Arrows of Time (56 page)

Perhaps. Thank you.
Teg shook water from his hand and headed towards the training ground. It would be interesting to see what developed there. Rosette was so unpredictable.

Jarrod’s eyes drifted across the scene below. He marvelled at the lush greenery of the temple grounds. The contrast to the barren red plains was startling. Here the trees were in full bloom, carpeting the courtyard with purple, yellow and red blossoms and giving the atmosphere a rainbow hue. Willows and beech trees circled the manor, and a variety of fruit trees in the orchards beyond were also in bloom. How it had survived the trials of Earth’s last few centuries baffled him—a spell that lasted that long would take some heavy-duty generation. Who kept it going? Surely not the Richter-Paree line. Kali didn’t even know where this place was. It took her months to find it. Yet it had survived, and now it held a mixed population of the old Allied States, Gaeleans, Lupins and a variety of familiars and horses, goats and other livestock, birds, dogs, cats and fish. He wondered what Luka Paree would have made of it all, if he could see it now.

The grounds were active with gardeners tending the vegetable, fruit and herb plots. Horses were being exercised and riding lessons under way. A small group of archers practised at the edge of the sword grounds, several artists sketching them as they slowly drew and
released their bows. It was much like Treeon, save for the surrounding lands. They were a barren moonscape compared to most of Gaela. He sighed. Would they have enough time to establish this temple, if the portals kept running askew?

He laughed at his question. Time wasn’t a commodity to have enough or not enough of. It didn’t measure in volume, not in grains of sand or celestial motion. It didn’t exist at all outside of an abstract, and peculiarly individual, perception. Why he still processed information from such an artificial reference point, he didn’t know.
Because it’s so convincing?
he asked himself.
That might be it.

He dressed and entered the central room, spotting signs of a hasty breakfast.

‘Everyone rested?’ he called out. ‘Well fed?’ He felt immediately that the place was deserted, but he called again anyway. ‘Shane? Selene?’

Their cloaks were missing, their packs and swords gone as well.
I had hoped for a final word.
He turned to the door. ‘Enter, Kreshkali.’

She knocked at the same time he spoke. ‘Did I make that much noise coming up the stairs?’ she asked as she opened the door wide.

‘You’re as quiet as a cat. I just happen to have exceptional hearing, as you know.’

‘Ha! I do know.’ She kissed him on the cheek and breezed into the room, a tray of fruit, hot chai and blueberry muffins balanced in one hand.

‘What’s this?’ he asked.

‘I brought myself breakfast, though you’re welcome to join me. I know you like to eat sometimes.’

‘I wouldn’t mind a bite.’

‘That’s news,’ she said, looking him up and down. ‘Maybe the electricity did you some good.’

‘One never can get enough of that.’

‘Electricity?’

He laughed. ‘I meant
good.
How’s Rosette?’

Kreshkali chuckled, sweeping the empty cups and bowls aside to make room for her tray. ‘Fit and saucy as ever. It’s as if she never died.’

‘More good news, then.’ He beamed a smile.

‘You’re in fine form today yourself.’ She poured tea and sampled the hot muffins. ‘Rested? Refreshed?’

He sat opposite her and took a tentative sip from his mug. ‘Nearly perfect. Thank you for the tapping last night. It got me back in alignment.’

‘It helped me too. Always does.’ She looked around the room.

‘They’re on their way back to Tensar, I suspect,’ he said, answering her silent question.

‘On their own?’ She frowned. ‘That’s a risk. It’s just such travellers that are distorting the Entities’ signal. I wish I’d kept an eye on them.’

‘You had other things on your mind.’

‘As did you.’

‘At least their intentions would be united. That may keep them on track.’

‘I’m actually more concerned about the long-term effect on the portals than their smooth travel.’ She took another bite. ‘So they finally kissed and made up?’

He nodded. ‘Seems so.’

‘And did you solve things on Tensar as well?’ she asked.

His eyes shifted.

‘Don’t play coy with me. I know you didn’t stay put last night.’

Jarrod hedged. ‘It’s more or less unravelled. The Caller is a trickster, though. She enjoys her little games.’

Kreshkali frowned. ‘Example?’

‘Mostly she plays with words.’

‘You mean she lies?’

‘Pretty much.’

‘That’s frustrating, though you would see right through them, yes?’

‘I’d like to think so.’

