Editing Tears of a Fallen Crown:Characters:Mirage:History (section)

==Chapter 5:  Home Again==


Samira couldn’t understand why they had to take the others from the caravan back.  Half of the group had already been turned into practically shells, while the others were still so confused and hurt that they probably wouldn’t survive the journey.  She rolled her eyes to herself as she loaded them into the back of the cart and sighed to Caleb, “Why are we doing this again?”


“Because,” he said gently, as one would speak to a child, “It’s the right thing to do.  Besides, we couldn’t just leave them here to become more food for the fey.  They’ll probably have reinforcements here soon, if nothing more than just to check up on the others for not checking in.”  


“Yes.”  She said, coldly, “But didn’t you say yourself that they’d be better off dead?”


He frowned, “Don’t you pity them in the least?  Taking them back is more for their family’s benefit anyway.  Even if they are shells of who they were, their families will be happy to have them back.”  


As Samira spoke to Caleb, the people who sill were unaffected by the fey exchanged concerned glances.  Apparently no one else could see Caleb.  To them, it was as though she was having a conversation with someone who wasn’t there.  Still, they gladly accepted her help into the covered part of the cart (the caged portion, though it was now unlocked), and stayed out of her way.  


On the ride home, Caleb said, giving her a worried glance, “Mira, I don’t suppose you’ve given any thought as to what you’re going to tell your parents.”  


She nearly stopped the cart.  She hadn’t given the subject any thought.  In fact, she could barely remember her family, much less what the inside of her home looked like.  She only just remembered the way back to the village.  She sighed, “I’m open to suggestions, if you have any.”


“Well,” he said, seeming to be thinking hard about it himself, “I think you should tell them the truth.  Your Father isn’t the type of person to turn you in to the Empire even if you are considered a anethema and, maybe they’ll give you some supplies when you leave.”  


She shrugged, “Why should I leave if they’re so considerate.”


“Well, the longer you stay the more people will start to wonder about you.  It doesn’t look like anyone recognized you from the cart, but if you’re hanging around the castle someone will know it’s you – and, someone will probably turn you in.  It might even be your ex-fiancé.  He was always very public about his alliance to the empire, being from one of their noble houses.”


Samira sighed, “This is so hard, not being able to remember anything.  I hope you’re right about my family.  Point them out to me when we get there, okay?”


He nodded.  The rest of the trip was silent.


When they reached the village, their cart was greeted by both celebration and mourning.  The citizens had been able to tell from the watch post that she was bringing everyone back, but it hadn’t sunk in yet how bad off the survivors were.  Most of the families were crying and moaning, and yet some of them actually seemed happy that whatever remained of their children, wives, and husbands, were back.  Even those who didn’t seem happy came up and shook her hand, thanking her profusely.  


No one recognized her.  She had pulled her the hood of her cloak up above her head and continued to look down.  Every now and again someone would catch a glimpse of her teeth or her eyes and shudder, usually backing away with a quick apology and retreating to their homes, probably locking the door.  


As far as they could tell she was some sort of strange bounty-hunter and had done their dirty work by killing the fey.  One of them actually said, “We’ll tell the nobles what ye done.  He’ll pay ye, then ye can go.  Yes, go.”  


Upon hearing “the nobles” Caleb elbowed her in the ribs.  She spoke up quickly before the old man had a chance to leave, trying to disguise her voice by making it sound a little raspy, “I’d like a word with these nobles of yours in private.  If you’re informing them of my deed, inform them of that as well.”


The old man frowned and nodded, but headed towards the keep. 


When he reached her, her father had about the same air of suspicion about him as the townspeople.  He had a bundle of gold with him and, without dismounting from his horse; he threw it at her feet.  “Here.  In thanks of what you’ve done for us, there are two hundred gold pieces in there, if you’ll just leave us in peace.  We don’t want any trouble.  As you can see our town has been through enough.” 


She frowned and said in the same raspy voice, “I appreciate your generosity, but I didn’t do this for gold.  I asked the man who summoned you to tell you I needed a word with you in private.  That is all I’m asking.  And I won’t leave until I get it.”


He gave her a dirty look, but nodded, “Fine.  Come with me to the castle keep.  I hope you won’t mind an armed escort there.”


She shrugged, “As long as we can talk privately when we get there.”


He nodded and she was escorted to the castle keep, followed by about twenty knights and the suspicious whispers of the people.


When they arrived, he dismissed the guards, but kept her brother armed and ready with him, and his wife.  He said, in the same mistrustful tone, “You’ll have to excuse my son, but we have no reason to trust you yet.  Also, since we are all family, if you wanted a word with ‘the nobles’ you’ll have to speak with all of us.  We also have some questions for you about our daughter and a squire of my son’s who wasn’t with you on the cart.”


