Praetorian Rising, стр. 45
Phillip shook his head, knowing full well the weight Vesyon carried. "What does the doc say about Camille? About her condition?"
Vesyon chuckled at Phillip's choice of words. "I'm not sure Langhorn would call it a condition, per se. The term he used was 'blood rage.'"
"What happened still makes no sense to me, even after all this time," Phillip said, shifting in his seat.
"I've heard the story; it's not your fault. You wouldn't have been able to stop Camille even if you knew what was about to happen," Vesyon said, knowing the weight of guilt Phillip still carried.
"I'm telling you; she'd been normal that day. She came into Charlie Town when I was on patrol. The sun had barely gone down and then there she was, charging into town like an army of warriors was on her heels. She seemed half-crazed with worry, but her eyes were green—that I know for certain. I remember thinking how much she looked like her mother, red hair flying every direction and a sense of purpose blazing across her face. Jesabelle had been my best Lieutenant, you know—she wasn't afraid of anything. Camille came looking for her that night, told me it was an emergency. Apparently, her mother had sent word of a Chimera attack just inside the village. It crushed me to tell her, but I hadn't seen her mother in over two months since LeMarc requested her presence at Alpha Quarter. She knew her mother hadn't made it, that Jesabelle had gone missing and no one had heard from her. Not to mention that there'd been no Chimera attack to be spoken of. She screamed at me, told me I was an ass of a soldier, and took off toward Alpha Quarter. Tough Praetorian, that one."
"You sure she was in her right mind?" Vesyon asked, aware of the fact he'd asked Phillip the same question over a hundred times already. He knew the story, knew the details. Knew Camille had returned to Charlie Town the next day just after dusk, less than one full sun cycle after talking to Phillip. In that short amount of time, something had happened to her. There was no explanation for it, no logical reasoning behind her fierce change of attitude.
Phillip had always explained it as the coming of the end, a princess of fire blazing through the village with a thirst for death. It had only taken two hours for Camille to slaughter almost every citizen of Charlie Town, Phillip's wife included. Vesyon had been too late to extract Camille after the attack. Chimera rushed in on the heels of her destruction, laying waste to remaining dregs of the city. It was seven years after the massacre of Charlie Town that Phillip finally saw her again after Vesyon rescued her from LeMarc.
"How am I supposed to tell her she brutally murdered an entire village? How am I supposed to break it to her that the whole reason Praetorians were exiled is because of what she did?" Vesyon continued, wishing he had more tobacco to smoke.
Phillip shook his head. "You know that's not entirely true; the High King exiled Praetorians because of what he wanted. She was a pawn in his game, and we both know she never would've destroyed Charlie Town of her own free will. If I can forgive her for what she's done to my family, then she'll be able to see it that way too."
"Yes, but he didn't kill them. Camille did. Innocent men, women, and children. I can't tell her that. It'll break her heart. Not just your wife, but also Peter's wife and their daughter. Telling her the truth will destroy her no matter how you or Peter have been able to cope. I have no idea what really set her off the first time and Ma'Nada knows what might flip that switch a second time."
"You do know what set her off, Captain. Her mother had gone missing two months prior, and Camille had received a message that night from Jesabelle written in her own hand."
Vesyon vehemently shook his head. "Jessie didn't send that message." He paused after uttering his favorite nickname, his mouth going dry. It wasn't like him to talk about Jesabelle, or to reminisce about his long-gone beloved.
Phillip stood and went to a crystal decanter, filling a small glass with ruby red wine and offering some to Vesyon.
Though he would typically abstain, Vesyon accepted the wine and greedily gulped it down.
"She thinks the King Regent is heading here on the High King's request for her and that's it?" Phillip asked, his voice taking on a note of business. They'd known each other long enough to understand the violent effects of their past, and how it was never good to dwell there for too long.
"That's right."
Phillip's eyebrows rose toward the short brown hair he kept impeccably well-groomed at all hours of the day. "You've obviously become a better liar these days, Captain—but you need to tell her what the King Regent is actually coming here for. What he intends to collect."
"There's no need because he won't find it."
"Perhaps. But Metus doesn't know that, and neither does she."
Vesyon looked at Phillip square in the eyes, the deep tones of the General’s ebony features angled with contrast in the flickering light. "Camille doesn't need to know. The less she knows, the safer we are around her. We have twelve days until the army is at our doorstep; that gives me some time to figure out a backup plan."
Phillip drained his glass before pouring himself another round. "Your plans will backfire on you one of these days. I hope you realize that."
Vesyon shrugged, but Phillip was undeterred.
"You tell her, Captain, or I will."
It would be idiotic not to acquiesce to the General, and Vesyon nodded his head in