‘Then do!’ She watched him as she polished an apple on her sleeve. ‘I can’t stay long.’ She lowered her voice and looked towards the open window. ‘Teg’s waiting for me.’

‘He’s by the fountain,’ Jarrod said.

She nodded. ‘We have three pressing concerns as I see them. Number one—the corridors are not running true. Do you have any idea why?’

He closed his eyes for an instant. ‘I’d say the most likely cause is what you felt—travellers going in and out of the corridors who are not aligned to the Entity.’

‘Trackers?’

‘That’s one possibility.’

‘Letting Shane and Selene go was a mistake then.’ She frowned. ‘Secondly, we have the situation with your CPU. It’s the one thing that won’t replace itself.’

‘Have you thought of your option to have another…?’ He let the sentence trail off.

‘Another child?’ Kali’s face contorted. ‘Not going to happen. Besides, the spell’s passed on. Rosette has the activated DNA.’

‘But have you mentioned that component of the legacy to her yet?’

‘I was hoping Nell would do that.’

‘What are you saying, Kali? You
are
Nell, for great Passillo’s sake. What do you think Nell could say that you could not?’

‘I know. I know.’ She waved the idea away. ‘I am Nell, but I’m not. It’s hard to explain. Once you begin this whole “two places at once” scenario, things change. Nell’s got a better way with…delicate matters.’

‘It is delicate, isn’t it?’

‘Indeed.’ She tilted her head. ‘It would probably be best coming from you, now that I think about it.’

Jarrod laughed. ‘Chicken.’

‘I’ll admit it. I am.’

He took her hand and squeezed it. ‘It’s my life in her blood. Of course I’ll tell her.’

‘And the third concern is…’

‘An’ Lawrence?’

The smile on Kali’s face disappeared. ‘He’s nowhere to be found.’

Jarrod put his arm around her shoulder and held her tight. ‘Then we’ll have to look beyond nowhere.’

She leaned her head on his shoulder and murmured, ‘That we will, and soon.’

Shane looked out of the portal, taking in the scene. He scratched his head and turned to Selene. ‘Beautiful, we might have a problem.’

She came to the edge of the crevice and linked her arm around his waist. ‘What’s the worry?’ She sniffed the air. ‘It’s as putrid as ever. We’re home!’ She put her hand over her nose.

‘That’s the problem,’ Shane said. ‘The portal entrance to the swamp was gone when we left.’

‘It’s hardly gone, Shane. We’re standing in front of it.’

‘But the mountain caved in. The portal was destroyed.’

‘When you and Rosette were here?’ Her eyes narrowed.

‘It was a time loop—a repeating sequence of events.’

‘I know what a time loop is and I’ve heard the story before.’

He shrugged. Somehow Rosette was still a sore spot, though he couldn’t work out why. Every time he broached the subject, she flared up. He had decided to
leave it a mystery and move on. They were having a wonderful time at the moment and he wanted to enjoy it. Getting caught in the past wasn’t going to help.

‘So what do we do, if this isn’t “supposed” to be here?’ she asked. She sounded as if she already knew the next step and didn’t care for it at all.

‘Let’s explore. If we’re trapped in a loop, I know the way out. We’ve nothing to lose.’

‘That’s a new attitude,’ she said.

He wrapped her in his arms and kissed her, his hands resting on the small of her back. ‘I’m not so stuck in a bog as you think, gorgeous one.’ As if to reinforce his words, he straightened and released her from his hold. With his hand on the hilt of his sword, he led the way out of the portal, Selene at his side.

‘Don’t speak too soon about bogs,’ she said. ‘We have that one to navigate.’

He half expected an earthquake to rumble beneath his feet as he headed down the tunnel towards the light, but nothing happened. The swamp and its noisome odours were like a still-life painting in the distance. They made their way to the cliff face, Shane looking over his shoulder as they went.

Nothing moved. Not a bird or a breath of wind. The sun, at its zenith, was obscured by clouds. The trees were grey with dull leaves and twisted trunks, patches of lichen growing over their thick bark. The mud was black, the surface slick. It must have rained recently.

They stood on the ledge, the very outcropping where he and Rosette had spent so much time. His heart tugged at the thought and his mouth turned down at the corners. Was she all right? Recovering? Perhaps they should have seen her before they left. He’d wanted to, but hadn’t pressed the point.

‘You’re doing it again,’ Selene said.

‘Doing what?’

‘You’re thinking about her.’

‘Who?’

