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My Bian Cara frowned as she hunched forewords, keeping the wind off
her face and trying to hide from the rain when something large settled
over her shoulders. Immediately, she knew what it was and grateful,
wrapped herself tightly in the oilskin coat.
“You should know better than to run off in such a weather.” Said the
voice easily.
My Bian Cara flushed, unused to the attention. “I thought I’d make it
home on time.” She said testily, and instantly regretted her tone.
“Besides, it’s not as if anyone worries.”
“Of course we do. Worry.” Slowing his pace so that they were walking
equally, Taru looked down, grinning. “Reika would kill me if anything
happened to you.”
At the mention of the name, the woman who tied their lives together, My
Bian Cara fell silent. It had been a while, since she had disappeared
and Shy had promised to come back with some word…
“She’s been gone for a while.” Taru noted easily.
My Bian Cara hesitated. Everyone knew the rumors spreading that she had
slept with another man, that her dragon had risen and… but she didn’t
voice her thoughts, her believes because she loved this man too much.
Not that she stood a chance, of course. She was much too loyal.
Arriving at her doorstep in an uncomfortable silence, Taru paused. My
Bian’s mind was moving wildly. Was she supposed to invite him in? Say
something? In the end she settled for a smile, but by the time she
opened her mouth—
“I’ll see you, then.” Taru said simply.
Well, it was never meant to work out anyways.
***
Three in the morning, when her muscles ached and it felt as if the
windows were flashing with thunder, she noticed something was missing.
Or, something had… appeared in her room.
Still in her bed and keeping stock, she frowned.
“You’d have done well, as a soldier.” Came the voice.
And she knew who it was.
Although she might have dreamt about this, the situation wasn’t what
she thought it would be.
“Taru?” she whispered.
“Do you have someone else who visits you in the middle of the night?”
his words were light, but when she turned to see him sitting in the
corner of the room, there was something grave and dispassionate about
his bose.
“He’s probably run off now.” She said lightly, and blushed. She never
spoke like this! “Are you okay?”
“When someone who loves sleeps with another man, what does it mean?”
Ah, so he knew now. Sitting up, and not worrying about him seeing her
in her night clothes (she was far too modest to wear something
risqué to bed) she turned on the bedside lamp and watched him.
“That she’s loyal to her dragon, and was doing it for Tsukihikaruth.”
She said slowly.
Taru laughed a dry sound. “Figures.” He said dryly. “The wrong person
to ask. You would never, ever say anything against her, would you?”
She decided not to answer that question. After a strained silence, she
got up. “I’ll get you something to drink.” She said abruptly.
Taru chuckled. “Am I finally managing to get a reaction out of you?”
At the door, she paused. “What?”
“You know.” He pressed on, as if he had never heard her speak. “You’re
always on her side, her little shadow. I’ve never seen you do anything
for yourself. I don’t even know what to call you. She calls you Cara,
and everyone else calls you by your entire time. My Bian Cara.” His
tone was slightly mocking. “What kind of name is that? For the past six
years, you’ve been nothing but a shadow.”
His words were not particularly harmful—maybe it was just that someone
she loved spoke them.
“Ah.” He started. “I didn’t mean—“
“You don’t know.” She said quietly, her voice shaking. “What it’s like
to leave with them for eight years.” Light filtered in from the kitchen
as she walked in, and Taru followed. “You don’t know what it’s like to
think your life is over and to have nothing to live for, but too scared
to die.” She moved blindly, reaching for a glass and the liquor. “She
saved me.” The glass landed with a loud crash on the counter. “She
saved me, dammit.” She said, loud.
“I didn’t mean.” He started again. “I don’t know what to call you.”
My Bian Cara looked up in disbelief. “Six years, and you don’t know
what to call me?” she echoed, her voice slightly brittle.
“Bian.” She said. “Only Reika gets to call me Cara.”
