42.
Nebulous plans began to circle in Jamie’s head as he stifled his yawns and headed towards his bed room. His head felt full to bursting and he wondered how his poor brain would manage to deal with another night of Albe’s released lessons.
“Perhaps the basement nightmares would counter that,” he muttered as he began to undress. Alexander had been vague about his nightmares. Over all he hadn’t seemed to be the type of person who put much stock in dreams. “At least at the beginning,” Jamie said with a grin. As Alexander came into his role as keeper he had begun to pay attention to his dreams as one of the tools in a Keeper’s kit. Unfortunately he had only visited the basement when he was very new to his position and the nightmares rated only a brief mention. He had actually attributed them to the new cook’s fondness for spicy curries.
“At least I can’t blame whatever I dream on the details of someone else’s dreams.” Jamie slipped between the sheets and snuggled into his pillows. The sheets were cool and raised goose bumps on his exposed flesh where it touched. Gradually his body heat warmed the sheets and he drifted off into sleep.
The fog was the first thing he noticed about his dreams. It felt thickly around him shrouding the world in a gray haze. He could tell he was outside by the scent of the forest. Jamie looked at his feet and realized he was standing on a dirt path. Looking around he could see darker shapes in the fog. From the size and regular shape he guessed them to be trees. Nothing moved in the fog. There were no sounds and Jamie found himself listening to his own breath and hearing his own heart beat.
‘I suppose I should move,’ he thought. The thought of walking blindly into the fog was daunting and Jamie felt his mouth go dry. ‘I seem to be on some sort of path, if I move slow I might be able to get somewhere.” He wasn’t sure why he felt impelled to move. Nothing was chasing him or calling to him. It felt instead as though the world were waiting. Holding its breath to see what he would do. It was almost as if by moving he would be setting something in motion.
‘Kind of like a live action choose your own adventure story,” he thought with a half smile. Dimly he wondered if he would get a different adventure if he turned around on the path and walked the opposite direction. ‘Probably,’ he decided. “But there is probably a reason I’m facing this way. Might as well see what it is.” Jamie looked at his feet and took one hesitant step forward. The mist began to thin as though some invisible giant had taken a deep breath and let it out slowly. The trees became more distinctly outlined and the fog began to shred on their branches like torn cotton batting. The bath was dark, hard-packed earth and was easy to follow. Jamie looked up from his feet to see where he was heading as he hesitantly moved forward. The fog seemed intent on blocking that from him as it remained clear only about three paces in front of him. Jamie frowned as a thought hit him. He glanced over his shoulder. Already the fog was spilling back over the path behind him.
“Apparently once you make a decision here you have to stick with it.” He thought. Jamie resumed walking. The trail meandered around curves, up slight rises and down slight descents. It was nothing terribly taxing. He had the impression of an artistically arranged walking path created so that someone could stroll and remain interested without feeling too taxed. ‘Probably quite enjoyable on a spring afternoon,’ he thought to himself. ‘Not much to see now though.”The fog had lifted enough so that he could see the trees but they remained little more than black outlines. It reminded him of walking through a coloring book that had yet to see a child’s crayon. He found himself vaguely wishing he had an electric blue crayon to smear color on this black and white space.
There was something a little eerie about a world without color. He realized his eyes were straining to find some even as he began to pick up the sound of water. The sound increased as he walked and eventually the path he was on led up to a small bridge. Seeing nowhere else to go, he stepped onto the bridge. Unlike the bath, the fog did not encase the bridge. He reached the center of the bridge and could still see the footings on either side. The fog everywhere else had thickened obscuring the lines of the trees so much that it looked like he and the bridge existed on a sheet of white paper.
He could still hear the sound of the water flowing and he walked to the edge of the bridge and looked down. The water was inky black. Although he had heard it running and sounding as if the water was rolling over stones, he could see nothing in the liquid blackness, even though he could still hear the babbling. There was no sign of rocks or stones or even a wind driven ripple to mar the water, in fact Jamie stared down into the water unable to tell what direction the water was flowing. As he watched a small white dot appeared in the center of the river. Jamie leaned forward a bit to see what had caused it. The spot in the water looked as though someone were holding a small intense flashlight just beneath the water’s surface. Slowly it began to get larger. Jamie frowned, not sure if the light was coming closer or getting bigger. When the light was about two feet in diameter it began to take on a bluish tinge. Jamie watched as it pulsed for a moment and then with a flash it was clear, as though he were looking through a window. One the other side of the window a scene played out.
