Rebirth

Rebirth

                “You have proven who you are – or who you were, at least. But I would still hear your tale,” said the Duke of Riverjoin.

                “Of course, your lordship,” came the reply.

                “Thirty-six years ago, in the time of your father, I was a knight. I well-known for several reasons; though chief amongst them were my victories in all events I entered as a squire, and most as a knight. From my twenty-third birthday onwards I was a Knight of Riverjoin, and aided in the defeat of several terrible creatures that wandered into the Duchy.

                “In my thirty-second year I was sent on an expedition up the eastern river, past the mines and into the valleys between the mountains. I had been sent by the Duke to scout the land, to discover what lay there – monsters, men, the quality of the land, and other details. I made my way to the very source of the river safely, and found the land to be fertile and safe. But I also met many winged ones, who claimed the lands as their own (though they gave me safe passage).

                “On my way back, I saw her. A woman beautiful beyond any I had ever seen lay in the shallow water of a pool just off the river, her head poking above the water into the sunlight. I was smitten instantly, despite the slight blue tint of her ivory pale skin. I hesitated for a moment, but could not resist. ‘Greetings!’ I called out, approaching her.

                “She hear my call, and rose from the water with a smile. She wore a blue dress that clung to her tightly, and her body was as perfect as her face. ‘Hello, handsome traveller,’ she said to me. Her smile… It warmed my heart in a way I had never felt before. Barely conscious of my actions I walked right up to her and, well, I stared. I was completely awestruck by her beauty, by her very existence.

                “She giggled as I stood before her, amused at how much her beauty shocked me. And then she said the words that would mark the end of my life: ‘Would you like a kiss?’”

                “I was in no state to disagree with her, so as she leaned forwards I mirrored her actions. Our lips met softly, then firmly. She placed one hand behind my head and the other around my back, drawing me into a tight embrace. I tried to reciprocate but my arms could not move. Yet I did not care; so wonderful was the kiss. It seemed to last for an age, yet it could not have been long before my legs buckled as they too lost their strength.

                “I felt my entire body fading away, piece by piece. But I did not care. I could still feel her lips on mine, even as my vision blurred and her face disappeared. Strangely, though, the last thing I recall is her smell; something I had not taken heed of. It was delightful, much like the rest of her. It was an impossible smell that evoked a river of the purest water on a cool sunny day.

                “And then I died.”

                “About two years passed between then and the next time I was fully conscious, though I remember half-formed thoughts and images. I was in a warm, dark place. Though I could barely move, I was able to feel my surroundings. The walls were soft and pressed in on me; and I seemed to be connected to them. When I checked myself to ensure I was fine, I found myself to be naked; but worse – my body was wrong.

                “I almost panicked, but years of training allowed me to keep my wits. Which was certainly for the best – I am not sure when I finally pieced together that I was in a womb, that I had become a baby once more. Perhaps it was the first time she spoke to me as I grew inside her.

                “I could recall her voice, as I had heard it many times before coming to my senses. She spoke soothing words, and promises that I would be born soon. One day she said something very important: ‘I think you are awake now, my child, which is wonderful. I think that despite the strangeness of this world you have the gift of language. It is the only part of your father that remains. The rest of him – his memories, his life – remained in his body. You are my daughter, my first daughter in this strange world.’

                “She was wrong. I possessed all of my memories; my life as a knight, knowledge of my sworn duty to the Duchy regardless of circumstance. I have discovered since that time that in this world – our world – memories are retained in one’s soul, which was not true in the world she came here from.

                “I decided to hide my knowledge from her then. It was difficult. Despite remembering who I had been, I also felt her. I felt her giving life to me, I felt her nurturing me in her womb, I felt… Like a child, and that she was my mother. This was offputting at first – she had killed me, after all – but as time passed I got to know her from the words she spoke to me. She was kind, and gentle, and had long been lonely and fearful that she could not carry a daughter in this world.

                “And in truth, I did not die. My body did, but my soul was drawn into her and used to create new life in her womb. I was recreated as her daughter. A ‘river siren’, she told me, was what we were. Spirits of the rivers, bound to the water. She had been trapped underground for years, but upon surfacing had chosen the section of river I chanced upon as her home. One day, she said, I would travel the river and find a place to call home myself.

                “It was strange, to be told that I was now something else. But I could feel the river as she swam through it; it felt friendly, and filled me with the sense of peace one can only get where one is at home. I was a river siren. And though tinged by pity and anger, I loved my mother.

                “I was conscious within her womb for nearly an entire year, slowly growing. She told me stories, of the world she had come from, of the duties the river sirens had there. This world was different; there was no great order, no forced purpose. She had walked on dry land unharmed, there was no evil that needed to be purified from the water whenever found. Many were the differences she named, but the important detail was that despite the differences she felt her duty was the same. To protect the river, and the life that depended upon it.

                “Just over thirty-three years ago, I was born again. As the river washed away the mess of birth, and my mother dressed me in a robe, I said my first new words: ‘Hello mother.’ In reply, she smiled, held me close and whispered, ‘Hello daughter.’ I remembered her smile from before, but this time… This time it was a different kind of beauty that I saw, and a different kind of love that I felt. I loved her as her child loves their mother.

