers." Kyn said, knowing Loriane had filed a report when thy returned, he sheathed his sword and let his eyes drift up and across a balcony to where Loraine stood watching, then he returned his gaze to Edana. "Too many insults, too many times. I'll stand for a lot, Edana, but no one insults my wife unchecked."

[U4ea]

Edana nodded, following his eyes to the woman watching from a balcony overhead. "No one insults her in my presence, either. I don't have very high opinions of Aes Sedai, it's why I don't have one. They seem to always turn on you, in the end, sacrificing your livelihood on the altar of their agendas. I decided long ago to never let own get that close to me. Seeing the two of you is the only thing that has made me question that decision." She lifted the corner of her lip in a half-hearted smirk. "The fact that you married her will tell you why even that question was pushed to the side. If i'm not getting bonded by one, I'm sure as the Dark One is ugly not going to marry one!" 

 

She looked down at the sword on the ground and sighed. "He's going to have a mess to clean up," she observed. "He won't step down, he's too stubborn for that." 

 

~Edana

[_Kynwric_]

"Being bonded is much harder than being married. Although, the inability to lie may have something to do with marriage being simpler." Kynwric mused in reply. "His mess is his to clean up, it comes with the clerk's job... and yes, I know he's too stubborn to step aside. But he's been shown for a bully, and we'll see if that changes his perspective. If he held his temper in check, he is a bette swordsman than I am, always has been... but that temper has always failed him when it mattered." 

[U4ea]

Edana nodded and her gaze moved to the blade in her hand. "I feel like an imposter," she said softly. He was just about the only person to whom she would ever confess that. "In my head, I know I beat him. I have replayed every swing of the sword over and over and I won, fair and square. Then I remember my brothers when I earned my rank with the Queen's Guard in Camelyn and I start to question it all over again. Does that ever go away?" She lifted her eyes to Kynwric again, almost afraid of the answer. Please tell me the day will come when I don't question myself all the time, please...

 

~Edana

[_Kynwric_]

"You earned yours cleaner than I earned mine, and no, there isn't a day that goes by that I don't question whether I am good enough. But... I am still here, and that doubt keeps me from becoming complacent, that and the knowledge that it is more than just my life that hangs in the balance when I draw my sword." He paused, "And there is no fair and square in a real fight, you won or you're dead. Since you're still here, you won. You earned that Heron. Wear it. Be proud of it... but not too proud, for someone wore it before you and they're dead now. Thanks to you."

[U4ea]

Edana blinked at that. Light, she'd killed him. It was far from the first time she'd killed something, not even the first time she'd killed another person! It was the first time it had been a straight fight between she and them, though. She felt a little sick at the thought. She distracted herself, but the direction wasn't much better. Someone was going to take it from her, someday. The only way to do that was to kill her. "It's never over," she said softly, the realization settling on her shoulders. "Aye," she said. "I don't know about pride, but the responsibility is mine, now."

 

She watched the last of the crowd disperse, leaving them alone in the middle of the Yard. "I expect your wife will want an explanation, Master Kynwric. I should probably lay low for a while. I hear there's a good inn with great mead on the south end of Tar Valon, these days. It may well be time for me to investigate it properly." She dipped a bow and tried to smile. "Always a pleasure, my friend." 

 

~Edana

[_Kynwric_]

"Investigate it with prudence Edana, you're marked forever now... and someone will want that blade." He gave a nod, "And for as long as you walk in the light, I will remain your friend."

 

When Edana turned to leave Kynwric turned the other direction, to make his way into the dread White Tower and answer his wife's questions about what had happened. She'd likely disapprove, but that was what wives were for, and he had been rash... of a sort.

Edited May 18, 2017 by _Kynwric_