From: prauda@dol-guldur.hut.fi (Kristiina Prauda)
Subject: Castle (Kathrea): Oh yes, she's back
Organization: Helsinki University, Finland
Date: 22 Aug 92 19:08:30



After a long break, here comes Kathrea again, with a long storyline
to follow...

This one is with regards to Lil' Bro Eric, who should be back soon
(Silverwind is his, after all). 



Kristiina


*************************************************************************




When the battle was over, Kathrea slept for two weeks. 

She fell into a coma at the second when she was no longer needed,
and all through the celebrations, the days of rest and healing, the
times of new beauty, life and peace, she slept. No-one knew how she 
got nourishment during that time, nor were they able to wake her up. 
Her face seemed peaceful, as if she were only having a good night's 
sleep, but they found absolutely no means to awaken her, and her 
sleeping mind was unreachable to any of the healers or telepaths in 
the Castle. 

Then one day, she woke up and learned that the war was indeed over,
and - what was important to her - that she had not killed Shadow,
after all, only freed him of his previous half-existence. She 
seemed relieved for this, but she was yet uncharacteristically quiet
and withdrawn.

The next day, just as abruptly, she disappeared without a word. The 
only thing she did before leaving was to go to Lady Elaine, whose
compassionate eye saw at once that something was wrong. There was
a cloud over the wizard-girl, a tension rising not from the memories
of the recent battles, but from something much farther away in the
past. 

"Elaine, when I arrived at the Castle, what was I wearing?" she asked. 
"Did I have a brooch holding my cape?"

"Yes, now that you remind me, yes you did", Elaine answered. "But 
you didn't want it back when you woke up... don't you remember?"

"No", Kathrea said distantly, her eyes looking into somewhere or
something else, as if she was only half there. "Can you get it for
me again?"

So Elaine went and found the brooch that had been at Kathrea's throat
when she had arrived at the Castle just at the edge of the war, and
the wizard girl took it and pinned it back to her old grey cape. It was 
of pure gold, intricately carved, and threefold like the leaf of a 
clover, but the pointed "petals" were absolutely symmetrical. And in 
the middle of each petal was a huge jewel - a ruby, a sapphire, and a 
diamond, each of them faultless, perfectly cut, brilliant as burning 
stars. There was something almost unearthly about the piece of jewelry, 
it was so perfect. It did not seem possible that human hands could 
craft such things of indescribable beauty and value. 

But before Elaine could begin to express her marvel, Kathrea thanked 
her, still not really looking at her at all, and hurried away. After 
that, she was gone. 


Baron Silverwind was frantic, but for some reason there was no-one
else who would have much minded her disappearing act. There seemed
to be a feeling in the air that suggested that they forget the whole
matter for a while, since there was nothing to worry about, and the 
whole matter would undoubtedly be cleared soon. Silverwind felt this
strangely persistent instinct, too, but he refused to listen to it 
and got more and more worried. If he had allowed himself to calm down 
and accept the waiting period, he would also have realized why it was 
so hard for him: because he could not stand the thought of Kathrea 
being away from him. 

The thought of losing her...


Then, one day, again abruptly, Kathrea was back. The sun was shining 
warmly over the Land, lighting the green and gold of the fields and 
meadows into the brilliance of jewels. Life was good at the Castle
of Romance: everything was getting back to its normal rhytm. Not even
the Feral Knight's departure could mar the peace and joy felt by 
everyone: they understood that it was his way, a necessary way if he
felt so, and they trusted that he would be back. 

But right now here she was, another one returned: the small wizard-
girl who had appeared out of nowhere to aid the defense, even if she 
first had fervently denied any magical powers that she might have; a 
girl of dark auburn hair, grey eyes and apparently twenty or so summers 
- though they knew she had been born more than six hundred years ago 
by her own time, in a world far away both in space and time, even in
reality.

She stepped slowly from nowhere, walked through the huge gate that
now stood triumphantly open all day, and stopped in the middle of
the courtyard, her eyes tired and dark. There were not many people
in the yard at the moment, and those that were there didn't notice
her at first. Then suddenly Brianna, who had been sitting in the
sun, dreaming the new dreams she had found so recently, registered
and recognized the grey-cloaked form and jumped up. 

"Hello Brianna", Kathrea said simply even as she turned to meet her. 

"Hello to yourself", Brianna smiled. "I'm glad you are back. Are
you feeling better now?"

"Well, in a way, yes", Kathrea said, then added belatedly, "thank
you for asking. I am better, at least from what I was after the
war here."

She shrugged her shoulders and seemed to shake dark thoughts off
with the same gesture, for her face lit up in a smile. 

"But enough of me, there's nothing to tell there - unlike here! 
How is everyone? What has happened while I've been away? Tell me 
everything!" She paused suddenly, noticing the change in her
friend. "Brianna - what has happened to *you*? You're... well, I
don't know what it is... but something definitely *has* happened!"

Brianna couldn't help blushing, but before she could even begin
the answer, there was an outcry from the front wall, and Baron
Silverwind rushed down the wall stairs like the wind in his name.
His golden hair was ruffled, and his bright blue eyes were filled
with ardent emotion.

"Kathrea, where have you *been*?!" he exclaimed, rushing to her
and catching her into a stormy embrace despite Kathrea's look of
surprise. "I was so worried about you!"

He pushed her back and shook her by the shoulders. 

"Don't ever do this to me again, you hear me?!" he demanded 
fiercely. "Don't ever go away just like that without telling me!!"

Kathrea only stood there silently with a strange bewildered 
expression on her face as she looked at his anguished eyes. 

"Sir Baron, what is it?" she finally said slowly. "What makes 
you think you have the right to dictate my rules for me?"

"None, except..." he began, but stopped, blushing, unable to 
finish the words. "Oh, Kathrea..."

Kathrea continued to look at him, and it seemed to Brianna as if
the old weariness were creeping upon her from the ground again, 
weighing her downwards, wrapping her into shadows. 

"Oh no", the wizard-girl said helplessly. "Oh no, not that. 
Anything, just anything... but not that."

Silverwind opened his mouth to speak, but Kathrea raised her hand.

"No, don't say a word", she ordered. "Not a word of it - not now,
nor ever. I won't hear it."

A long time seemed to pass as they stood there staring mutely at
each other, Kathrea's warning hand between them, Silverwind's face
a mask of flickering emotions. Finally he succeeded in getting 
them under his control, and his expression wooden, he nodded, 
saluted and walked away. Kathrea stared after him, and now she
seemed all grey and colourless, old as the stone of the Castle
itself. 

But when she turned to face Brianna, she appeared cheerful again, 
like her way was: replacing one emotion and one expression with
another in the blink of an eye.

"Would you come with me to the kitchens?" she asked. "I'm really
hungry at the moment, besides, that would be the best place to
meet Lady Elaine, wouldn't it?"

"Yes, quite probably", Brianna said, a little uneasy with the
sudden mood change. 

"Well, let's go then, and you two can tell me everything that has
happened while I've been incapacitated in one way or another."

Kathrea even laughed a little while she said this, but the laughter
lacked mirth, and when she glanced over her shoulder at the lonely
figure on the top of the front wall, a cloud passed over her eyes.