Dennis McKiernan: Once Upon a Winter's Night

And even as they gaped at the completely unhurt prince, and then looked full at the effigies, a great burning came over the smith and handmaiden; Alain cried out and leaped forward to aid, but the furious flames cast no heat, and the two within were not harmed. And so he stepped back, as Camille, now at the center as well, chanted Urd’s final allusion:

“Nearly dual,

It is the key;

That which two fear

Shall set four free.”

And Blanche and Renaud disappeared in the flames as the glamour burned away, and when the fire dwindled and vanished, where they had been now stood Lady Saissa and Lord Valeray, each of them somewhat dazed.

In the faraway town of Lis, there where Camille had first boarded the red coach, in the stable across the street from the Golden Trough, two people who but for the hue of their eyes were twins of Camille’s Blanche and Renaud, two people who had had no memory of who they had been, two people who, some eighteen years past, had titled themselves Clarisse and Georges, those two people suddenly knew their identities: they were the true Blanche and Renaud. How they had lost their memories, how they had been whisked from Summerwood Manor to the town of Lis those eighteen years agone, they had not the vaguest idea, though each of them knew that magic was somehow involved.

But in the maze at Summerwood Manor: “Mother! Father!” cried Alain with tears in his eyes, and he embraced them both.

Great was the rejoicing there in the labyrinth, and great the joy as well when the King and Queen of the Forests of the Seasons emerged arm and arm with Alain and Camille.

Lanval bowed low and glanced at Camille and then said, “My lord Valeray, my lady Saissa, your quarters are ready and raiment has been laid out, for we were expecting you.”

Valeray raised an eyebrow. “Expecting us?”

Lanval canted his head toward Camille and said, “The Lady Camille told us you would come… or rather that you might.”

“It was someone we trusted,” said Lord Valeray, “one of magekind who had been here before and has come since, and who cast the curse that transformed us, and in evil glee made us fear the very thing which would set us free.”

“The sight of our likenesses in the heart of the maze,” said Lady Saissa.

“Was this done using a clay amulet?” asked Camille.

At Valeray’s nod, Alain growled, “A Seal of Orbane.” Then he looked at sire and dam and asked, “And who was this trusted mage who came and did this to you?”

Rage filled Lady Saissa’s eyes, and she said, “It was-”

“Hradian!” exclaimed Camille. “The witch Hradian.”

Saissa looked at Camille in surprise. “Yes, but how did you know?”

Camille turned up a hand. “When you said it was someone you trusted, then did I remember how Hradian was dressed: the crone accoutered in black, with black lace frills and trim and danglers. She looked as if she were streaming tatters and tendrils of shadow, just as was the silhouette that flew across the moon, just as was the glimpse of the figure I saw there in Orbane’s citadel. And when she came to Summerwood Manor, ostensibly to remove a curse, she was sly-eyed and leering. Oh, how she must have gloated, knowing that she was at the root of all.”

Saissa and Valeray both nodded, for even though they had been restored, they yet remembered all that had occurred when they were Blanche and Renaud. But Alain frowned and said, “At the root of all?”

Camille turned to Alain. “Oh, don’t you see, my love, this is the mage who must have traded her services to Olot in exchange for some of the seals he had found there in Orbane’s stronghold; she told him and Dre’ela how the seals did work; she transported Olot and his Goblins to the Winterwood the night they attacked the Bear; and when Borel and his Wolves came, she whisked Olot away to safety; she transported as well the Goblins to Summerwood Manor to fetch me after you were gone. She is the one who bespelled you with sleep, there in the citadel. All of this I do believe. Too, she must be the one the Fates said stood athwart our-” Camille’s eyes widened in remembrance. “Oh, my… I just recalled: Lisane-the Lady of the Bower-when she read the cards for me she said I was greatly opposed by two beings unrevealed: by the Magician, and by the Priestess who appeared to be but an acolyte of the Mage. She also said the Mage was somewhat off center of her reading, which meant he was not directly engaged in my immediate quest for you; even so, she believed he was somehow responsible, though the acolyte seemed more involved, but from behind the scenes. The mage must be Orbane, and the priestess, the acolyte, that must be Hradian.”

Alain gritted his teeth and said, “If Orbane is behind all, he is the one the Fates Themselves fear, for if he is set free from the Castle of Shadows, he will indeed pollute the River of Time beyond all redemption.”

Saissa and Valeray both looked from Alain to Camille in puzzlement, and Valeray said, “You must tell us the full of your tale, Camille, for as Blanche and Renaud we know only parts thereof. When we know all, we need to gather Borel and Liaze and Celeste and decide what to do. For if Orbane is involved, then all of Faery and the mortal world as well are in dire danger.”

That night as they lay in bed, Alain said, “Back when my parents first vanished, the reason the trackers failed to find a trace of their leaving the manse is because my sire and dam never left at all. And the glamour made everyone who knew Blanche and Renaud believe that he had grey eyes and she had black. Yet as you know by what you saw as you waited for the red coach, the true Blanche and Renaud have eyes of dark blue and brown. ’Tis only now, after the curse is gone, we do remember it so.”

Camille took Alain’s hand and said, “Even as I boarded the red coach, I told them I would resolve just who they were, perhaps long-lost kindred or such. Yet now we know the truth, and with the curse lifted, they should know as well, for they were cursed, too, or so Urd’s riddle would seem to say. We need send someone to the village of Lis to bring them here, that is if they wish to come back to Summerwood Manor, where they would be welcome, and we do need a smith.-Oh, and this I remember as well: when I boarded the coach, I was told by a repugnant little man that the eyes are windows to the soul, and it seems he was right after all.”

Alain laughed and drew Camille close and kissed her and said, “Ah, Camille, who else but you would think to look within a person to find another hiding inside.”

A fortnight later, Giles arrived, riding with the courier who had gone to fetch him, the lad nearly thirteen now. Camille rushed out to welcome him, and though he was glad to see Camille, he seemed quite somber. He momentarily brightened when a sparrow came flying to alight on Camille’s shoulder, but then he fell glum again.

“What is it, Giles, what has happened?”

“Oh, Camille, Maman is dead.”

“What?”

Giles sighed. “When no gold came from the prince that third year.. well, you know that some of the young men courting our sisters did pitch coins down the garden well and make various romantic wishes-wishing for a kiss or to touch a breast or something even more daring, and I believe Joie and Gai complied, to what extent I don’t know. Regardless, while fishing up the wide, fine-mesh net she had hidden down in the water of the well to catch the coins ere they reached bottom, Maman fell in and got tangled in the net and drowned.”

Tears welled in Camille’s eyes. “Oh, poor Maman.” Yet Camille’s sorrow was mingled with relief: sorrow, for Maman was dead; relief, for Maman was dead. Even so, it was her mere who had drowned, and silent tears ran down Camille’s face. She embraced Giles and held him a bit, but then disengaged and wiped her eyes. Then sighing, she took Giles by the hand. “Come, we will have a meal in the gazebo, and you can tell me all else.”