The Legends of Camber of Culdi Trilogy

by Katherine Kurtz

  A fist came down on the pommel of the saddle, its force checked only as gloved flesh made contact with tooled leather. The royal head bowed in a soundless, choking sob, and the red-clad shoulders shook.

  Camber dared not answer that response, beyond a lowering of his own gaze and sympathetic silence. Cullen would not be expected to share Cinhil’s hostility toward Camber, for Cullen and Camber had been friends, and Cinhil knew that. But until Camber could find out from Rhys or Joram or Evaine just what happened that night, he must not let the discussion go back to Camber MacRorie. To do so could only risk inviting even more dangerous speculation than what had already passed between him and the king. Better to feign quiet sympathy, which was not altogether manufactured, and try to turn their conversation to more neutral subjects.

  After a moment, Camber gathered up his reins and urged his bay into a slow, ambling walk, leading a withdrawn and silent Cinhil quietly along a grassy path which skirted the oak grove. He commented on the warm weather, on the high water level of the streamlet through which they guided their mounts; and soon they were discussing politics, and arguing the fairness of the ransom Cinhil was considering for the Torenthi prisoners, as if nothing had happened.

  They did not return to the subject of Camber, much to Camber’s relief; but he was secretly pleased to note that many of Cinhil’s ideas for the future of his kingdom seemed to come almost directly from the reading which he and Joram had forced on Cinhil in the early months of his rehabilitation from priest to prince. Gone were the tantrums and sulks of a few weeks ago. It was as if the war and the events of the past fortnight had burned out that streak of emergent obstinacy which had so worried Camber before.

  The rest of the afternoon gave him much insight into how Cinhil was assimilating into his duties, and seemed to open the way for an increasing intimacy between king and future bishop. Almost, the price of his own transformation from Camber to Cullen began to appear justified. If only there were not that nagging question, constantly worrying at the back of his mind.

  What had happened that night? What had Cinhil actually seen?—no matter what he thought had occurred. And would that event come back to haunt him?

  He had to wait several hours for even a partial answer to that question—until he and Cinhil and their escort had returned to Valoret, hot and dusty, and he had escaped to his own quarters to wash and change for dinner.

  He greeted Joram, then Evaine and Rhys, as Alister Cullen should—the perfect host in front of Guaire and the two servants who brought their meal and laid the table. The four of them made suitably inconsequential small talk while the food was served, the goblets filled with wine, the meal begun. In no word or nuance of manner or movement was there anything to suggest that he was anything but the gruff former master of the Michaelines, soon to be a bishop and prince of the Church.

  But as soon as Guaire and the servants had left the room, all pretense fell away as Camber asked his question. The faces of sons and daughter confirmed what he had suspected: they had not known that he did not remember. All of them had assumed too much.

  When, after hurried preparation, Camber entered Evaine’s mind and relived that night from her point of view, seeing the facade his daughter had felt constrained to put on the incident, he could understand why Cinhil had been so unnerved. So far as Cinhil and the trusting Dualta were concerned, a miracle had occurred.

  And since Cinhil had forbidden all to talk about it, the incident should go no further. Unfortunate that Evaine should have to use a deception involving this particular explanation, but better that than to betray the greater good for which so many had already given so much. Even Joram was reluctantly forced to admit that her solution had been brilliant, under the circumstances.

  Still, what Camber next told them did not help to alleviate the general unease which their discussion had already raised. The matter of Guaire was related in terse, half-apologetic phrases, Camber hardly daring to meet their eyes as they listened with growing disbelief. Certainly, his well-meaning intervention was understandable, especially in the light of what he had not known; but it did complicate matters further.

  Nor could the mistake be easily remedied. It was too late for Camber or anyone else to reenter Guaire’s mind and try to erase his memory of the “dream” he thought he’d had. Guaire’s experience, even blurred by the drugs Camber had given him, was by now far too fully integrated into his memory of Camber as a whole. To tamper at this point would alert even the fully human Guaire to the reality of psychic intervention, and might drive him to inquire further as to what had happened, and who had done the meddling.

