"He claims he can use one. A little blood will remind him not to be so cocky." she said, handing me one of the swords.

As I gripped the handle all of my old training came into place again.

Katy stepped back from me as she saw the change in my demeanor.

I stood taller and more confidently. I knew I could do this. And I knew why I wanted to do this, even if Katy didn't.

Mrs. Hoffmann drew her blade as I drew mine.

We stared at each other for a moment and then as swift as a striking cobra she swung. Without any conscious thought I blocked her and then parried, swinging the blade in a reverse action that caught her across the arm, cutting the fabric of her fencing jacket.

I turned and faced her and saw the anger in her build.

I stepped back and bowed to her in respect.

She paused, returned the bow and took up her position again.

This time I took the offensive and feinted to her left.

She disregarded my feint and drove towards me, forcing me to turn and block. Her blade slipped by me as I turned and then she swung backwards and I fell back to avoid being slashed across the stomach.

I could sense her. All of the training of my Kendo master flowed back into me, a renewal of myself.

I saw Katy out of the corner of my eye as she watched the two of us.

A quick motion and the flash of the blade was blocked by mine with a ringing of steel.

"Should I do my Ben Kenobi imitation now?" I said, bowing again." Or would you like to do your Darth Vader?"

Mrs. Hoffmann raised her mask and I saw her smile. It was the smile of a wolf about to devour a rabbit.

"Your powers are weak old man. You should not have come back." she said, lowering the mask.

"You mean I shouldn't have challenged you? Who else did you tell I was in the sauna?" I said holding my blade at the ready.

Her response was to slash forward with her blade as I ducked and tripped her to the floor, kicking the blade from her hand.

Katy pounced on her and pinned her down as I got to my feet.

"Did you have anything to do with the incident in the sauna?" she demanded.

"No! I was talking with one of the guests about the facilities and mentioned the saunas. I did warn her that he was in one, so she wouldn't be startled."

"Who?"

She shook her head.

"I don't know her. She's a new guest. I haven't seen her before."

Katy climbed off Mrs. Hoffmann and I helped her to her feet, then helped Mrs. Hoffmann up.

I handed her the katana, and held my palm up.

"Blood for your steel." I offered.

She raised her mask and drew the blade gently across my palm drawing a trickle of blood. Wiping the blade, she offered her hand to me for the same ritual drawing of blood.

I drew the blood from her, wiped my blade clean then bowed in respect to her.

She returned the bow and then we shook hands.

"You did have a good instructor. I enjoyed the challenge. You were very focused on things."

"I think so. The first time I caught him with a reversed blade he stopped, bowed, and than proceeded to treat me with more respect as a student." I said.

Katy apologized for her anger and Mrs. Hoffmann just smiled.

"Katy, it's nice to see you caring about someone that way. He can take care of himself in more ways than one." she said.

"She's just a bit overprotective after what happened. If something happened to a guest and word got out, it could really be a problem for the Spa." I explained.

"Yes, dead bodies do have a tendency to draw attention. I get the impression that you aren't the most popular person around here." she said lightly.

"You've noticed?" I said cheerfully.



Katy pulled me away before I could get myself in any deeper and we walked out.

She waited until we were away from the main building before she exploded at me.

"On your knees SLAVE!" she snapped.

I dropped and waited head down for my punishment.

"You took a chance doing that. I told you not to and you disobeyed me." she continued.

"Yes Miss Katy. But I had to." I said.

"Why did you have to? Was it a case of macho insanity I witnessed?"

"Miss Katy, I needed to prove to myself that my time with Ay'esha hadn't destroyed the person inside me. That I still had the fire inside."

She said nothing and I waited for the other shoe to drop. I had disobeyed a direct order from the superior present.

"Get up." she said, led me to the pool and hip checked me in.



I spluttered my way to the surface in anger.

"What was that for?" I asked.

"You needed to cool off. A fire inside is good. Letting it escape is not."

Her smile cooled my anger and I laughed.

"Yes Miss Katy. Noted and logged." I called.



She was right. I was trying to be super slave. Not just be a good slave, but to be the ultimate slave.

Moderation, is what Minx and Dr. Ruth had tried to instill in my mind and I still hadn't learned.

"Why are you laughing?" she asked reaching out to help me out of the pool.

I pulled her into the pool with me with a tremendous splash.

"Because I just remembered something funny!" I said as she came to the surface.

"What are you doing?" she laughed.

"I am remembering a lesson that Minx and Mei Ling taught me. I am a good slave, not the greatest, but a good one." I said.

"So?" she said.

"So I should concentrate on being a good one."

"You are the strangest man I've ever met." she said.

"I'm cute though."



We were walking down the beach wet, dumb and happy when I heard a cry for help from the water. In the lights from the restaurant patio I could see a figure in the water waving it's arms.

Katy ran for the water after telling me to run for help. I ran up to the patio and grabbed a phone and dialed Neils' room.

"Neils, this is Charles. We've got someone in the water at the beach in trouble. Katy's gone in after them."

"Get back to the beach, I'm coming!" he said.

I ran back down to the beach in time to see the Katy reach the figure and then disappear into the crest of a wave.

I waited for them to reappear. Seconds passed as I stood there watching, then two figures broke the surface for a moment and disappeared again into another wave.

They were getting farther out with each wave and the waving was becoming weaker. I couldn't tell who was who any more.

I shifted from foot to foot nervously. Where the fuck was Neils?

I saw lights coming up the beach and heard a truck engine.

I couldn't wait any longer and ran into the water towards the struggle. I swam as hard as I could towards the figures and saw in the reflected light that one of them was Amanda.

She had her arms wrapped around Katy and kept pulling her down into the water, as she struggled to break the hold.

I pulled at Amanda's arms when she came to the surface again and she released Katy and grabbed me.

"Gotcha." she said and then pulled me to the bottom.

We must have been in about ten feet of water but it felt like ten miles worth as I tried to swim to the surface again.

I regained the surface and saw Katy swimming towards me again and on the beach I saw lights pointed towards us.

"I'm trying to help you." I gasped.

"I'm not." she hissed and pulled me down again.

I went limp in her arms and my ears popped as she took me deeper into the water. I fought back the panic as my childhood accident bloomed in my mind.

I was at the lake in the small town in the mountains I lived in. My sister was supposed to be watching me, but I'd slipped away on my own and waded into the water. A few feet into the lake I dropped into a hole and sank to the bottom.