and sees Amber, drunk and unconscious
Claudius, taking one last look at the sea, walks away from the hilltop.
"See what happens when you don't join me?" he thinks as he clenches his fist. He stops and takes a breath, and pats his horse on its nose.
"You understand don't you, Comet...yeah," Claudius says as he mounts Comet and takes off at a gallop.
Claudius reins in Comet to an easy trot once he reaches camp and dismounts, striding into his tent. "Amber?" he says in a low voice.
Amber is laying in the far corner of the tent curled into a fetal-position, unconscious. There are empty bottles laying all around her that once contained wine...beer...various alcohols-- some smashed. A half-empty bottle of white wine is clenched in one of her hands, almost spilling the rest of its contents onto the floor.
Markova shakes his head and kneels by her. He brushes the hair from her face to see she has been weeping. Sitting by her, he puts his hand on her head and strokes her hair waiting for her to awaken.
Amber lays still for some time, but finally she begins to stir. When she opens her eyes slowly and groggily and sees Markova sitting in front of her, she gives a little start...and then it's as though her memories of their last encounter start to awaken bit by bit and the horror crashes down on her. Fresh tears start to form, and she closes her eyes quickly. "Is she dead then. Ye killed her? Tell me now so I can go back ta sleep an' escape from all o' this..."
"No...I haven't touched her...her or her friends." He says touching her cheek. He picks up one of the bottles, "Drowning your sorrows?"
Amber opens her eyes and narrows them, studying Markova for a minute. "Aye...what other option did I have??" She pauses for a moment. "Why? Why didn't ye touch them?" She realizes she's still clutching a wine bottle and lays it upright out of the way, feeling her head pound.
Claudius looks at her a moment, "Because I chose not to. Because I wish to have one last talk with her one-on-one. Maybe she will listen to reason without the others."
Amber nods, and a grateful look spreads across her face. "Oh yes-- please talk with her! She never said so, but I know she's always wanted the chance ta speak with the father who died before she was born! I think she's only bein' resentful because ye won't let her try things on her own...when I spoke with her a week or so ago, I tried ta tell her what a good man ye are, an' I think I mighta convinced her." Amber pauses for a moment. "I...we...we saw ye that day...when Amon's wife was murdered. We know ye didna do it. We saw yer grief, love..." Amber winces at her suddenly raging headache and puts a hand to her head, struggling to prop herself up with one arm.
His eyes open wide, "You saw that?? How? I thought I was alone? Why didn't you help?" he says with a shocked look on his face.
Amber gets a look of anguish on her face, and the tears start forming up again. "We were in the Gauntlet...I think ye call it the Umbra? We were watchin'..." A tear quickly rolls down Amber's cheek. "Amon put the fear o' God inta us that we not interfere under any circumstances-- he knew what would happen, an' knew time couldna be changed...so we had ta watch ta make sure that it DID happen..." Amber starts crying now. "Oh Claudius, it was horrible! HORRIBLE!!" Amber lays down on her stomach, covering her head with her arms as she cries.
Claudius takes Amber in his arms and lets her weep.
"That was a long time ago...I still can see it...I wanted to save her but...that bastard has been hating me his whole existence for something I didn't do..." He kisses Ambers head.
Amber nods against Markova's chest, speaking muffledly into it. "I know...I know, Claudius! Thousands o' years o' hatin' ye, an' all because he awoke as ye were tryin' ta help her..." Amber closes her eyes for a moment. "Speakin' o' help, can ye do anythin' fer this hangover?" she asks softly.
He chuckles, "I would imagine that you have quite the hangover with all these bottles. No...I won't take it away. I don't want to see you like this again, so you can deal with your hangover."
Amber pulls her head back and looks at Markova in surprise. "Bastard..." she says in a low voice, but she can't help the smile that creeps onto her face. "Fine then...I understand. Father used ta try ta drown me when I got like this, but ye can't even bother ta do that, now, can ye?"
Claudius looks into her eyes, "Why? Why didn't you tell me I had a daughter?"
Amber looks at Markova with blood-shot eyes. "Why were ye so angry...when I told ye? Are ye not happy then?" Amber pauses as a look of fear creeps over her face. "Do...do ye have other children?" she asks quietly.
"No I don't..." he says looking out to the horizon. "I was angry because you kept it from me, all these years...You didn't trust me."
Amber pushes herself up to a sitting position and gives a little bitter laugh. "Didn't trust YOU? Oh love, it wasn't you." Amber exhales. "Ye'll see-- once other people know that ye're father an' daughter, ye're enemies will be tryin' ta get hold o' her ta use her against ye, an' her enemies will try ta use ye against her! Do ye know what pains I've gone through to ta keep her alive? Amon surely woulda killed her had he known who her father was!"