  But it was Joram who finally stumbled on a real cause for alarm, almost as an afterthought, as he speculated gloomily on all the possible things that could still go wrong. Like his father, he quickly drew the deduction of disaster if Guaire and Cinhil and Dualta should get together and compare notes. But from there, he went one step further.

  Suppose any two of them did compare experiences? Even if they did not see through the sham of both events and uncover the deceptions, suppose they accepted what they had seen as fact, corroborated each by the other? Suppose the word spread? Camber MacRorie had always been popular among the common folk, and never so much as since the Restoration. “Kingmaker,” they called him. And “Defender of Humankind,” since he had helped to throw down the evil excesses of the Deryni Imre. Two miracles attributed to the man already called hero could start a cult of Camber.

  Joram’s voice trailed off at that, for suddenly he was remembering the throngs of people he had seen but not particularly noted in the chapel at Caerrorie, above the tomb where “Camber’s” body lay. His expression reflected his growing suspicion as he began mentally to put things into new perspective. At Rhys’s urging, he told in disbelieving phrases of what he had seen. Soon Evaine was adding her own stunned observations, describing the gifts of flowers left near the tomb, the increased offerings, the looks of reverence in the scrubbed country faces. Was it starting already?

  Silence fell heavily among them for a long, endless moment, as each of them declined to put into words what they all were obviously thinking. Finally, Camber brought the flat of one hand down hard on the table, jarring the dinnerware and making Joram start. The alien face of Alister Cullen was grim as Camber pushed himself back slightly from the table with a sigh.

  “Very well, you’ve convinced me. It’s getting out of hand. I hadn’t realized—none of us had realized, obviously. The question is, what are we going to do about it? There’s enough blind superstition in this world without deliberately adding the hypocrisy of make-believe miracles. God knows, I certainly don’t qualify for sainthood.”

  Evaine gave a quick, nervous smile. “We know that, Father—but convincing your devoted followers may not be that easy. Frankly, I’m not nearly so worried about Cinhil and Guaire at this point as I am about what’s happening at Caerrorie. If we don’t do something, we’re going to have a full-fledged cult of Saint Camber on our hands. All the signs are there.”

  “We could tell the truth,” Joram muttered darkly.

  Rhys shook his head. “You know we can’t, at this late date.” He glanced at all of them. “But what would happen if we simply closed that part of the chapel, so people couldn’t get near the tomb? For that matter, is it necessary to keep the chapel open to outsiders at all? The villagers have their own church, where Cathan is buried.”

  Evaine shook her head wearily. “We can’t, Rhys. That chapel has always been accessible to our people, and to anyone who wanted to come there and pray. The only time it’s closed is at night, when the manor gates are closed, and then it’s still accessible to the staff. If we shut it down, we admit that there’s something unusual about the place. We give credence to what they think is happening.”

  “This is incredible!” Joram exclaimed. “How could we have been so stupid?”

  “It isn’t a matter of stupidity,” Camber replied, a little sharply. “No one could have foreseen the way th
ings would come together. Evaine is right, though. We don’t dare prohibit free access to the chapel. That being the case, I think we need to consider how we’re going to protect the tomb—especially since the occupant isn’t who they think it is.”

  “Just pray that they never find out who it isn’t,” Evaine murmured under her breath. “Father, what if they should try to steal the body?”

  “Then, we would really have a problem.”

  Rhys laid a distracted hand on his wife’s in reassurance, but his eager eyes and attention were on Camber. “Suppose we set up wards, then? Deryni wards on a Deryni tomb aren’t unusual. At least they might discourage casual snooping.”

  “Why don’t we steal the body and eliminate the problem entirely?” Joram countered, beginning to recover his perspective and humor. “Go ahead and ward the tomb,” he added, as all heads turned toward him in surprise, “but move the body to another burial place. Wards wouldn’t prevent a Deryni from breaking in unless they were so powerful that he’d be sure something was unusual. I don’t think we want anyone to take that close a look.”

