Legends Of Camber Of Culdi - Saint Camber Part 31

"Last spring, I approached His Grace about permission to build a shrine to Saint Camber in the cathedral. He-was not in favor of the shrine-and Father Joram was vehemently opposed-so I decided that our cause could be better served if I left His Grace's service, so as not to embarra.s.s him or cause strife within this household. I hoped that eventually the Bl -Blessed Camber would make him change his mind."

At this point, Queron cleared his throat.

"Your Grace, Reverend Lords, I think it would be helpful at this time if Guaire related the reason for his entry into service with Bishop Cullen. On that tale hangs the first miracle we intend to prove."

"A miracle?" Archbishop Oriss exclaimed. "You mean, this-this young Guaire went to Cullen because of a miracle?"

"Guaire, please tell the Reverend Lords what happened," Queron said calmly.

Guaire raised his head, his eyes focusing on some invisible point midway between himself and Jaffray's disbelieving eyes, and Camber knew that his recall would be perfect.

Queron had seen to that.

Patiently he settled back into his chair to listen, resolved to let his own heightened senses take in everything they could. This would be a more telling probe than Camber had first believed, for it was obvious that Queron had groomed his witness well. Now he must hope that Queron's very perfection would trip him up, that too precise a recall would cast doubt on Guaire's testimony rather than strengthening it- though Camber entertained no false expectation of such a miracle.

"It happened on the night of Lord Camber's funeral," Guaire murmured, softly at first, but gaining volume as he spoke. "As many can attest, I was distraught at Camber's death.

That night found me weeping by his coffin in the chapel as if I could not live. I must have been there for several hours by the time Father Cullen came and found me. I think the guards were worried, and asked him to check on me."

His audience gave an engrossed sigh as it settled down to listen again.

"He took me back to a room-it belonged to Brother Johannes, who was then his valet- and he and Johannes tried to get me to sleep. I-think they were afraid to leave me alone, for fear I might do myself injury. Much of that part of the evening is still unclear in my mind.

"At any rate, I couldn't sleep until Father Cullen gave me some hot wine to drink. Later I surmised that there must have been a sleeping potion in it. I'm not sure how long I slept."

As Guaire paused to draw breath, Queron eased casually around behind him, eyes averted, listening rather than watching. Guaire did not seem to notice.

"In any case, I was very much awake for what happened next," Guaire continued. "I remember waking and being aware that I was in the bed, that the wine I had drunk must have been drugged, so calm was I -and then having the distinct feeling that there was someone else in the room-as if the door to the outer corridor had opened and closed, though I heard nothing.

"When I opened my eyes, I fully expected to see Brother Johannes or Father Cullen moving about. But Brother Johannes was sleeping peacefully in a chair beside the fire; and when I turned my head toward the door, I-knew instantly that it was not Father Cullen."

He swallowed and closed his eyes briefly, drawing a deep breath as though to gather courage for his next words. But before he could continue, Queron laid his right hand on Guaire's neck and pa.s.sed his left over the younger man's eyes. Guaire breathed out with a sigh and relaxed, going very still, his head nodding forward slightly as Queron took away his left hand.

Queron, with a deep breath of his own, looked up at Jaffray, brown eyes hooded under thick lashes, his right arm still laid protectively across Guaire's shoulders.

"Your Grace, I wish to pause here for just a moment to suggest a better way than words to tell what happened next. With Your Grace's indulgence, I should like to show what Guaire saw that night."

As questioning murmurs pa.s.sed through the a.s.sembly, Camber thought he saw a faint smile flick across Jaffray's face, found himself wondering whether Jaffray and Queron had set all of this up in advance, despite what Jaffray had said.

No, impossible. Even Queron was not capable of that. Or was he?

"Please tell our brothers what you have in mind," Jaffray said quietly.

Queron bowed. "As Your Grace knows, but many of this a.s.sembly may not, there is a process taught by our Gabrilite Order which enables an adept to reach into another's memory and project a visible image of that other's recollection which anyone may see. We Healers sometimes use it in treating certain sicknesses of the mind." He s.h.i.+fted his attention to his audience. "The process is not precisely magic, though it does seem to be a skill found solely in Deryni, and it is not dangerous for the subject, the Healer, or observers- though the Healer does expend a great deal of energy. What I propose, with His Grace's permission, is to work this recollecting now, that all of you may see with your own eyes what Guaire himself saw that night."