‘Don’t be daft. You’re obsessed with Rosette. Admit it.’

‘I’m not thinking about her. I’m certainly not obsessed. I’m just wondering about…’

‘Her.’ Selene supplied the word when he hesitated. ‘It’s obvious. The more you deny it, the weaker your case.’

‘I’m on trial. Is that it?’

Selene ignored the question. She headed out into the swamp, testing its depth. He watched her pick a path around the darker pools, skirting the edges of the black pits. He followed. There was no point in trying to explain his connection to Rosette when Selene was like this. They needed a new topic, quickly. ‘Do you think we’ve been spotted?’ he asked.

A lone raven landed on a nearby branch, calling out before it took flight again, its wings whooshing overhead.

‘Perhaps we have now,’ she answered. ‘In any case, it looks like your time loop theory was wrong.’

His boots were squelching in the mud as he hurried to catch up to her. He nodded. ‘It’ll be interesting to see what time we are, though.’

She slowed her pace and turned to him. ‘You mean, we could be in the past?’

‘That, or even a completely different now.’

She shrugged. ‘Not too different.’ Her nose wrinkled. ‘Demon’s darkness, this place is rank.’

Jarrod knocked on the door. He knew he’d already been announced. Drayco had spoken to him as he’d climbed the stairs, searching for Rosette’s room. He’d left Kreshkali and Teg in the library. They were casting horary charts and checking the planetary transits,
searching for clues to where An’ Lawrence might be found, or where in all the myriad realities they could look. He’d wanted good news to take Rosette—a destination at least. She would surely ask after him. So far, there was nothing positive to relay.

When he focused his quantum thoughts on the matter, he came up with so many waves of potential, so many seemingly random places the Sword Master might have reached, it was no help at all. It was very strange. It was almost as if An’ Lawrence was nowhere and everywhere all at once. He knocked again.

You don’t need to keep banging on my door, Jarrod. I heard you coming up the steps and down the hall.

Rosette?

Enter!

Rosette’s voice in his mind made him smile. ‘And I’ve heard you snoring into your pillow all morning
,
’ he answered back.

‘You have not!’ She swung the door open, and greeted him on the threshold, wrapping her arms around him and kissing him deeply.

As he held her body, he sensed for damage, scanning her DNA.

‘Hey, Dr Cossica,’ she whispered. ‘Stop probing. I’m fine.’

As she stepped aside, his eyes caught Grayson’s. He sighed and let his hands slip from Rosette’s waist. ‘How’re you feeling?’ He turned her left and right. ‘Good to be back in the old body?’

‘Not as old as yours,’ she laughed, pinching him.

Grayson got up from the couch and grabbed his pack. ‘I’ve got work,’ he said. He thrust his hands deep in his pockets and headed for the door.

Rosette reached for him but he slipped past. ‘I’ll come down to the stables and find you,’ she said, but he was gone.

Jarrod lifted his brow.

‘It’s always been a tricky one,’ she answered his silent query. ‘Seems more so now.’

He roughed the top of Drayco’s neck and sat on the couch, patting the space next to him. The temple cat leapt up, which made them both laugh.

‘I think he meant me, Drayco.’ She squeezed between her familiar and Jarrod, putting an arm around each.

‘How is it with him?’ Jarrod asked, after a few moments of silent communion.

‘With Grayson?’ She held her smile a moment longer before letting it fade. ‘We’re close, connected. You know that. But…’

He didn’t interrupt or push her thoughts along. He leaned his head back and waited, listening.

‘It works best when we are off on our own,’ she said.

Jarrod leaned across her to scratch Drayco. ‘Just the three of you?’

She laughed. ‘That’s part of it. The trickiness. I’m not a simple witch with a simple life. I have deep connections with others, my familiar, you…’ She nuzzled his neck and gave him a nip. ‘Lately I haven’t had a body. That’s been a real damper on my affairs.’

He grinned at her. She was so beautiful. ‘No worse for it,’ he said, tracing the curve of her cheek.

She turned to face him square on. ‘Jarrod, I seem to have spent a great deal of time in, well, other times. The results are not conducive to a solid, predictable relationship with anyone. Grayson and I haven’t had a chance to discuss it, but I sense it might be too much for him.’

Jarrod took a deep breath. ‘Rosette, first of all, there’s no such thing as a simple witch and you would be bored as a toad on dry land if you had a “predictable” and…what was the other word you used?’