  “He’s right,” Rhys agreed. “Neither the preservation spell nor the shape change will last indefinitely. Even though the lack of one will tend to cancel out the lack of the other, what’s left still won’t stand up to really close inspection by anyone who knows what he’s doing, especially a Deryni. We could move the body to that hidden Michaeline chapel, next to Cinhil’s little son and that monk, Brother …”

  “Humphrey,” Evaine supplied.

  “That’s it, Humphrey of Gallareaux. Joram, I think it was always your intention to rebury Alister as himself, in Michaeline soil, eventually, wasn’t it?”

  Joram gave a grim, humorless chuckle. “Well, I don’t know that it will make any difference to Alister, but it will certainly make me feel better. Once he’s moved, though, if someone does break into the empty tomb, it will fall to you and Evaine or whoever is at Caerrorie to explain. We don’t want anyone to think that the body was assumed into heaven or anything. All we need is a third miracle.”

  Camber, who had been listening to all their exchange with a growing wistfulness, could not restrain a wry smile. “I’m happy to see that you’re all thinking again, instead of merely reacting. Rhys, I don’t think we need to complicate this further. Whether it’s you, or Evaine, or even Elinor who must explain, this is one case where you can simply tell the truth: that the body was moved to another, safer burial place, because you feared that vandals might desecrate the tomb. Camber did have enemies, after all. There’s no need to be more specific, even if you’re pressed. It’s no one’s business besides family.”

  There was no dissent to that. While they discussed ways and means of accomplishing what they had decided must be done, the four of them picked halfheartedly at their now-cold meal, too keyed up and preoccupied by their potential dangers to do more than nibble. The details were finally resolved to the satisfaction of all; but by the time they had finished both dinner and discussion, it was within an hour of midnight, and the subject of Camber’s impending consecration as bishop still had not been broached. Evaine and Rhys had carefully avoided the topic, perhaps in deference to Joram’s personal involvement in the issue, and Joram himself had overlooked several obvious opportunities to introduce the subject.

  Camber could only conclude that the three of them had reached a prior agreement as to how the situation was to be handled, and guessed that Joram was waiting for Evaine and Rhys to leave. To facilitate that probability, Camber rang for the servants to come and clear away the meal, then retired to a chair by the fireplace with a fresh cup of mulled wine so that Joram could exchange whatever signals or glances were necessary to get Evaine and Rhys out of the room. As expected, the couple followed close on the heels of the servants bearing away the dinner things, bidding Father Alister Cullen good-bye with formal courtesy.

  When they all had gone, Joram brought his own new-filled cup and settled carefully into a chair beside his father. The wine in his hands seemed to occupy all his attention as he sipped and listened to the retreating footsteps in the corridor outside.

  After a few seconds, Camber glanced sidelong at his son, reading the tension in every line of the taut young body. He wondered what Joram was thinking, knew that the young priest was finding it difficult to begin. For, whatever the outcome of their discussion, both of them knew that Camber must go through with what was planned for the morrow. Camber MacRorie, as Alister Cullen, must be consecrated a bishop and assume all the priestly and episcopal functions which that office entailed, whether or not he was entitled to them in his own right.

  As Camber gazed at his son, Joram looked up and met his eyes, then glanced quickly back at the cup in his hand. He took a deep breath before speaking.

  “We haven’t had much chance to talk lately, have we?”

  Camber turned his eyes but not his attention to the steam curling from the cup in his hands, hoping that would make it easier for Joram.

  “No, we haven’t. I had hoped we would have this afternoon together, but—”

  He shrugged, a helpless, weary movement, and Joram’s eyes flicked nervously to the low-burning fire before them.

  “I know. Cinhil.” Joram hesitated a beat and then continued. “Tell me, have you thought much about tomorrow?”

