Identity Theft - Kamilah Thersos
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A pair of commoners sit in an inn in Peltarch, drowning their sorrows in ale and exchanging tall tales. A friend of theirs, a non-descript dock-worker named Josef, soon joins them.
"Hail, Josef." Yells one of the men.
Josef pulls up a chair and drops his tankard of ale on their tiny table, sending the poor excuse for carpentry into a steady wobble until Josef grips it steady."I saw the most damn-dest thing this morning." Josef starts. "That Chessentan girl… The bard... Kamilah is her name. She got attacked down by the docks!"
The other men exchange expressions of mock surprise, but allow Josef to continue.
"As I said, it was the damn-dest thing. I was out in the rain tying a mooring line out in the docks, and I see the young bard wander past. She smiled at me, so I watch her walk off for maybe 5 seconds. Then I am back tending to the line.
Then boom! I hear a thud. I look up and Kamilah is on the floor. I would have gone to help but I had to keep hold of the line before I lose the boat.
It is hard to see in the rain, but she did not fall. No, she was pushed. I see the rain bouncing off the figure; invisible I think, but you can see the rain bounce off her."
Josef shakes her head in disbelief, falling silent a few seconds before continuing."Then the woman, she is no longer invisible. She appears before Kamilah, and her eyes… Kamilah's eyes… They are wide with fear. At first I wonder why, then the lady standing above her takes off her hood. She looks just like her. It is like a mirror between them!"
His fellow compatriots look baffled.
"What do you mean, Josef?" One of them asks, sipping tentatively at a mug of ale.
"I mean this woman - she looks just like Kamilah!" Josef exclaims. "Maybe she was older, not so tall. Like she could be her sister, or maybe a mother.""Why would her mother attack her in the docks?" Another inquires.
Josef shrugs off the questions with a sudden flailing of his arms.
"I don't know. Maybe it was not her mother, but Kamilah seemed so scared of her. The lady, she just stares. She is not angry, or violent; just totally silent."
"Then." Josef grips the handle of his tankard firmly and takes a swift chug of his ale. "Kamilah waves her hands wildly. She cries 'Kamilah, I am sorry. Kamilah, I am sorry' over and over. But the lady, now she gets angry. They start to argue; I think in Chessentan, maybe. They argue for a long time. The lady… the older Kamilah; she is very pretty. Maybe prettier than the young one.
But anyway… Then Kamilah - the younger - she gets up. She is crying, and they walk off together. So strange because they look so similar. But the young one; she is much taller. Her hair too, it looks fake, you know. Like it is dyed, maybe.
Then, the older one, she calls the young girl ‘Cal-ee’ or something. ‘Cal-Oh-Pey’ maybe. Hard to hear in all the rain."Josef rubs his forehead before taking an almighty gulp of Ale. His two compatriots look puzzled. One of them pipes up.
"Who is Kamilah?" He asks.
Josef, whose tankard was only millimetres from his lip, withdraws the beverage and slams it down on the table; his face locked in frustration.
"The bard! Young girl. Red hair. She's from Chessenta. She plays that Yarting!" He rages.
"So… what? Her older sister, whose name is also Kamilah, took her away?"
"No, no!" says Josef. "I... I don't know who she was. They just looked so alike. And anyway, I think the young one left town. She seemed so upset."
Josef's friends look bewildered.
"What are you on about, Josef? You're saying this bard's twin appeared… and then sent her away?"
Josef frowns, scratching the back of his head as his eyes leer at a passing barmaid's cleavage.
"Suppose when you put it that way… It does not make much sense. But… that’s what I saw!"He rounds off his story with a brief rant about elves, downing his ale before promptly ordering another. After several more, Josef and his friends head back into obscurity.