Camara: Lady of the Sword - Chapter 8

Chapter 8

The Bard:

Patience, patience, my Lady. The story has some meat left on its bones yet. If you wish to leave now, you may of course, but I shall be finishing this tale tonight even if none stay to hear my voice.

Yes, my Lord. A fresh round would be in order. Pardon? Yes, the swordplay is all but finished. The equally important matters, those of the heart and spirit, remain.

You are correct. Without the sword, there would be no body left to appreciate or understand these matters. Yet, without passion, will, and desire, the sword would forever remain sheathed. The two are opposite ends of the same loaf. Remove either, and you are left with little more than a crust.

To continue, it is a night and a day later ...

The bed was soft, the sheets cool, and the coverlets light and warm. M'Lady relaxed in decadent luxury, alone for the night, feeling completely pampered and spoiled. The king's consort had decided Camara needed some attention, and so dispatched two of her best handmaidens to see to Camara's every need. Those needs, as seen by the servants, included a proper royal bath - with the washing and drying done by them, of course - a proper royal massage, ointments and perfumes, silk and satin bedclothes, and a real brushing of her hair, continuing until it crackled in the air and shone like the finest satin. After six months of living in either a tent or modest inn, that was indulgence like she had almost forgotten existed.

They left only after being assured by Lady Camara that she would do absolutely nothing on her own in the morning. She had to promise to send word to them the moment she felt like stirring from her bed. M'Lady thought that event unlikely until noon, at the earliest, the way her body ached, and with the difficulty she had opening her eyes each time she blinked. Within moments, she was asleep.

Sometime during the night Camara woke suddenly. Something had disturbed her - a noise, maybe a slight shuffling, or perhaps she sensed a presence. With long-learned skill, she went directly from sleep to fully alert without moving, changing her breathing, or even blinking. Slowly she cracked open her eyes to survey the room.

Just beyond the foot of the bed stood a child, dirt covering her from head to toe, wearing little more than rags. The girl was thin, almost emaciated, with large brown eyes, a small nose, and a wide, full-lipped mouth. Her hair, where you could tell its natural colour from the dirt and grease, also looked to be a dark, rich shade of brown. The intruder was watching M'Lady's eyes, and smiled when they opened.

Camara sat up, eying the small child carefully. A knife, concealed under her pillow, was at hand, as always. Moving gracefully, the dirty waif sat upon the end of the bed, pulling her knees up under her chin and wrapping her arms around her legs. She smiled again.

"You do not recognize us."

As soon as she heard that voice, the tone used, the word 'us', it was as though she were transported back in time and across endless leagues to another dreamscape. Her memory of that other night was once again vivid and clear. It was also apparent to her that something was very strange. Even though the room Camara fell asleep in faced north, and no sun or moon should ever have been visible from its window, the girl was softly illuminated by moonlight.

"I think I do now."

"Yes, we see that. You are not nervous? Not afraid?"

"Why should I be? I've remained true to myself, and to my vows. Should I feel fear or apprehension?"

The young girl laughed, a clear and sparkling sound washing through the room like a spring shower.

"You do not fear us. Nor should you. We have watched you, and we are satisfied. You have done well. With the dispersal of that fallen avatar, you have saved one who is special to us, even though you knew it not. To show our gratitude, we will grant you a boon. Choose your reward. Choose it wisely. Remember who you are, and remember who grants you this favour. Think well on this, for rarely does a mortal earn such a gift."

Camara's thoughts almost instantly turned to the lost portion of her payment, the part which could only have been given by Patteron. New magic for her rings.

"Yes, that we could do easily. But so could many mortals. If you would be happy with such a small thing, we would do it."

Suddenly, other thoughts ran through her mind. She was being granted a boon from a *GOD* ... *HER* god. With trembling limbs and whirling, disjointed pieces of half-dreams tumbling through her head, she sank back against her pillows. After several minutes and some deep breathing, she was again mostly calm.

"You can grant me anything I wish?"

"No. Some things we will not do, and some things we cannot. We see in your heart most of what you could ask for. We cannot mend that which has been broken, so do not ask it of us. We could remold what is left, but the result would not be what you remember."

"And the rest?"

"The longer gone, the more difficult, and the harder to recover all that is lost. Going back to where your first thoughts flew, you could never be happy with the outcome. Too much is gone, too much has changed."

Camara thought hard for a few moments, then spoke. "I've made my choice."

"Interesting." The young girl looked pensive for a moment, then smiled broadly. "So be it. You may get more than you asked for, or less. Remember, some things have been lost, and others may be confused. You must now live with your choice. Sleep, Camara. Sleep. And dream. Dream. Dream of us, and of another. Another. Sleep."

The child's voice faded into nothingness, as did the room and all it contained. Only echoes of the god's last words remained for a time.