Jamie watched as a group of men used axes to clear a spot in the forest. They wore loose cotton like shirts and pants that ended in a cuff just below the knee. Their shirts stuck to them in places and Jamie could see one man wipe sweat from his face with a large linen square that seemed nothing like the dainty handkerchiefs he had seen before. He watched as muscles bunched and axes swung.
“Take only the trees that have been marked,” a man called. He was close to Jamie in age and he could see the medallion of the Keeper looped around his neck. Jamie absently tugged it from his own shirt and ran his fingers over the surface as he watched. “We don’t want to anger the forest.” There was a round of ascents and the scene faded. The blue glow took over and then cleared once again as the same man who had spoken of the forest as a sentient thing looked over the raw stone foundation of a house. The stones were all the immense ones he had seen in the basement. Stone chips and tools Jamie assumed would be useful to a stone mason were being gathered up as a few men moved around the sight, cleaning up the larger debris. Jamie found himself vaguely disappointed that he had not been shown how the large stones had been brought in and placed.
As the man Jamie thought of as the keeper of the time surveyed his new foundation with a pleased expression on his face a small group left the edge of the forest and walked towards him. Hearing their approach he turned to look at them. The smile faded from his lips. He did not frown but he no longer looked pleased. Jamie studied the group with a bit of a surprise. The men in the group were wearing the same cloaks as the watchers had on the night of the fire. The leader of this group pushed his hood back and Jamie realized it was Terrell. He looked much the same as he did the day he visited Jamie with one exception. The mark on his cheek was red and raw. It had not had time to develop into a scar. Jamie shook his head. It was one thing to know that the fey did not age. It was another thing to watch them conversing with your ancestor, even if it was only a dream.
“Although dreams never seem to be just dreams here,” he thought.
“Keeper,” Terrell said in his round well modulated tones. “I see the plans for your new abode are moving forward.” He favored the keeper with a dazzling smile.
“They are,” the keeper answered in a no nonsense tone that did not invite further comment. “Is there a reason for this visit?” The words were said politely but there was little warmth to them.
“Just wanting to see the progress,” Terrell said, his smile never dimming. He turned towards the stones. “I must say this does seem a bit over done though. A bit more...permanent than your previous dwelling.” There was no response to his comment and Terrell’s smile finally slipped, letting his irritation peek out. The silence stretched and finally Terrell turned to the Keeper. The man continued to wait as the silence deepened into akwardness.
“Well I suppose I should let you get back to it then,” Terrell said finally breaking the silence. “Good day to you Keeper.”
“Good day,” came the reply. Terrell left, followed closely by his three hooded flunkies. The Keeper watched them go. When they were out of sight he turned away from the path they had taken.
“Robin,” he called. A man dressed nearly identical to Del and standing about the same height stepped into view.
“Yes Keeper?” Robin said walking up.
“We’ve just had a visit from the Brotherhood of Shadows. Could you see if the High Talbot would be willing to look over the foundations before we go over them, just to be safe.”
“Of course Keeper but surely even the brotherhood...” Robin’s words stumbled to a halt as the Keeper favored him with a sardonic look.
“The brotherhood believes that all humans are chattel and take it amiss that a human is allowed to mediate their disputes. I am not accusing them of anything but I prefer caution.”
“Of course Keeper, I’ll see if he is available.” The scene faded. Jamie leaned forward to see what the next scene would hold. To his disappointment the light contracted into a small point and disappeared beneath the water. Jamie opened his eyes and found himself laying in bed, with the edge of dawn pressing against his window and the smell of freshly baked bread rising from the kitchen.
“Not sure that counts as a nightmare,” Jamie muttered, sitting up in bed and rubbing sleep from his eyes. Somehow he didn’t feel rested. “At least I have some talking points for the Gederan and Fedran representatives as well as the High Talbot.” Wondering if the Brotherhood of Shadows had anything to do with Lune Merdos, Jamie showered, dressed and headed down to breakfast.
