Strange Attractors - Kim Falconer [59]
An’ Lawrence stood then limped forward to take the lad’s hand. What do you think you’re doing, Rosette?
It’s Clay, for the goddesses’ sake. I’m bringing him home. ‘He’s going to have supper with us,’ she said aloud.
‘Do I know you?’ Clay asked the Sword Master, his brow wrinkling.
You can’t, Rosette.
Don’t you want to find out who he is?
It’s obvious who he is and you can’t tell him a thing. He’s certainly not coming with us. Her father’s voice was like an arrow in her chest.
Why not?
It’s the timeline, Maudi, Drayco cut in. If he knows the future while in the past or if you change his position by taking him elsewhere, you may never meet in the first place.
She pulled out a chair and plopped herself down. But we did meet, Drayco.
So far. This could make that different. It could make it never happen.
And why is that so bad? Maybe he doesn’t die in the stronghold of ASSIST either. ‘Please join us,’ she said to Clay, kicking a chair out for him and frowning at An’ Lawrence.
The time frame is all wrong, Rosette. An’ Lawrence hadn’t returned to his seat. We are in a very old Corsanon. This isn’t your Clay.
We’ll see if that’s true, shall we? ‘What brought you to Corsanon?’ she asked Clay, leaning back as she was served a large steaming bowl. It was full of vegetables on a bed of saffron rice; the smell of the rich red sauce made her mouth water.
‘I was going to take on a job at Treeon Temple, but I came here to the Festival of the Five Rivers instead.’
See what I mean, Rosette? The Festival of the Five Rivers ended well before Clay was born. The war halted everything.
Unless now that Makee’s been here there never was a war. Maybe Corsanon never fell.
That would mean the Entity never split apart. Can you see where this is leading?
Myriad possibilities, though Jarrod could list them for you in a second.
We don’t need him to point to the obvious. It’s leading to a world where you don’t exist. He’s not the Clay any of us knew.
And you can’t be sure of that. Besides, we know him now.
Don’t play with it, Rosette! An’ Lawrence crossed his arms as he sat. He propped his wounded leg on the opposite chair.
Rosette cranked the pepper grinder over his bowl until his meal was covered in grey dust. ‘Eat up,’ she said.
He scraped the top layer back and dipped his spoon underneath, then took a bite and smiled.
‘You want to be poisoned to death?’ she asked. ‘Is that your plan?’
‘It might be preferable to what you’re instigating.’
Rosette stuck her spoon in his bowl and stirred the contents before he grabbed her hand, squeezing it until she slapped her thigh. ‘Tio, I give up,’ she said, pulling her arm back. ‘Die if you like. I won’t try and save you.’
He took a few more bites, washing them down with the steaming coffee.
‘You two together?’ Clay asked.
‘No,’ they both said at the same time.
‘He’s my father,’ Rosette said, turning her attention to her meal.
‘She’s my apprentice,’ the Sword Master said. ‘Though that might not be evident by her manners.’
‘Eat it,’ she said, tapping his bowl with her spoon, ‘before your leg falls off.’
‘She has a point, An’ Lawrence. You might want to get that looked at.’ Clay frowned at the arrow shaft protruding from the Sword Master’s thigh. ‘I hear they dip the tips in…’
‘Hemlock. I know. Your healer said it’s better to leave it in, for now, unless I plan on staying off it for a day or two.’
‘And I take it you don’t?’
‘We’re gone as soon as the meal’s done.’ He let his eyes rest on Rosette as he spoke. ‘Isn’t that right, daughter?’
Maudi. Hate to interrupt but Kreshkali’s coming at a run, and she’s not happy.
Rosette stopped chewing and swallowed hard, her back stiffening.
I guess she’s upset that I left Dumarka?
That’s only the beginning.
‘Oh no,’ she said aloud.
‘What’s wrong?’ Clay asked.
She was about to elaborate when the Three Sisters flew into the pub, squawking and screeching, darting from corner to corner. Their