There was a whispering of fearful wonder, much nervous coughing and shuffling of feet, and then silence as all eyes turned toward Jaffray.

"Let the doors be barred," the archbishop said. "We will have no interruptions. Dom Queron, you may proceed."

chapter twenty two.

For thou shah be his witness unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard.

-Acts 22:15 As the chamberlain saw to the barring of the door, stationing two nearby ecclesiastical knights to guard it, Queron directed the rest of his brethren to seats in the first tier, only he and Guaire remaining in the center of the chamber. Camber s.h.i.+fted uneasily in his chair as a cloak was called for and procured. His outward expression was only commensurate with the general excitement and suspense of his colleagues, but his mind churned with misgiving.

He had heard of what Queron proposed to do, of course, though he had never seen it. He was sure that Rhys probably even knew the procedure, for Rhys had received part of his Healer's training from the Gabrilites, and was acknowledged as one of the most skilled young Healers in Gwynedd.

Camber had never even considered trying it for himself, however, having neither Gabrilite nor Healer's training, and he was both intrigued and apprehensive at the prospect of watching his own actions mirrored through another's mind. What made matters worse, and would tax his acting ability even more, was the fact that Queron was now laying out the cloak on a spot only a short distance from Camber's feet, obviously intending it as a surrogate bed from which Guaire would reenact his part.

As Queron led the compliant Guaire to lie upon that cloak with his face toward Camber and Eustace, Camber suspected that the choice of position had not been entirely coincidental; for Alister Cullen had already been mentioned as having knowledge of the incident about to be depicted. Queron could not be aware of his true involvement, of course, but that would not prevent him from noting the reactions of whoever had connections with the incident, however far removed. Camber had to appreciate the Healer- priest's foresight. He must never underestimate Queron Kinevan.

Beside him, Joram, too, had finally regained his equilibrium, his usual curiosity thoroughly reengaged at the thought of witnessing a Deryni skill which he also had never seen. Joram sat forward almost eagerly, his previous despair replaced by alert interest.

Even though he had shared his father's remembrance of Guaire's "miracle," and was well acquainted with the care and skill which had gone into the encounter from Camber's point of view, that was different from seeing it through the eyes of the one for whom it had been intended. Besides, Joram had never been able to resist an opportunity to watch his talented father in action, even when he did not agree with what was being done. Most certainly, he did not approve of what Queron was about to do; for successful re-creation of Guaire's experience would almost certainly prove the very thing Joram had been trying to avoid. It could only be interpreted as a miracle.

Joram watched with hushed mind, in tandem with his father, as Queron knelt beside the reclining Guaire and sat back on his haunches, facing toward the archbishops and in profile to Camber. As the room quieted down, Queron laid his hand lightly on Guaire's forehead and began to extend a heavier control, his own manner stilling and centering as he breathed slowly, in and out. At one point he glanced up dreamily at Jaffray, who nodded minutely, then returned his attention fully to Guaire.

After a moment, Guaire curled up on his side, as though asleep, and moaned, pulling the edges of the cloak more closely around him. As Queron sat motionless, all stillness now, Guaire opened his eyes hesitantly and appeared to look around.

Camber knew what must happen next. s.h.i.+fting his gaze out to the center of the room, toward which Queron now slightly turned his face, he watched a tendril of smoky luminescence begin to coalesce, gradually becoming a motionless figure cloaked and hooded in gray.

Was that what he had looked like? No wonder Guaire had been frightened at first!

Guaire rolled over and blinked, staring in amazement as the tall, light-shrouded figure glided a little closer. Alarm animated his face for just an instant as he started to sit bolt upright, but then he froze halfway up, leaning on one elbow, to breathe the ineffable name: "Camber!"

The apparition moved a few steps closer still, then stopped as the hood fell back from silver-gilt hair familiar to nearly everyone in the hall. There was a deep, scarcely breathed, "Ah!" as the face was seen and recognized.

Camber stared at his own image, transfixed. The face seemed younger than he remembered looking for some years, and Camber realized that this must be the way Guaire had seen him, through idolizing eyes.

