Aris Returns (31 page)

She whispered to me as she spun close. She whispered that her greatest gift to the
King was yet to be given. I wondered at what it might be but she twirled away before
I could ask.

There was feasting, joy and a masque for the New Year. The twelve days of Christmas
were a time when all court business was set aside. Instead there were plays with fine
actors, music, dancing and romance, candle flames, roaring fires, holiday smells and
thick rich velvets.

It was the very next day she called me to her rooms. I was ushered into her bedchamber.
She sat before a mirror, one of her ladies brushing her luxuriant hair. She was clothed
in a black satin robe lined with opulent fur. I heard her humming softly to herself.

Smiling, she spoke to me. “Ah Aris, I have watched you watch the ladies at the festivities
and so as your special gift, I wish to help you find a wife.”

“Wife?” The word was choked from my throat. No human wife could ever be mine. I wanted
no maiden. “My lady, you are all that I adore. I see no other woman in court except
your Majesty,” I bowed my best
courtiers bow.

She laughed out loud. “And how do I persuade you, my dear Aris?”

“Your Majesty, please, do not even make the attempt. You are the sun and the moon
in my heaven. I may enjoy the sight of other women but your wit and beauty far outshine
all others. I am loyal to my Queen in all things.”

Her eyes flirted with me as she laughed. “You are all I expected you to be. Now you
may go. Your solitary life is granted you for the time being.” Turning back to her
mirror, she once again began to hum. I backed from her room, grateful to have escaped
so narrowly that which would have been my uncovering and feeling that I had passed
some test of hers as to my loyalty to her alone. There could be no human love in my
life. All hope of that died with Elizabeth Wyatt.

Quickly, twelfth night was upon us. Westminster was ablaze with candles and jewels.
The King escorted Anne to the Tower of London where she had her pick of the treasury
of England. Needing refreshment, she called for the wassail bowl. As she tipped her
head to sip, a ruby the size of a robin’s egg, a gift the King had placed in the bottom
of the bowl, caught the light and turned her face a blazing scarlet. She was beautiful,
vibrant and the King had eyes only for her.

The Lord of Misrule arranged a bawdy play. Anne arranged a glorious masque with dancing
and costumes. The King presented himself in disguise as he loved to do and we all
feigned surprise when he unmasked. It was the finish to a Christmas season such as
the court had never known.

At the end of the festivities, I saw Anne lean into the King with the look of a special
secret in her eyes. She whispered into his ear. Suddenly he threw back his head in
a roar of laughter, rose from his chair to pick her off the floor then spun her in
circle after circle. Just as suddenly, he stopped. He placed her gently on her feet
then touched her belly. He caressed it softly as he stared into her eyes. He put his
arm around her protectively to escort her from the room.

The court was filled with gossip that the Queen was with child. Soon we were to find
it was truth.

“I tire from all of these memories. Tell me, Sarah, what do you do for your Christmas?”

She was shocked out of her stupor. She hated to be brought back from the court of
the Tudors. When he spoke through Carlos, the sixteenth century came alive to her.
It all seemed so familiar. She felt she had actually been there with him, seen the
candles, the royalty.

She spoke. “Yes, my Christmas. Well, I don’t think it will be anything to compare
with the court.” She laughed at the thought of her mother’s Christmas tree and traditional
dinner. It was a time of year when she loved being with her family. A time when she
missed her father very much.

“I would very much like to share a Christmas with you.”

“I believe you would be bored.” She shut off the recorder. “We do have turkey but
it is nothing like your Christmas pie. Of course, we do have a Christmas tree but
nothing as grand as the palace filled with winter boughs.”

“Nonetheless, I would like to be there with you. Your present time is very interesting
to me.”
His voice became very quiet, very intimate.
“You are very interesting to me.”

As always, there was silence as he waited patiently for her to speak. When she didn’t
respond, he continued,
“And now sweet Sarah, it is time for this young man to awaken. I bid you farewell.”
She knew that he was gone until their next session.

S
arah was excited to go camping with her girlfriends as she dragged her tent out of
her storage unit to air it on her balcony. It had been packed away for almost a year.
She washed her sleeping bag hoping it wouldn’t be lumpy. As they packed everything
in the back of Bonnie’s SUV, they were all in high spirits.

The windows in the car were down, a fresh, clean breeze ruffling their hair. The three
women laughed and talked as the highway took them out of town to a campground in Wisconsin.
It was the third camping anniversary of a lifetime of camping anniversaries to come.

This was Colleen’s first get-a-way since she and Bob were married. She was happy to
have a few days with her friends yet she still missed him like crazy. Sarah lost count
of the text messages she sent to him and caught her looking wistfully out the window.

“Are you kidding, C?” She teased her friend. “You haven’t been gone a day and you’re
already homesick.”

“Yeah, well I miss the guy. Sucks, doesn’t it? I really do love my husband and being
married to him.” She laughed out loud. “Who would ‘a thought?”

“Yeah, well I did.” Bonnie spoke up.

“Yeah, and so did I.”

“Yeah?” Colleen closed the subject as she settled back into the seat to watch the
landscape change outside her window.

The drive was under three hours so by mid-afternoon, they were pulling into the Wahaname
Campground.

“I swear, if you text him again, I’m going to throw your phone away.” Sarah opened
her door. She stepped out of the car.

“This is the last time, I promise. He wanted me to let him know when I get here. He’s
just more cautious because of the baby.” She closed her phone before she slid it into
her jeans back pocket. “See?” She held out her hands, palms up. “See? No phone. I
promise, no more texts.”

Sarah looked skeptical.

