Rogue Firefury

POSSESSION

Music: Wish You were Here - Blackmore's Night

Camnath rode his steed at full gallop to Southshore where his guild had rooms reserved at the inn. They were due, next day, to head south-west to Menethil Harbour for the mid-morning boat to Theramore in Kalimdor.

His hurt and anger still burned deep. He could not come to terms Tiene had not so much as mentioned him to anyone. She must have had someone there who she could have spoken with, surely? Yet, according to Brett, Sauren's right-hand, she had not.

Camnath, in comparison, mentioned Tiene whenever he had the chance - be it to his sister, Faealla, his Guildmates, and even his Guild Master, Belaen; to whoever was willing to listen, really. For just over a year, he had spoken about her, dreamed of her, written to her - loved her.

Tonight was going to be their night; the time when they would express how much they meant to each other. Or so he had hoped.

But now she was betrothed to the Crimson Blades Guild Master; the arrogant, son-of-a-naga who swaggered his way through the evening and took great joy in humiliating Camnath in front of Tiene.

According to Brett, Sauren was lying. He did not believe Yathas would agree to Sauren courting his daughter. Brett had a point too when he said Tiene herself would have known. On reflection, she had appeared distraught by the announcement. Camnath also tried to reason the Firefurys were such a close family - Yathas would not agree to such a thing without first speaking with his daughter. And, they were all well aware that he had strong feelings for her. Weren't they?

As he rode hard, thinking all the time, he blamed himself. The more he thought about it he realised he should have gone to Tiene's father first, and long before now. Camnath had known, after all, many months ago, that Tiene was the one he wanted to be with; there was no-one else.

If only he had acted sooner! He snorted, dragging his arm across his nose, wiping the snot away. Then she would've had no excuse not to mention him in front of people! He gritted his teeth. Oh, why did that hurt so much? Did it constitute a denial of her feelings for him? Did she ever feel for him at all?

Tormented though he was by conflicting feelings, he did not want to believe her love for him had been a lie - nothing more than foolish hope. But rational thinking was hard when your heart was breaking into a million shards.

Words from her letters swirled in his mind. They always spoke of her love for him. She used to write of little butterflies swarming in her belly whenever she thought of him. He'd liked that. He choked back a sob.

Suddenly, anger flared. All Camnath could imagine now was Tiene with Sauren holding, touching and kissing her. He could not seem to shake that image from his mind.

But what if he'd made a terrible mistake! She had tried to tell him it was not true - that Sauren was lying. And Brett had been adamant; it was all fabrication. What if the bastard had contrived the whole thing and was forcing himself on Tiene right now?