  Camber controlled the urge to smile.

  “If you understand me at all, after all these years, you must know that tomorrow has not been far from my thoughts these many days,” he replied gently. “I share your distress, son. I simply see no way around what I must do.”

  “Perhaps not.” Joram’s eyes were hooded beneath blond lashes. “The end result is unavoidable, I suppose. But, have you considered that there might be an alternative means to that end? You don’t have to base everything on deception, you know.”

  “No?”

  “No. You could make your status legitimate.”

  “How?” Camber whispered.

  “Be ordained a priest,” Joram replied, turning desperate, heartsick eyes on his father. “Do it now, tonight, and you enter the cathedral tomorrow with a clear conscience. You can! God knows, we’ve talked about it often enough in the past. You were made a deacon as a young man. You’ve been a widower for years. You certainly have the vocation for it. Under the circumstances, I’m sure Anscom would do it.”

  “Anscom?”

  Camber took a deep breath and let it out slowly, feeling his heart pound as the impact of Joram’s words sank into all his being.

  Actually to be a priest, not just a sham. The thought excited him and, at the same time, chilled him. Certainly, it had always been in the back of his mind finally to take priestly vows. His early monastic training had taken far better than he or anyone else had thought.

  But that had been before, when he had still walked the world in his own skin, and a man named Alister Cullen had still been alive in fact as well as in name. Could Camber MacRorie, having taken that other man’s identity—even though he had not taken that life—presume to approach the altar of God and ask the precious gift of priesthood? Dared he base so holy a calling on a further deception?

  On the other hand, could he allow Archbishop Anscom, Primate of All Gwynedd and a friend for many years, to confer the bishop’s miter upon him when he was not properly prepared? Of course, if he told Anscom and Anscom agreed to ordain him, then Anscom would be actively guilty of duplicity in concealing Camber’s true identity—unless, of course, he refused to have anything to do with the situation at all, and renounced Camber publicly instead of going through with the consecration. That, too, was a possibility.

  But, if Camber did not take the matter to Anscom, and tried to continue as he had been, what then? After tomorrow, he would no longer be able to avoid the exercise of the priestly functions of Alister Cullen without arousing dangerous suspicions. Yet it was either that or perform those offices for which he was not ordained, and be in peril of his soul.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

&nb
sp; I will pay my vows unto the Lord now in the presence of all his people.

  —Psalms 116:14

  He returned to the room with a start, aware that Joram was watching him, unable to say how long he had been off on his own reverie. His fingers were clenched tightly around the earthenware cup in his hand, on the verge of shattering it, and illogically he wondered how he would look at his consecration tomorrow with a bandaged hand, if the thing did break.

  With a conscious effort, he willed his hand to relax enough to set the cup on the floor beside him. He took a deep breath before looking up at Joram again.

  “You certainly caught me off guard with that one,” he said in an uncertain voice. “I suppose I had refused to consciously consider that alternative. You and I understand why I have to do what I’m doing, but I guess I didn’t want to face the possibility that Anscom might not. If he didn’t, I can’t say I would blame him.”

  “Do you really think he wouldn’t understand?” Joram said softly. “I know him better than that, and I’ve known him for less than half the years you have.”

  Camber lowered his gaze, watching his finger systematically trace along the carving on his chair arm.

  “You know me pretty well, too, son. And you’re certainly right, in the final analysis. The priesthood and what it stands for mean far too much to me to degrade that special magic by practicing the forms without the substance.”

  He looked up and smiled. “It’s just that I never thought it would be like this, when I finally asked him to ordain me. I suppose I always thought it would be some years in the future, when all my children were grown and I could settle the earldom on Cathan.

  “But that’s all changed now. Cathan is dead, and his son and heir is only a child, and a new king is on the throne who is a child himself, in many ways.” He sighed. “And we’re here and now, and like Cinhil, I’m going to have to learn to live with what I’ve chosen to become.”

  Joram looked away briefly, then met his father’s gaze again.