She smiled, letting her voice return to normal, “Well, perhaps I can answer all of your questions at once.”  With that she threw back the hood of her cloak.  Everyone in the room gasped.  They recognized her but only barely.  They all seemed to want to run forward and hug her, but upon seeing the glowing symbol on her forehead, they shirked away a bit as though thinking better of it.  


Her father was the first to approach her and speak, putting a hand on her shoulder, “Well, I see why you needed to talk to us alone.  So, it seems you’re one of them.  This changes a lot of things.”


She nodded and sighed, “Please, can you tell me what I am?  I know I’m one of the anethema now, but I don’t think this is a symbol of the sun.  So, am I really one of them or am I something else?”


He sighed, “I don’t know.  But whatever you are, you’re still my daughter and I’m glad you’re home.”  He hugged her and the rest of her family did as well.  She felt very awkward, wanting to pull away from them like a stray animal pulling away from its new owner.  They were all crying and kissing her on the face.  Still, she bore it with dignity and finally, when they were finished crying and hugging her, she continued, “So, what should I do now?”


“Well,” her mother said, wiping the tears from her eyes, “I guess you can stay here.  We’ll just pretend we never found you.  You won’t be able to get married, though.”


Her brother shook his head, “No.  We can’t hide her away from the world.  Besides, someone is bound to find out eventually.  Wait…”  Her brother seemed to have an idea, quickly saying, “Sam, what happened to Caleb?”  


She sighed, “Sorry to be the bringer of bad news.  He’s dead.”


The group all gasped.  They had expected that the fey would’ve changed him, but Caleb never seemed to be the type to give up, at least not without a fight.  Her brother groaned miserably but said nothing else.  


She somehow knew what he was going to say and finished the thought for him, “Don’t worry.  He got to tell me what he wanted to before he died.  And, I feel the same way about him.  And, even though he’s dead, he’s still with me right now.”


“That’s sweet.”  Her brother said, but he still looked miserable.  


Samira laughed, “You don’t understand…Caleb, do you have enough energy to show yourself one more time?”


He appeared suddenly in the middle of the room, saying in a tired voice, “Well, maybe one more time.”  


Everyone shrieked in surprise, but then everyone seemed a bit happier.  There was nothing horrific about Caleb’s appearance.  He looked like himself only a bit transparent.  He said, with a slight smile, “I’ll be traveling with Mira from now on.  And, while I can’t very well protect her like this, at least she won’t ever be alone.”


Her father shook his head, “I think I could use a stiff drink.  Oddly enough, though, that does make me feel slightly better.”  He turned to his wife, “I’m sorry, Dear, but she can’t stay with us.  It would be suicide for her to stay.  Even now, the Sidereal probably have sensed something coming from this region.  The sooner she leaves here the better.  But, I don’t know where she should go.”


Samira nodded, “Yes, I know I have to leave.  But I’ll find my own way.  I was hoping maybe you could help me get started.  If you could just give me a horse and some supplies I’d be grateful.”


Her father stiffened, “Anethema or not, my own daughter isn’t leaving her home with nothing but a horse and some supplies.  You’re part of this family and you’ll always be part of this family.  We’ll send you off properly with your inheritance.  And, to keep it a secret, we’ll tell everyone you were killed by the fey and we burned your inheritance as an offering to you.  And, Caleb, we’ll tell your family what became of you as well.”


He nodded, “I appreciate that.  I told you everything would be alright, Mira.”  


She nodded, but said nothing.  


Her mother frowned, “What did happen to you down there, Samira?  You just seem so cold.”


Samira told them the entire story, the entire truth.  She covered everything from the fey torturing them to how she became what she was, not sparing them the details.  She rattled it all off as though she was talking to strangers, but by the end of the story they could understand why.


Her mother had to leave the room, crying loudly and muttering something about helping her pack.  


Her father and brother looked slightly peaked but they listened until the end.  Her father suddenly hit the mantle of the fireplace with such force he nearly splintered the wood, “DAMN THE FEY!  DAMN THEM ALL!”


Her brother put a hand on his shoulder, “Father, its okay.  She’s already avenged Caleb and herself.  At least she’s still…”  He paused glancing at her for a moment, but then quickly added, “Alive.”


He shook his head, “I’m not so sure about that.  I’ve heard stories about a certain type of anethema that have surfaced in the Northeast.  They say they come from the lands of the dead into the world of the living.  They serve the forces of death and destruction and are supposed to be almost as bad as the monsters of the sun.  I think that she might be one of them.


Her brother shook his head, “No.  I can’t believe that.”


“Well, we have to at least accept that it’s a possibility.  What if she is?  If she is, then she doesn’t belong in our world anymore.  She needs to be with others of her own kind.”  He turned to a bookshelf on the wall and started pulling out various map cases and old maps, continuing as he did, “I’ve heard rumors that near the lap, there’s a way to enter the cities of the dead.  Now, the source I heard this from wasn’t very reliable.  He seemed to be a raving lunatic, but then, if you had wandered into the land of the dead, you’d probably seem that way as well.”


