10

Saya was woken up at noon, by the barman knocking on her door.

"Saya, are you up yet?"

"Yeah, I am." She tried to sound more awake than she actually was. "Thanks."

Her head was pounding and it took a while before she remembered why she was laying on the floor of the room, but soon enough the entire night came flooding back. She quietly cursed at herself as she struggled to stand up and got into some clean clothes. When she was ready, she went downstairs.

The Bron had seen her coming and pointed at the barstool at the right side of the bar, where a warm lunch was already waiting for her. She said down, holding her head in her hands.

"Headache?" the man asked when he noticed what she was doing.

Saya, unable to find the energy to say anything, nodded at him.

"You can't fight with a headache, should I get you something for it?"

Saya shook her head, and took a breath, gathering the courage to talk.

"I, eehm, I don't think I'm fighting today," She said.

"It's that bad, huh?"

"No, no it's not that. I just. Wynn-"

But he cut her off. "You're not scared of her, are you? No, you're not. So of course you are fighting today. Here, let me just…"

The man disappeared through the door behind him and came back with a little glass bottle in his hand. It held a green liquid that had some herbs and leaves floating around inside.

"Saya, this is the best herbal remedy for headaches, made by the best herbalist in town. Maybe you know her? She's quite old, absolutely loves watching the fights."

Saya thought back to the conversation with the elderly woman a few days back. Could it be her? The same person that had asked her all those questions about the games? The same person that had gotten her to apologise to Wynn?

The man poured a bit of the liquid in a small glass and handed it to her. Saya drank it, and made a decision.

"You know what?" She started. "If this works and my headache disappears in time, I will fight that finale today."

"I can guarantee you that that will be the case."

His promise turned out to be true, and barely half an hour later Saya's pounding headache was gone, like it had never existed in the first place. She was going to keep her promise: she would fight the finale.

When she got to her tent, she had roughly an hour left to get dressed and get all her materials in order. She had just laid out her armour on the table when she heard someone behind the entrance.

"Eehm, Saya, are you in there?" Wynn asked through the door.

Saya's eyes widened. She had almost forgotten about them sharing a tent, again. She turned to the entrance.

"Yeah, I'm here. You can come in, if you want?"

Wynn opened the tent and for a second it was quiet. Saya knew they were both thinking the same thing.

"Do you, eeh, do you mind if I get dressed in here?" Wynn broke the silence. "I could take the other tent too, if you want, but all my things are here and if you don't mind-"

"I don't." Saya stopped her in the middle of her sentence. "I don't mind, if you don't either?"

"I don't mind either."

Without speaking another word, Saya took one corner of the tent and Wynn took the one opposite of her. It was dead quiet while both of them got into their armour. Saya couldn't help but think back to that first evening in the tavern, and to the big entrance Wynn had made. She peeked a quick glance at the girl at the opposite side of the tent, who was quietly getting into her armour. How was it possible that this was the same Wynn as it was then?

Wynn turned her head, and for a second, their eyes met. Wynn looked away the moment she realised what was happening. Saya did the same thing.

Saya was ready to go, and patiently waited for Wynn to be ready too. When she was done, Saya asked,

"The plan is still on, right? Even though, you know, what happened last night?"

"Of course it is." Wynn answered, surprised by the question. "Are you ready for it?"

Saya nodded. "As ready as I'll ever be, I guess."

Wynn's eyes fell on Saya's sword. She placed her own sword on the table and turned around to the sword rack behind her. Saya suddenly noticed the extra sword on the rack. She didn't recognise it as Wynn's, and definitely not as her own.

Wynn took it from the stand and turned around. She cleared her throat before she said,

"I've seen you fight with your sword, and I… well I wanted to give you this. It's new, a lot sharper and probably better balanced than your own."

"Wait, it's for me?" Saya asked surprised. "Why?"

Wynn looked to the ground and Saya thought she could see a slight smile. "Well I do want a worthy opponent in this finale." She said it with a bit more confidence than before. '

Saya laughed. "And you don't think I'm 'worthy' without it?"

"Well of course you are. It was a joke, I just wanted to help, I-"

"Thank you." Saya took the sword in her hands and put her own sword away. Their fingers touched for a second and she cursed at herself in her head for wanting it to last longer.

"Just so you know, I don't need it to defeat you." Saya jokingly said, to break through the awkwardness.

Wynn laughed.

"Don't underestimate me. I might be just my father's pawn, but I am a good one. I did just win three other fights, you know"

"So did I, remember?"

"Damn, I almost forgot. Must be because of how little I care."

They both started laughing. Saya tried her best to push all her feelings to the side, but it felt nearly impossible. Friends, she told herself. Just friends is good enough.

They were called from the tent, and together they walked towards the arena. While Saya was still battling her feelings in her mind, Wynn didn't notice a thing, and seemed strangely cheerful.

When they were almost at the point where they would split up to go to opposite sides of the arena, the last thing that Saya expected to happen, happened.

Suddenly, she noticed that their fingers were touching. Her hand, peacefully dangling by her side, was touching Wynn's fingers, and then without a warning, without as much as looking up, Wynn took her hand in her own. Saya looked down at their hands, then up at Wynn's face, who acted like nothing was happening. Saya's eyes were huge and her whole body was suddenly tensed up. What was this? What did this girl want from her?

She was almost relieved when they went opposite ways. Wynn let her hand go and turned to the left without saying a word. Saya stopped walking and looked after her, as she grabbed and held her own hand tightly. This wasn't just a weird dream, was it?

She turned to the right and walked the last bit to the arena alone.