M'Lady's last feelings, before returning to her slumber, were of apprehension and fear. Not of Escalia, but of what her choice would bring. She shivered, though the bed was still warm.

---

Once again Camara woke suddenly, this time very early in the morning. There was a person in bed with her. "How!?" was her immediate thought. Then she remembered her dream. A glance, a touch, a breath, was all that she needed to confirm the impossible. The young woman opened her eyes at that touch, and Camara saw emptiness in them. It was as if nothing lived inside. Slowly, as M'Lady watched, some slight intelligence, a tiny spark of life, appeared from nowhere and grew before her eyes. Soon the eyes were almost as bright and full of promise as she remembered. Almost.

"I ... know you" the woman whispered. Camara smiled, an inane thought running through her head. The woman was naked, lying under the covers with M'Lady, and she was just exclaiming that she thought she knew who it was she was sleeping with.

"I remember you now. I know you. Lady ... M'Lady ... oh, I'm so confused. I remember something, something incredible, but, it, it's slipping away now. I can't hold it, such beauty slipping away, away from me ..." The blonde woman began to cry, deep heart wrenching sobs of anguish for that which she no longer could remember, but knew she'd lost. With practiced ease, Camara brought the woman into her arms and held her close. The feel of her body, the scent of her hair, the sound of her voice, were all so familiar, so wonderfully fresh, M'Lady also began to weep. All the promises she'd made to herself, all the discipline, all the resolve, melted away with that embrace. They cried together for a time, before one, then the other, stopped.

"I remember you, Camara. I remember your eyes. I remember your lips. I remember your smile and your touch. I remember us." The blonde leaned over and began to kiss M'Lady, gently and chastely at first, then with increasing passion. All the heat and desire was returned tenfold, enflamed by the love Camara still held for the beautiful young maiden.

It was with groaning reluctance that Camara pulled away from that kiss, and out of their embrace.

"You don't ... care for me, anymore?" The fear and the tears buried within her voice, as well as her words, nearly drove M'Lady to sobbing again.

"Always. I will always hold you dear in my heart. Closer than you can ever know. No, there is another."

"You have another ... lover?" That fear and confusion was still there. It was with care Camara chose her next words.

"There have been others since ... us. There has only been one for you, though. You will know him again, soon. I will send for him." A look of, well, almost terror swept through the blonde woman's face at the thought of being alone.

"No, please, don't leave me! I'm afraid! I'm ..."

"Hush, hush. I won't leave you. I'll send someone else. You wait here, and I'll be just over there by the door. I won't even leave the room. Okay?"

"I ... yes," she almost whispered.

M'Lady opened the door and spotted a young noble, a son of someone-or-other, doing his time in the castle. She called to him, and the blush he had on his face when he turned told her he'd been up to something naughty.

"You. Do you know of Sir William at all?" After a brief stammer, then a head nod from the lad, she continued. "Good. Go and fetch him here. Now. It's a matter of utmost importance. I need him, and no other."

"I ... But, he's a knight! And a captain! He'll have me whipped if I disturb him! Especially when he's with ..." The youth's voice trailed off, unsure of whether he'd revealed something he shouldn't have.

"Right now, I don't care if he's with Aphrodite herself. Tell him that I, that Camara, needs him here *now*, and no excuses! He'll listen. If you have him back here in less than ten minutes, there's a gold piece in it for you."

The youngster's eyes lit up. First, he was standing in front of the hero of the day, Lady Camara, and second, despite the fact that his family was considered rich, a gold piece was more ready cash than he personally saw during the course of a month. The lad took off like an arrow. Just within her time limit he was back, with Sir William in tow. During that time, M'Lady had dressed and given her bedclothes to the other woman to wear. She donned them, despite the nearly foot difference in their heights, simply because something was better than nothing. Camara met the two in the hall.

"William, tip the lad a gold piece." Despite a rather questioning stare, he did so, and the son-of-whomever left quickly, before anyone changed their minds. Sir William's dark and handsome face was lined with worry and apprehension, wondering what type of trouble he would be expected to deal with this time. They were both out in the hall, with the door to her room closed. M'Lady had convinced the other woman that this was necessary without explaining why it was so.

"Relax, Sir William. There is no emergency, such as you are probably expecting. No, this is something altogether different. There is someone in my room right now I want you to meet. Someone you know. She may or may not remember you at first. Do not question anything, regardless of how you might wish to do so; simply accept that it is real. And it is real. Can you do this?"

"M'Lady, you have asked much of me in the past seasons, yet always I have gained from my trust and faith. I will do as you ask. Might I know the name of this person I am to meet?"

"Come inside. You will know her name."