Her brother groaned, “Father, you can’t be suggesting that Samira should go there, can you?”


He turned around, and yelled, “DO YOU HAVE A BETTER SUGGESTION?”


Her brother shook his head, silent.


Her father sighed, “Look, I don’t like the idea either, but if she isn’t one of them, she probably won’t be able to find the way there anyway.  And, if she can’t, at least from the lap she should be able to at least find a boat to sail to the West to hide in the islands there.”


Caleb spoke up, “Yes, you’re right!  That’s a great idea.  And, since I am a ghost, maybe I can help her find the place.  And, if I can’t, then the islands to the West should be a safe place to hide out.  The empire probably wouldn’t look for us that far away.”


Samira just nodded.  She didn’t like everyone talking about her like she wasn’t in the room, yet she couldn’t think of a better idea.  After all, she had lost a lot of her memories, and all of the places they were discussing were very fuzzy in her mind.  


She sighed in an irritated voice, “While all of you are discussing my future, do you mind if I have a look around this place.  Maybe if I see some of the rooms I’ll start to remember some of what the fey stole from me.”


They all nodded, but her Father sighed, “I’m sorry, Sam, it probably seems like we are planning your future for you.  We’re just worried about you and want to make sure you’re safe.  That’s all.  If you are going to explore the palace, you might want to put that cloak on again so the servants don’t recognize you.”


She shrugged growling, “Well, then thanks for your concern.  I’ll be going now.”


Samira could barely find her way around the towers, and sadly as she went from room to room nothing seemed to stick out in her mind much at all.  She couldn’t decide which room was her own (after all, this place was a palace, and there were many many rooms) and even though the palace was beautiful it in some ways reminded her of the extravagance of the fey, and that put her in an even worse mood.  She found herself wandering in the various courtyards (mostly gardens of statues since there wasn’t much vegetation that could live there), and then she found something that actually did bring back good memories and made her feel something similar to joy.


The falconry was in the centermost courtyard.  The birds were all masked and were resting soundly.  One bird in particular stood out in her mind, her hawk, David.  


She walked up to it and began stroking his feathers fondly.  He was an older bird, but she still insisted on using him whenever she went hunting.  While there was never much to hunt in the South, sometimes it was fun to take a trip all the way to the Southeast to let the birds practice.  It was, after all, the sport of the nobility, and gave all the nobles in the region the chance to socialize.  It was on one of these trips, in fact, that her ex-fiancé had proposed to her.  She felt a little sick at that thought, but continued to stroke the bird and get lost in some of the better memories.  She thought the fey must not have thought bonding with a bird was unimportant.  She was glad they were wrong.


She sighed, “Well, David, we’ve been through some good times.  I remember how I would cry as a child when you’d bring back a baby rabbit.  But, when I got older I understood you were just doing what was natural.  And now, I’m just doing what’s natural for me.  I guess now we can really understand each other.  I’m glad I found you.”


She had been so wrapped up in memories; she hadn’t heard her mother walking up behind her, “Sam, why don’t you take him with you?”  


She turned around in shock but then smiled, and upon seeing her smile, her mother felt a lot better.  She continued, “You’ve always been attached to that bird, and even though he’s old, at least you can remember him.  Maybe he can remind you of your home, no matter where you end up.”


Samira smiled, “Thank you, Mother.  I really do appreciate it.”  Samira found herself doing something she hadn’t expected, hugging her mother again on her own accord.  One more good memory to add to the few she had discovered.


Samira and her mother talked about her past, taking their time getting back to the others.  While she couldn’t remember everything her mother talked about, every now and again there would be a memory she did recall slightly that she would try to take note of.  By the time she and her mother had made it back to the common room, the others had finished packing for her and had everything she was to inherit along with a good bit of money, ready for her to take.  


Her father and brother smiled, “Well, everything’s ready for you to go.  But, we were hoping you’d stay for dinner.  Then, we can send you off with a good meal and we can leave at nightfall.  People might be suspicious if you leave during the day.  I’m hoping to sneak you out under their noses.”


She nodded, “Sounds good.  And, thank you.”


The dinner went by too quickly.  Just as she was starting to at least feel content being there, it was time to leave.  Still, she didn’t feel sad.  Her family was giving her many tearful goodbyes, and she did try to look sad for their sake, but she felt slightly excited.  Maybe the land of the dead was where she belonged.  And, if so, maybe she could feel content there as well.  And, with Caleb and David at her side now, she didn’t feel alone.  They skirted along the outside of the town behind the larger dunes as her father had instructed and soon were out of sight.