Stick with Winlay

Winlay and Mika escorted the Oracle to the closest couch and helped him lie down on the soft surface. The Oracle seemed to recover slightly when they washed the sewer wastes off their bodies, but just the walk from outside the walls 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.

Winlay folded a quilt to place under the Oracle's head as Mika busied herself by the sink and soon came back with a glass full of cool water. So much had happened since her interview with the High Priest this morning that Winlay could hardly grasp all the implications. One thing however was clear, the spirited young woman that she had known as Mika had been keeping many secrets from her.

"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 without Sister Margaret's aide." Adam answered as he stepped back into the room. "In fact," he moved across the room and took Winlay's hands in his. "we owe you our thanks. If you had not told Mika about Sister Margaret last night we'd never have dared to ask for her help this afternoon." His strong hands were hard and calloused so different from Beldan's fat ring covered digits and despite their obvious strength his grip was soft and warm. Winlay realized with a start that Adam was still speaking "... doubt we would have made it a quarter of the way down to Anglar's ship."

His grey 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. She could not meet the intensity in his look and her eyes fell modestly to his chest, but that was not much better. Adam's massive torso barely fit into the same workshirts that hung so loosely on Mika's and Windlay's slender frames and Winlay found herself staring at the exposed 'V' of his chest as he spoke.

"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 tucked her legs neatly under her and 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 her treatment at the hands of the High Priest 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 her growing feelings for this handsome man played in her newfound hesitation to commit herself to the Church.

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 this Templar Captain even be interested in her? His unmasked desire when he first saw her nearly naked body was proof that he found her attractive, and 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 Mika knew so many of the same things about Adam's secret life and 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.