“I said I promise. You’ll see.” She began to unload their gear. “I need this time
to myself. I just miss the guy, that’s all. I haven’t been away from him a night since
we’ve been married.” She shook her head in wonder. “Amazing. And I like it that way.”

“So, I guess you did the right thing?” Sarah picked up the cooler. She carried it
to the picnic bench then went back to the van to grab the sleeping bags. The three
friends had the camp set, ready to take a hike long before twilight.

The late afternoon sun was warm on their backs as they climbed to the top of a small
grassy hill looking for a comfortable place to have their light picnic supper. They
traveled light. Sarah carried a bottle of wine, a bottle of water for Colleen and
a corkscrew in her backpack. Bonnie carried three glasses and napkins. Colleen carried
cheese, some apples and an army knife. They delighted in the place they found. The
opposite side of the hill was covered in summer wild flowers. In the warmth of the
setting sun, the fragrance filled the air.

They settled down as each one of them did their chore. Sarah opened the wine and the
water. Bonnie held the glasses as she poured. Colleen sliced thin pieces of the wonderful
smelling Italian
cheeses and apples.

“This is perfect. Wow, I can’t believe this is so close to home. It’s a different
world.” Colleen held her glass high for a toast. “And here’s to this weekend.” Her
friends agreed. They all touched glasses, then took a sip.

“Do you guys know where the term ‘toast’ came from?”

They both turned to look at her as if she was a bit crazy. “No, where?”

“Well,” She tipped her glass to them again taking another sip. “Back in Tudor England,
when they passed around the wassail bowl at Christmas, the most important person at
the party got to eat the piece of toast that was floating around in the bottom of
the wine. It was supposed to be an honor.”

Colleen looked at her friend with incredulous eyes. “Where the hell did you find that
out?” She paused. “And why?”

Sarah sat quietly for a moment, and then answered. “From a friend.” She nodded her
head, “Yes, a friend.”

#

Sarah woke up to the smell of coffee perking. It was the most wonderful smell in the
world. Fresh, crisp, cool, morning air and coffee. Who could ask for more than that?
She snuggled down in her sleeping bag for an extra moment to enjoy the sounds and
smells that surrounded her.

“Hey, you guys, get up. Times a wasting.” Colleen’s voice was wide awake. “Come on,
I’m hungry. Get up.”

Both her friends muttered they were coming. Before long, they both opened the flaps
of their tents. The campfire was already lit. Two huge coffee mugs sat on the picnic
table. The two late risers picked them up, filling them with the thick, black liquid
that came out of the coffee pot. Colleen had a special brew she concocted for their
camping trips. It was so black and so strong it could wake the dead.

“Where’s the sugar?” Sarah yawned as she spoke.

“I thought you brought it.”

“I thought you brought it.”

“What, no sugar?”

“Sarah, you’re the only one who uses it. Why didn’t you bring it?”

She yawned again. “Well, I can’t drink this stuff without it.” She placed the mug
back on the table.

Bonnie went back into her tent, returning with her car keys. “I think I’ve got some
packets of sugar in my glove box. I’ll go look.”

She walked down the path toward the car.

“Colleen. Sarah. Come here quick.” Anger in her voice cut the air like a steel knife.

The two women hurried to the car and found Bonnie crouched down by her rear tire.
“Look, these two tires have been slashed.” She pointed to the rear and front tire
on the driver’s side. “Who the hell would do such a thing at a campground?” She stood,
brushing her dirty hands on her jeans. “I only have one spare. Crap. Now what?”

Colleen took over the situation. “First we go to the ranger and tell him. Then we
call Bob to bring us a tire. I’ll tell him to bring his tent. If he’s here, we’ll
feel safer and we won’t have to cut the trip short.”

“This isn’t funny. Somebody vandalized my car. And for no reason.”

Sarah wondered silently if there, perhaps, was a reason, a very bad reason.

#

“So how was the annual girl’s get away?” He sat in the chair across from her desk
as she opened her drawer to retrieve her recorder.

“It was fine. We had a great time.” She kept the tire episode quiet.

“Are you sure? You don’t sound like you had a good time.”

“Come on, lie down.” She stood, crossing the room to the recliner. “Let’s get going.”
She sat in her chair motioning him toward her.

“Okay.” He sat down, leaned back and rested his head on the cushion. “You know, when
I think back to where I was when we started, this has been an amazing trip.”

“You have made so much progress in so many areas of your life, Carlos. You must be
proud.”

“It’s kind of hard to admit it, but I am. Sometimes I even feel happy, like when I
think I really do have some kind of a future other than being a petty convict. You
and Colleen have shown me a part of life I didn’t know existed. And, I like it. I’m
still not sure where I’m going but what I am sure of is I’m not going down. I know
I can be better than I ever thought I could be and I want that. I want whatever it
is that’s called a normal life. I want a place of my own, someplace I can call home.
I never thought it would feel good to work and get a paycheck, but it does. Hell,
I’m even going to have to pay taxes this year.” He laughed. “A real law abiding citizen.
Now if I can only figure out what the hell this vamp is doing in my head, I’ll be
home free.”

“Don’t worry. We’ll figure it out together sooner or later. Right now relax and just
begin to focus on your breath.”

#

CARLOS HAVARRO, transcript, session 19, July 23

“While there was revelry above ground in the palace so were there festivities below
ground in the Catacombs. Sebastian was to be mated. He chose a mortal to be his partner.
She chose to become immortal to share his world. The celebration in the coven was
for the joining of the two, for her changing. It is the law a human must become one
of the undead in order to mate in our world. The changing ceremony had not been performed
in many years. Akira and Kansu were to act as officiators of the joining. The ceremony
takes three days. My transformation at the
temple of Dionysius was much the same save the ceremony. At the end of the vigil,
the shift is complete.