The girls settle in.

Winlay and Mika escorted the Oracle to the closest couch and helped him lie down on the soft surface. Just the walk from Sister Margaret's workshop had taken its toll on the man; Winlay couldn't imagine how he'd be able to get to the harbor and onto the boat that Adam referred to.

As Winlay folded a quilt to place under the Oracle's head Mika busied herself by the sink and soon came back with a glass full of cool water.

"Here you go your Holiness, this should help cool you down a little." Now that Mika mentioned it, Winlay realized that it was quite warm in the room. Her initial impression of coolness in the room was only relative to the heat of the steam-filled room they passed through to get to their present location. Heat radiated from the wall closest to the boiler room and there was little or no movement of air that might have help relieve the mugginess of the room.

"At least we're safe here." Winlay commented cheerfully as she wiped the beads of perspiration from her brow.

"Safer than anything I could have accomplished." Adam answered as he stepped into the room. "In fact," he moved across the room and took Winlay's hands in his. "I owe you our thanks. You were right about trusting Sister Margaret, if we hadn't listened to you I doubt we would have made it a quarter of the way down to Anglar's ship."

His brown eyes met hers and the combination of his strong hands cupping hers gently and the way his soft words resonated through-out her entire body left her struggling for words.

"No thanks needed" she finally stammered, "I'm just glad it worked out this way." The pair stood for a few seconds longer before finally Winlay regretfully lifted her hands from his, and stepped back a half meter. Adam's smile did nothing to alleviate the heat that Winlay was feeling in the room, but then he moved to the Oracle's couch and knelt by his side. As Winlay walked to the sink to get a drink for herself she could feel the shirttails flapping against her thighs and decided that she didn't even care if Adam was watching her move. If she had been wearing her regular initiate's robes in this room she would be reduced to a puddle of sweat in no time.

The plumbing fixtures of the sink were different from any she had seen before, but she was able to figure out how to fill her glass with cool water. Sitting on the end of the second couch she sipped her water silently wondering about the sudden turn her life had taken.

Fleeing from Telnon with Mika, Adam and the Oracle - who knows where they could go where they could be safe from Beldan. Did the Oracle have people he could rely on to help win back his position? If not, she might never have a chance to take her final vows. The thought wasn't as grim as she would have found it just a day or two ago. In fact, she was starting to wonder a little about her decision to join the church. It wasn't just the revelations from Sister Margaret and the discovery of the Oracle in the Templar prison, she glanced carefully at Adam sitting on the floor by the Oracle's head and wondered how much he played in her newfound hesitation.

She could not deny the strong attraction she felt for the Templar. If wasn't just his good looks - and he was the best looking man she could ever remember - everything about Adam made her want to throw herself into his arms and trust him to protect her from all the craziness that had changed her life so completely. Would he even be interested in her? The way he took her hands in his when he thanked her made her hope, but would he be willing to give up his life as a Chevalier - whatever that was - in order to be with a woman? And would he choose her even if he was?

Mika was busy fixing food. Winlay watched her as she took a frozen container about a liter in volume and submerged it in a pot of hot water. The water was heating on a round metal disk that was glowing red hot under the pot. Mika was a much more appropriate choice for Adam she decided with a tinge of regret. They clearly had some kind of relationship already, and she knew many of the same things about the Lander's hidden technology.

"He's asleep again." Announced Adam softly to the two girls. "I'm going to look around a little while we have the time." He strapped his weapon belt with the broad sword and dirk to his waist but left the chainmail armor in the burlap sack that he had used to carry it from Sister Margaret's place.

Winlay's heart begged her to follow, but her head told her that there would be plenty of time to get to know Adam and that this would be a good opportunity to talk to Mika and get some of the answers that her friend had promised to share with her.