"Don't be afraid," his own voice said, spoken by Queron, but projected to sound from the figure's lips, and almost exactly in Camber's tone. "I return but for a moment, to ease your grief and to a.s.sure you that I am at peace where I now dwell."

Camber nodded slightly as Guaire did, caught up in the recollection of that other night, and missed conscious registry of the next few exchanges.

". . . With you gone, the king will endure unchecked," Guaire was saying earnestly, when Camber snapped back to full awareness. "I fear him, Lord."

"Pity him, Guaire," the apparition replied gently. "Do not fear him. And help those who remain to carry on our work: Joram, and Rhys, my daughter Evaine -my grandsons, when they are older. And Alister Cullen, who brought you here. He, most of all, has need of your support, if you will only give it."

"Father Alister?" Guaire shook his head in bewilderment, his voice almost plaintive. "But he is so gruff, and sure of himself. How could I possibly help him?"

"He is not so self-sufficient as he would have men think," the response came, a familiar smile playing about the lips. "Gruff he may be, and sometimes far too stubborn for his own good. But he, even more than my children, will miss that companions.h.i.+p we used to share.

Will you help him, Guaire? Will you serve him as you served me?"

All attention focused back on Guaire and waited for his reply, living the moment with him, wondering, awed. Camber could not help admiring the artistry of the man named Queron, who could call so dazzling a recall from Guaire's drug-fogged memory of that night and now held an undrugged audience equally spellbound. He hid a smile behind one casually raised hand as Guaire looked up shyly at his visitant.

"I could truly help him?"

"You could."

"To serve him, as I served you?"

"He is more than worthy, Guaire. And too proud to ask you for your help."

As Guaire swallowed, half the audience swallowed with him.

"Very well, Lord. I will do it. And I will keep your memory alive, I swear it!"

"My memory is not important," the figure replied, more humbly than Camber remembered. "The work we began is. Help Alister, Guaire. Help the king. And be a.s.sured that I shall be with you, even when you are least aware." That much was certain, Camber thought. "I count on you to carry out my work."

"I will, Lord!" Guaire's eyes went round as he realized the vision was about to leave. "No!

Wait, Lord! Do not leave me yet!"

The apparition paused to gaze at him with compa.s.sion.

"I may not stay, my son. Nor may I come to you again. Be at peace."

Staring at the figure forlornly, Guaire scrambled to his knees and raised his hands in a last, desperate supplication.

"Then give me your blessing, Lord. Please! Do not deny me this!"

The familiar face became more solemn, the head tilting slightly as though considering the request, and then a graceful hand was lifting to trace the sign of blessing over Guaire's bowed head.

"Benedicat te omnipotens Deus, Pater, et Filius, et Spiritus Sanctus," the apparition whispered, its form beginning to fade even as Guaire breathed a fervent "Amen."

A last vestige of a ghostly hand seemed to touch the trembling head and then disappeared entirely. Guaire remained motionless for several seconds before opening his eyes to emptiness.

But as he gasped and started to scramble to his feet, Queron roused from his own silence and lightly touched Guaire's shoulder. Instantly Guaire subsided and collapsed back on his heels, eyes closing, head lolling forward slack on his chest.

A concerned "Oh!" whispered through the watchers as Queron himself sank back momentarily, pa.s.sing a slightly trembling hand across his forehead in a gesture which Camber knew masked a fatigue-banis.h.i.+ng spell. But then the Healer-priest drew a deep breath and got slowly to his feet, leaning heavily on Guaire's shoulder for support. His touch brought Guaire back to normal consciousness, to blink and look around bewilderedly as he tried to reorient himself.

A sigh of relief rippled through the chamber.

"Your Grace, the thought will occur to some within this company that if I could produce the effect which you have just witnessed, then Guaire's experience could also have been magically induced," Queron said, helping Guaire to his feet with a hand under one elbow and picking up the cloak from the floor. "I a.s.sure you, this was not the case. Even though his conscious memories were blurred by the effects of the sleeping draught he was given- and I mean to cast no aspersions on the good Bishop Cullen. Sir, you gave him precisely what I myself would have given him, had I been in your place-still, his unconscious mind recorded details of which even he was not aware at the time.

