Chapter Seven: A matter of perspective

Chapter Seven: A matter of perspective

"Do you have a solution to our little issue?" Haskill asked when Karja appeared in the throne room the next morning, Camori was still in her quarters, sleeping. Karja didn't have on her dress, but was wearing a grey tunic and a plain black skirt.

"Yes I have, if you could summon the two smiths here I can explain, I think the people will like this"

"Yes, I will send someone into town"

"Thank you, I'm going to have some breakfast – please wait for me if I'm not back in here by the time they arrive"

"Of course"

Flame Stalks were actually a very sweet fruit, their name and menacing appearance often fooled people, but being a traveler, and having to eat whatever she could as food, Karja had had her share of Flame Stalks, and she'd decided she'd have them for breakfast this morning. She harvested some in the conservatory on the mania side, and then went back to her quarters, which formerly had belonged to Syl, to prepare them for her and Camori.

"Are you making potions?" Camori asked, rising from the bed later one once she'd returned, wrapped in a red sheet, and going over to Karja's eating table.

"No" Karja said looking up at him; she forked a piece of Flame Stalk into her mouth. "I'm eating breakfast, there's some over there for you" she pointed to the other side of the table.

"How come your servants don't make them for you?" Camori said, wrapping his arms around her neck.

"They don't know what I like – I should go back to Cyrodiil and bring some more food here"

"Why, you don't like Grummite Eggs?" he teased. "Or Greenmote?"

"Not entirely" she replied, thinking of the dangerous effect the drug had on the body, including hallucination, numbness, and heart explosion. Camori released her, and took a seat on the other side of the table. Karja noticed a scar across his right shoulder that she hadn't seen before, Camori had many little scars on his chest and stomach, but this one was rather large and very fresh.

"Where did that come from?" she asked as he ate a piece of Flame Stalk.

"Hm?" he looked down at his shoulder where she was pointing. He swallowed. "Oh, Dumag sent me to find some amber for him, had a little run in with a Scalon"

"You're working for Dumag now?" she asked quietly.

"Not exactly" he replied. "He just sent me on that one errand when I went to go get my bow fixed"

"He's not your friend is he?" Karja asked.

"Well…I wouldn't call him 'friend'" he responded leaning against his hand. "Why?"

"Because my plan was to have them fight each other…either one surrenders or one of them dies, and I doubt either of them will surrender…but I don't want anybody else your close to getting killed"

"Don't worry about it" he said. "Besides, he's an Orc, there's no way she could kill him"

"I've killed Orcs before – but they were bandits, not smiths"

"Exactly"

"Well she's just as skilled with weapons as he is" Karja noted. Camori nodded.

"Not to mention she's insane"

"They'll be here soon" Karja informed him. She had no intentions of rushing herself at the two smith's convenience. She planned on taking a very long bath and perhaps unpacking all of her things, then maybe seeing what potions she could make with the ingredients she had on her.

"Better hurry up then" Camori yawned. Karja put her elbows on the table and leaned her chin into her hands.

"No…let's take a bath first" she said.

"Isn't it a bit inconsiderate to keep them waiting?" he asked, raising an eyebrow and smiling slightly at her. She blinked.

"Are you forgetting where we live? Are you forgetting who I am? Do the people of this place even know what considerate means?"

"I was testing you" he assured. "Making sure Cyrodiil hasn't had an effect on your sanity – or lack thereof" Karja laughed, playing with a strand of hair. She gazed across the table at her…'lover' as Harla had so bluntly put. No. He was more than that.

"The things I do in Cyrodiil are far more insane than the things I do here" she reassured twisting the strand around her finger. "And what has sanity got to do with consideration – I think you mean manners"

"They all loop into the same circle in the big picture, if you're not happy; you're insane, if you're rude; you're insane; I could go on…that's why I left Tamriel, I was everything others did not consider 'normal'"

Karja stood, taking Camori's empty plate and putting it on top of hers for one of the chambermaids to pick up later.

"You were rude and unhappy? That disposition doesn't suit you, my love" Karja said, going through her drawers looking for a bathrobe.

"What about you?" Camori asked a little while later, as Karja leaned her glistening body over the edge of the large, circular bathtub to ring out her massive set of blood colored locks. The bathtub was big enough for at least five people, the water came directly from the pools of madness, so it was very refreshing. "Do people think you're strange out there?"

"People that know me respect me" She answered, straightening herself to face Camori.

"Why?" he asked. "You're not a god there"

"Well, besides the guards, faction heads, and smiths, I have a considerably larger weapon collection than most people. And my superiors, well…they're all a little insane; nobody is really sane to begin with. Which is why I don't bother abandoning Tamriel to hide from everybody in this place – the citizens are exactly the same in both places"

"How so?" Camori asked, Karja lifted her arm and rested it on the edge of the bathtub. Camori moved through the water to be closer to her, he lay down against her stomach and rested his head against her chest and collarbone.

"There might not be a guy wandering through Vivec selling sticks, but really – people here will judge you, people here will gossip, people here will stab you in the back. The head of the Mazken guard tried to betray Syl – complete and utter insanity. You can't tell me that doesn't happen in Tamriel, too" her arm wrapped loosely around Camori's back. He listened to her heartbeat, cherishing the feeling of his cheek pressed into her skin, their legs entwined and their bodies fitting perfectly together like pieces of a puzzle. He treasured every moment, who knew when she would leave again?

"Where's Vivec?" he asked with a slight yawn, he was still a bit groggy. Camori was never interested in a certain thing for too long, and had a habit of often changing subjects.

"You're joking right?" Karja asked. "It's in Morrowind – big – huge city…that's where I was arrested" she recalled "I thought I told all of this before?"

"You told me you were born in Elsweyr and arrested in Morrowind when you were thirteen, you didn't specify where"

"Still…it's hard to believe you don't know of the place"

"I've never been out of Skyrim or Cyrodiil"

"You still should have heard of Vivec" Karja teased, playing with his damp hair. "I'll take you there someday…next time I leave you can come with me. I won't leave you behind like I did last time"

"Will they let me stay here in the castle with you?" Camori questioned.

"What do you mean? My guards? It's not their decision. I wouldn't think" Karja told him sternly. "Where are you staying? You can bring your things here…we'll go and get them after the matter with the smiths is settled"