                “I lived with her as I grew up, learning many things. I learnt how to prepare food entirely underwater; fish and river plants. I learnt of the magic inherent within us, how to use it and what to use it for. Of other magics she had discovered in the time since she had come to this world, so long ago. She was happy, so happy, that she was no longer alone. That I was there with her. Her wonderful daughter. She named me Deep-Current-That-Pulls-Strongly, and called me Deep.

                “My intent changed as the years past. At first I intended to leave as soon as I was able, despite my love for her. But what I was taught was incredible; and I could not abandon my mother. So I stayed with her through my entire childhood, and as I blossomed into a beautiful woman. I look a lot like her. It – it makes me miss her, when I see myself. We do not age, so the resemblance is strong still.

                “Although it took me until just three months ago to learn all she had to teach, I have long known what I would do when the time came for me to leave. She wished for me to swim the river, to find a place in it to protect and nurture.

                “But I have a different duty that I am sworn to uphold. Duke and Duchy. So I have always known that my place – where I would return to – would be here. That I would return changed, but still a Knight of Riverjoin. I will serve your line until the day I die, your lordship.”

                The pale-skinned beauty curtsied, dipping her head to the Duke. The Duke nodded, and said, “I am honoured to have you in my service. But please, finish your tale.”

                “Yes, your lordship. I spent many years planning how I would leave; and also planning how I would tell my mother that I remembered my previous life and wished to return to the service of Riverjoin. I dug up my old body’s grave in secret, taking the ring bearing my seal and the funds I had been carrying with me when I died.

                “When the day came to leave I was torn. I feared her reaction if she knew that I was more than just her daughter – that I remembered almost as many years as a human, and a knight, as I had spent with her. Strangely enough, I think it was those old memories and ways – though altered by the intervening years – that made me choose to tell her as she prepared to see me off.

                “I did not want to hurt her, yet I wanted to tell her the truth. And I feared for her: if she bore another daughter, there was no guarantee that they would be like me. They might murder her, or worse. Even if they loved her as I did they could be predisposed towards violence and evil, and set off to terrorise the land once grown.

                “So I told her. She was shocked; but she loves me deeply. She understood why I had deceived her – at first, because I feared she would kill me or distrust me; later because I feared she would cast me out or that she would be hurt by my deception. She was hurt, of course, but not as much as I feared. She told me I should have told the truth earlier, and I suspect she was right.

                “After I explained my plan to her – to head to the capital of Riverjoin and offer to return to my former role as a knight – she was surprised. But duty is something she understands; and I am in truth not sure whether the strong sense of duty I feel is from before or after I became a river siren. I feel it, however, and so I came here.

                “My last words to her were a warning, and a plea. I asked her not to kiss another as she had me; to not bear another daughter. At least, that she not choose someone unless she knew them well. Only if she was certain that they would be a good daughter. I worry that she did not listen, but I plan to visit her often so I do not worry much.

                “I set off down the river, flowing through it. We do not swim, as such; we use our magic to ‘ask’ the river to part before us, propelling us along. I made it into Riverjoin in under two days; an incredible pace. I had never before gone far and had no idea of the speed at which I can make my way through water.

                “Once I arrived in Prejoin, I left the water. I spent some time learning what had happened in the past thirty years; the death of your father and your ascension to the dukedom. The troubles that have plagued the land, the new heroes and what happened to the old. Much of what I was familiar with was hard to catch up on – in truth, minor details that I was curious about. I spent much time in the company of old men who could no longer work, and convinced the baron to grant me several audiences.

                “In that time I learnt that spending large amounts of time out of water – more than a week – would start to take a toll. I realised that I could not make my way to Riverjoin by land as I had originally planned, but would instead have to follow the river further. That is why I appeared almost from nowhere two days ago, as I walked up from the river five days hence. I managed to take baths at inns on the way, so I’m still healthy.

                “And so I have come here, your lordship. My abilities – which I have already told you of – are yours to command as you see fit, for the good of the Duchy. I only request that I not be asked to bear a daughter. I – I could, should they be willing. But it will be at my choosing. They would become my daughter; and I do not want to be the mother of a terrible darkness.”

                The Duke looked at her carefully. “I believe your tale; much as I believe you are honest and true. You are also wise, which I suspect comes from your many years and two lives. As such – and as I am not sure I understand your powers as you described them – I ask that you serve the Duchy as you see fit. Cleanse the poisoned rivers we have had to dam of the filth from the mines so that the fields will grow a great bounty, and so that fish live within them once again. Aid knights as they hunt monsters that wander into the Duchy.”

                “I will not be a knight?” she asked, a note of disappointment in her voice.

                “You are still a knight, regardless, in truth. But I wish for you to become a member of the Protectors of Riverjoin; the order above the knights that consists of nobility. As such, I will give you a higher title: Countess of the Rivers. Their bounty is not yours to dole out; but you will have final say on what may be done in them and on them, to ensure they flow clear and pure. Eventually, once you have proven yourself, I will grant you the land up the river should you be able to treat with the winged ones for it.”

                She was silent for a moment, so great was the honour bestowed upon her. Then she knelt before the Duke, and said, “I am honoured, beyond any possibility of deserving such kindness, your lordship. Thank you.”

                The Duke rose, and placed his hands on her shoulders. A quick glance confirmed that his scribe was still present, and he said, “I raise you, Deep-Current-That-Pulls-Strongly, once known as Sir Victor the Champion, to the rank of Countess; and I grant you the domain of the rivers within Riverjoin.”

                Taking his seat once more, he said, “You may rise.” And so she did.