Once they stepped within the room, Sir William stopped dead. The woman's face was fully illuminated by the lamps M'Lady had lit, and she was staring rather curiously, without recognition, at this large, imposing knight standing thunderstruck just inside the doorway.

He spoke a name. With that one word, the warrior, veteran of a dozen campaigns, a man who had stood unflinchingly against assassin and soldier, Amazon and harpy, a man who faced blood, gore, and death regularly with little trepidation, fainted.

When he came to, he was lying in bed. His armour, weapons, and boots had been stripped off. Sitting on one side was Camara. Sitting on the other was ... the woman he had lost. The love of his life. Briana. Returned from the dead.

"I ... I think I know you," she said. One finger was tracing its way around his face, lightly touching him, following the curve of his jaw, the arch of his brow, the softness of his lips, feeling the stiff bristles of his beard and moustache. "You called me Briana. Is that who I am?"

Sir William sent a wondrous and questioning glance at M'Lady, who simply nodded, letting him know that, impossible as it seemed, strange as things were, it was real. He closed his eyes for a second, took a deep breath, and visibly relaxed.

"Yes, Briana is who I know you as. Do you not know me?"

"You are ... familiar. I know your face, and your voice. My hand knows you as well, as though it has traced these features many times before. Somehow, I am, well, comfortable with you. Though my thoughts tell me I should be afraid of having such an imposing fighter in bed with me." A half-smile formed on her face with those words. A full smile broke across his. He reached up to touch her face as well, but stopped when she pulled back slightly, startled by his movement. When she saw him hold up, and realized he meant no harm, she moved forward again, allowing his fingers to touch, to caress, bringing to him the reality of what his eyes saw. A look of absolute wonder overtook him at the first contact.

"Yes, I think I know you. Your touch is familiar as well. It ... there is so much confusion in my mind. But I remember you as ... a friend? I don't know. Someone I trust, someone safe, that much I recall. Is that right?"

"Briana, always I will be your friend. When you remember more, I will say that which I hold in my heart." Tears ran down his cheeks, tears which Briana stroked away with her fingers.

Camara got up to leave at that point. Sir William started to say something, but she cut him off with a gesture.

"Talk with me about this tomorrow. Or the next day. I'm not sure when I'll be sober again. Just accept, for now. Good day, Sir William. Good day, Briana. We will speak again, later, about what was." With that, she left them, giving them the privacy and time they needed to find one another again.

With a pained heart and tears in her eyes she went to search out the castle's taproom. The tiredness of her body and ache of her bruises and wounds were nothing compared to the heaviness in her chest. The pain of an unrequited love could only be dulled by time, or by a heavy dose of spirits. To have Briana back after suffering her loss, and then having to give her up to another again, was doubly hurtful. For a few moments, when she first saw her old lover, and learned of her confusion and her desire, M'Lady thought of keeping the woman all to herself, of fleeing with her, or maybe making love with her once more. Deep inside, though, she knew she could not perform such a deed. Hence, her search for surcease.

Even that early in the morning, the castle's kitchens were busy. Cooks and sculleries, helpers, and the odd servant made for a crowded and noisy atmosphere. M'Lady was hard pressed to stop one long enough to get directions to the taproom.

As one servant girl passed, Camara heard the words "We approve," pitched so none but she could hear. Turning, she could not see who had actually spoken. After a few seconds of staring, M'Lady was ready to dismiss it as her imagination, a result of the surprise and shock she was experiencing. Only, just as she was convincing herself that it never truly happened, someone said the words "Remember hope" in her ear, from behind. Spinning quickly, she saw several servants who could have been close enough to say something. None were paying any attention to her, other than the usual curious glances, and none looked at all familiar.

For some reason, she changed her mind about the taproom. Instead, her feet took her from the castle. All that day she walked the streets of Saldar City, stopping at an inn for breakfast, picking up tidbits in a marketplace for lunch, and going back to the castle only when it was time for dinner. All the while, she simply watched the people and absorbed their energy, their laughter, and the life apparent in them all. It was a minor catharsis for her, a way of letting go the pain, of trying to allow the joy of others to fill the void that had formed deep inside.

When she returned, Sir William and Briana were still sitting in M'Lady's room, talking quietly. They both smiled at her when she entered. Showing a grin she didn't feel, she gave them both a hello, then turned and left. A servant found her and asked her to go to the dining hall.

When she arrived, the place was in an uproar. Apparently, her disappearance had caused quite a stir. News of Briana's return was being kept secret, at least for the time being. Only those present in that room knew. They included Lord Verran, who was beside himself with both worry and curiosity, the two handmaidens, who had inadvertently walked in on the lovers (they were upset with her for not telling them she was going out), and King Merovance himself, who was very much concerned for her safety.

Lady Camara's explanations lasted well into the night.

---