"What Guaire saw was not a magical projection; Camber was physically present in some way which I cannot explain other than through supernatural intervention. It was not Brother Johannes, who was sleeping in a chair behind Guaire-who has been questioned about his own memories of that night and remembers nothing-and it certainly was not Bishop Cullen. I am willing to submit to Your Grace's full examination, to be Truth-Read before this entire company at any depth Your Grace may choose to employ, to confirm that I speak the truth and have in no way embellished what Guaire saw."

To the murmurings of his colleagues, Jaffrey let his gaze sweep over the chamber, obviously much moved.

"I think that will not be necessary, Queron, unless - But would you have this done, my lords? Would you prefer that I confirm Queron's testimony, for form's sake? I have no objection, nor does Queron, and will gladly do it if that will ease your minds. I see a few looks of doubt."

Young Bishop O'Beirne, who had seen mainly the back of Queron's Camberian projection, glanced uneasily to some of his colleagues for support and stood.

"Forgive me, Your Grace, but the ways of Deryni are often mystifying to us humans. I think we would all rest easier if Dom Queron's story were confirmed by one of our own number-by another bishop, that is-such as yourself-if it please Your Grace."

As...o...b..irne sat down, there were nods of agreement and a few murmurings in his support. Queron bowed as Jaffray's eyes flicked back to him, handing his cloak to Guaire and coming forward immediately to kneel at the archbishop's feet.

Queron inclined his head in submission, and the room grew hushed. Jaffray, with a slow, deep breath to prepare for the merging with his former brother's mind, reached out to touch his right fingertips lightly to Queron's temple. His eyes closed and he breathed out slowly, and for a little while nothing disturbed the quiet of the chamber.

After a moment, Jaffray drew another breath and raised his eyes, blinked, let his hand drop to clasp Queron's hand briefly. Some of the serenity he had gained from dipping into Queron's mind stayed with him as he glanced around the room and Queron stood.

"Dom Queron speaks the truth," he said quietly, his voice reflecting a little of his awe.

"Guaire did see what we have seen, and through no Deryni beguilement. I can only agree with Queron's judgment that it was a genuine miracle."

Whispered comment murmured through the chamber, then eased as all realized that Jaffray was not finished.

"Other things I have read also," Jaffray continued, "which have considerable bearing on this case, and I will allow Dom Queron to present them in the due course of this hearing.

However, at this time, I would bring to your attention another piece of information which tends to confirm our speculations concerning Camber's sanct.i.ty."

The lords glanced at one another, some sitting forward in their seats, and Camber felt himself tense. Was Jaffray going to reveal the second "miracle," which Cinhil had witnessed?

"Dom Queron relates that he and his brethren have conducted further investigation into the matter of the Lord Camber's status," Jaffray continued, "including several visits to Camber's burial place in Caerrorie."

Beside Camber, Joram shrank down in his seat. Both of them knew what must be coming next, and if it was not the feared revelation concerning Cinhil, the alternative was nearly as bad.

"Camber's tomb is empty, my lords," Jaffray said. "Queron believes Camber to have been bodily a.s.sumed into heaven!"

The chamber erupted into excited speculation at that, for such a miracle was unheard of in recent times, and surely betokened Camber's sanct.i.ty. Only Joram and Camber did not join in, Joram sitting stunned, eyes wide with horror, his bishop gazing at him in what appeared to be deepest sympathy.

As the chaos died down, Jaffray slowly turned his attention to Joram. Queron still stood on the dais at Jaffray's left, his gaze following the archbishop's.

"Father MacRorie." The archbishop's words silenced all further conversation. "Your expression would seem to betoken disbelief. Can it be that you were unaware of the body's disappearance?"

Joram stood, too shaken at the discovery to do more than try to stall.

"I-cannot imagine how Dom Queron can have learned such a thing," Joram stammered.

"M-my father was buried in a private family vault, beside the tomb of his wife, my mother.

If Queron has violated the sanct.i.ty of his final resting place-"

"The sanct.i.ty of his final resting place appears to be a.s.sured," Jaffray interjected.

"Unless, of course, you can offer some other explanation for the empty tomb."

Joram stared at the floor, his eyes blurring with unbidden tears but remembering the justification they had concocted when they first spoke of moving Cullen's body.

"I-I moved his body," he whispered in desperation.

"I didn't quite catch that, Father."