Amber closes her eyes for a moment, and then opens them. "The minute we left Egypt an' went back ta the present, I took the time-machine to a place far away from Amon...back ta ancient Ireland. That is where I spent the entirity o' my pregnancy an' gave birth ta Cliodhna...Claudia..." Amber looks into Markova's eyes. "When I got back ta the present, I had the name 'Claudia Markova McPhearson' put on her birth certificate, because I was thinkin' with me heart, not me head. She's been called Cliodhna ever since, an' only now-- now that the truth is out-- can I call her by her given name." Amber watches Markova's face carefully.
He thinks a moment and nods, "I see your point, they would have done that. I was angry when you told me that...it was probably not the time...I did not mean to hurt you like that I..." Claudius stands up and walks to the front of the tent.
Amber watches him-- so different now than he was the day before when he was shouting and raging. She closes her eyes and stands slowly and painfully. Holding onto whatever can be used to support her weight, she makes her way over to stand behind Markova. Even the light of the sunset hurts her eyes, so she wraps her arms around his waist and leans her forehead against his shoulder.
"Claudius...we made a baby together! We have a beautiful daughter, an' she's her father's daughter in almost every way! She's bright an' determined an' a hard-worker...a natural leader...she even looks like ye, my darlin'!" Amber pauses. "That is how I wanted ta tell ye. In a quiet moment like this one with no one around. A beautiful revelation between two people who...care for each other very much. I'm so sorry it came out the way it did. I didn't want ye ta find out that way..." Amber holds Markova tighter for a moment.
Markova watches the sun set and takes Amber's hands in his and mutters inaudibly, "Yes...she's like me..." He turns, puts his arm around Amber and leads her back into the tent.
Amber watches Markova-- wondering what he's thinking. He seems so quiet and emotionless! Amber wonders if she was a fool for thinking that Markova would react the way a new father in the caern would act upon welcoming his new child into the world...life so precious and rare to a Garou. At least he was being gentle and affectionate with her after...losing control earlier. Amber doesn't know if she should prod more for what's going through his mind right now...sometimes it's so hard to tell how to handle Markova!
Finally Amber speaks. "Ye know, I was never fated ta be alive long enough ta raise Claudia? It's true. I don't know how much of my pack's doin's ye were aware of durin' the second World War, but in stoppin' the Nazis, my role was ta blow a horn that would bring back ancient heros that would sweep over our enemies an' turn the tide...but I would have ta give my life fer it ta work. I knew the whole time I was pregnant that I would never see my daughter again once I returned ta the present an' had Father come get her." Amber's eyes grow unfocused as she relives the past. "I remember blowin' the horn, an' then the next thing I knew I was standin' back in Two Feather's caern in France with wee Claudia, who was walkin' an' tryin' ta talk! I...I don't know how it happened! Turtle is wise an' good..." Amber shakes her head in amazement.
Claudius begins to remember seeing Amber's lifeless body upon the ground. He looks at Amber, "Turtle did not reright time Amber. I did."
"I was angered at what my soldiers had done, I did not tell them to do those things...I rerighted things."
Amber stops walking and looks at Markova in stunned silence. "You...ye were there??" She pauses again. "Then...it was ye who brought Sanki back ta life, as well..." Amber looks down and tear rolls down her cheek. "Thank ye, Claudius," Amber says in a whisper-quiet voice. "Thank ye fer givin' me the blessin' o' raisin' my...our daughter!!" Amber turns and throws her arms around Markova, holding him tight as silent tears fall. "Ye have so much power an' do so much good with it! Would that everyone could see ye as I do!" Amber lifts her head, holds Markova's chin, and kisses him deeply in love and gratitude.
He returns her kiss and then slips away from her, "They only see what they want to see. Only what that old man lets them see. If they knew what I do they'd join me and let me destroy those...those things," he says clenching his fist. "They are so blinded by his words they can't see the truth of anything!"
Amber nods a little nod as she watches Markova worriedly again. What WOULD the others think if they saw Claudius as she did? If they took the time to acknowledge the good that he does? And why DON'T they acknowledge the good that he does?? Suddenly Amber feels as frustrated and dispairing as Markova sounds. With Ahuru and Amon against Markova...fate, itself, calling Claudius an abberation...what hope does she have that Claudius will survive this? And why will they not take the time to sit and talk with him?? He CAN be changed! She just KNOWS it! "Ye're right, my love...Claudia is our only hope..." she murmurs in a very quiet, sad voice.
Wraith Side-Story 13: "Last Moments of Tenderness"
