Chapter 7: Forward Scouting Thread

The soldier isn't really even looking at Wil any more. He nods absently at the given answer. "Very well. And the other fellow? He looks Rhamian by descent. Is he possessed of arcane talents?"

He taps the device in his hand with one finger, and it begins to glow with a faintly yellowish sheen. He glances toward the door of the house with vague interest, but really, he seems bored and disappointed. 'Jassin's' trauma seems forgotten now.

The only skill I have seen from that one is making women blush. To be honest, most men of proper manner would blush ar his stories as well. I know I do.

Wil moves like he is going to go back in and shut the door.

If there is nothing else, I really should go and make sure everyone is comfortable. You have a good day officer.

Something about Wil's tone catches the soldier's attention, and he glances up, eyes narrowed. "He does seem to be a rather coarse fellow," he says, sniffing disdainfully. "Rhamians," he adds, in the same tone of voice he might describe a particularly nasty bit of animal excrement on his well-polished boot.

"You said you were from Ardraven. What was the state of the border when you came through? Not that many people bother with traveling over land across the border if they have more suitable means of transport, but I've heard some odd news coming from the west."

Will chuckles and shrugs in a " what are you going to do about Rhamians way.

I would never have ventured away from the shire, but without a queen bee my family would have no income. I am thankful to say I had a very uneventful trip up until I found our poor wounded fellow. Once I make sure he is comfortable and his wife is safe, I am off to finish my business and go home.

I will be sure to be extra careful on my way back. Thank you for the warnings. You are obviously an upstanding
gentleman

The soldier looks for a moment as though he might push the question further: lips pressed together in thought or maybe consternation, a glance or two toward the house. In the end, however, he decides that it's just not worth the continued confusion, stress, and effort. He nods to Wil, puts the device back in his pocket and says, "Good luck to you, sir. And... good luck to them. A shame, what happened to him."

The feeling really isn't in the words, though. It's polite, nothing more.

He turns on his heel, his short cape flaring out behind him, and he heads back to the transport engine. Within a couple of minutes, it hums to life and levitates smoothly away from the farm.

When the sound of the transport engine has faded, Verrian stands up and begins to fold the blanket she's had across her legs. She maintains the disguise of Jassin's injured face and body, which makes a jarring contrast with her own voice as she addresses Alinsa, with her voice pitched to reach the Jassin upstairs.

"I think they will probably take Jassin's name off their list of mages to be proscripted into their service, but I would strongly suggest that you consider leaving this house and find somewhere else to set up. If they make further rounds looking for others and notice this farm looking active and well-kept, they may investigate and discover our trick."

Wil leans against the door in relief.

Verrian, I think you can change back, it may be unnerving to our hosts.

"I apologize," Verrian says to Alinsa and Jassin, "but I think I'll maintain the effect until we are certain they aren't coming back. Once I discard it, I can't do it again for another day."

Swan buttons up his shirt. "I apologize for my behavior. I had expected that he would sense something was off, so presented myself as that Thing. Or so was my hastily thought out plan. I suspect your husband will want a shot, but I only ask that he avoids the face."

Zhaar sneaks down carefully, and seeing its all clear, says "So I don’t need to use this?" Brandishing his Falchion.

Still looking like Jassin after a really bad day, Verrian grins and says, "I'm afraid not. Better luck next time."

Swan watches discretely out the window as the strange contraption carries them off. "This isn't at all how I expected this to turn out. Did you think we can just leave? Where will we be? And when? If we're in that past can we leave messages for that others, maybe stop the bad from being as bad?"

He isn't asking anyone, simply talking to himself loud enough to be overheard.

Jassin accompanies Zhaar back down the stairs and stares, wincing, at 'Verrian'. When Swan starts talking, he manages to pull his attention away. "I think it's probably a good time for you all to explain what under the sun you're doing here," he says, going to put his arm around Alinsa's shoulders. She rests her head against him, but does keep her eyes on their unusual houseguests.

Glancing at Wil and Swan, Verrian says, "We are making our way from Hara to Viamard. All I can tell you is that, when we stopped here for the night, this house was abandoned. Neat and clean, but covered with about two months' dust. We bedded down upstairs, keeping a watch throughout the night. When we woke up for the day, suddenly the light changed, and the two of you were here."

Swan looks like he wants to add more, but only says, "We'll leave you to your lives, and apology for the intrusion. We just couldn't let those soldiers take Jassin away. That would be a fate worse than death."

I know all of this sounds outrageous, and it is. We can't explain it. Maybe someone thinks you were not cut out for war.

He looks around and smiles.

Not that anyone is cut out for war.

The point is, if those soldiers see you, or anyone tells them you are up and around, they will be back.

You have a lovely home here, but I think you could make another one. Just as lovely. Just not here.

Jassin and Alinsa take in all that their guests tell them, but it's Verrian's comment that clearly strikes a nerve. As she mentions two months of dust, and the light changing, they turn to look at each other, silently sharing thoughts in the way only two people who are very close can.

Finally, Jassin shakes his head. "No. It's not safe, Lin."

"They just helped us send the soldiers away, Jas. If we can't trust them, who can we trust?"

"I don't like it. It puts you in danger."

"As long as you're here, there isn't a danger we can't handle."

Jassin sets his jaw stubbornly, but finally, he drops his eyes and nods. He turns toward the others and, with a heavy sigh, says, "Alinsa... has an unusual talent. She..."

As her husband trails off, Alinsa picks up the thread. "I move through time. Not in the same way everyone does, because obviously we all get older. Sometimes, I usually don't know when it will happen, I find myself days, sometimes weeks in the past.
Less often, in the future. I close my eyes, and when I open them again, it's no longer the same scene I saw before."

Jassin breaks in at that point. "People have tried to help her, to... cure her, I suppose, but more people have tried to get her to control it. For their benefit. I used to be a mage at the University in Hara, but when we met, and I learned about what Lin experienced..." He rests a hand on her shoulder and squeezes it gently. "It is my magic that hides her from prying eyes. But if what you're saying is true... I'm guessing this is not your timeline at all. And if that's the case, then somehow --"

"--somehow, I made it happen to other people," Alinsa finishes.

Verrian's insides turn to ice as the implications coalesce. "Okay, I have two questions. The first is, when you have found yourself in the past or the future, did you eventually return to the time you came from? And the second is, when these time jumps have occurred, have they had any commonalities among them? Were you... I don't know - emotional? Under stress? Worried? In danger?"

Jassin picks up the second answer first. "We've tried... many people have tried... to find the commonalities. There don't seem to be any. Not emotional, not physical, not time of day, phase of the moon, or a hundred other possibilities."

Alinsa nods once. "But to answer your first question, yes. I always return to the time I came from, and I'm rarely gone for very long. A few minutes, maybe."

Wil stands and paces.

Alinsa, I don't know much about magic, and even less about time travel, but hear me out.

He takes a second to collect his thoughts and resumes pacing.
I wonder why I think better when I am moving.

Is it possible that originally what happened here was that the soldiers took Jassin off to war and the house became to much to look after, or you took ill...for some reason had to leave the house...and left some kind of ward on it?

He looks like he is having a hard time expressing himself well.

Something that would trigger when the right people were present. People who would be ready and able to help...and then sent them back in time to fix things.

He chuckles

I know it sounds crazy, but time travel seems crazy anyway.

Oh sorry, no offense.

But if that is the case, we may be sent back to our time once you are both safe. And I am not sure here will be safe for you, with the soldiers nosing around