A/N: Sorry. I was sick and banned from public places in the house, such as the computer room.
2012 A.D.
She couldn't be in the present. She had to be in the future or the past, otherwise the ominous message on my SKWAK pad was far too right.
The first place I tried was the library. My first thought made me think of the Cybrary, but I wasn't sure that it had a very in-depth theoretical physics department. Within twenty minutes of entering the town library, I had checked out and begun reading various manuscripts on the theories of time travel. I decided that wormholes were out, since they needed to have been set over a thousand years ago, and that book was set aside. I started a book about time travel in relation to speed of light travel. I fought the urge to throw it in the trash. I could never get a craft moving fast enough, and that would still only mean that time traveled slower for those in the craft, not fully blown time travel.
I continued to wade through information that mostly went way over my head. After about thirty minutes, Jackie entered the large library our town boasted of. It did not take long for her to identify me out of the eerily quiet crowd that was ever-present in the massive structure. "Your mom thought I might find you here." She announced quietly as she approached the book-strewn table I'd seated myself at. She looked over several of the titles. "Do you need help, Matt?" I nodded and she grabbed the book nearest to her. That was at noon. Four hours later, a librarian informed us that we had to leave. "You are out of time. The library is closing. You can come back tomorrow," the dour librarian informed us. Jackie and I were startled at the librarian's choice of words. At first, we both believed that she knew something she shouldn't. After all, only Jackie and I knew what our SKWAK pads said every time we tried to contact Inez. I grabbed about half of the unread books and she the other. We agreed to meet at the library first thing after school. I lumbered home with the large books and wished I'd brought my bicycle.
When I finally arrived, I set the books on the desk in my room before attempting what I had done every day for three months. I took out my SKWAK pad, navigated through the menu to the communication option, and pressed CONTACT. A few moments passed before the familiar words crossed the screen. OUT OF TIME. I cursed, set the SKWAK down, and continued reading the laboriously boring books until I fell asleep, still sitting at my desk
OoOoO
812 A.D.
"Obviously, the moment I found you I sent for Pepper and the Wizard. We stopped the bleeding and cauterized the wound. You spent the first night in my room, where we had found you, and the next morning you were moved to the kitchens.
"I had to report this downturn to the King. His initial decree was that you would be kept in the kitchens until you were recovered enough to explain yourself. The next few weeks you seemed to be getting better, but you would have these...fits. You would start thrashing about, screaming and moaning, and often these fits made your wound start bleeding again.
"Someone got word of these fits. Before too long, everyone in the castle had heard that you were 'subconsciously trying to prevent recovery'. In addition, you had been eating castle food and using castle medicine without showing any sign of recovery. While many people in the castle had initially supported the King's decision, people soon turned on you. Not even a moon after your injury, people requested that the King make another ruling. His second decree was that if you had not recovered after a two-moon period, you would be removed from the castle. No one would say it, but everyone knew that this was a death sentence."
"They were willing to let me die! Who?"
"Many people. The rest of the knights supported the second decision. Most of the maids said it was a just decision. I admit, my own mother and father were willing to turn against you."
"Was anyone willing to let me live?"
I took a deep breath and looked Inez in the eye. "Rake, Smithy, Jester, Pepper, the Wizard, Dragon, and I."
"And Sherilin. You forgot Sherilin."
I shook my head slowly. "It was the seven of us against the castle. Everyday, the Wizard or I, sometimes both, would petition the King to revert to his initial ruling. However, every day, he simply seemed to turn against you more. I was shocked and appalled when Princess Lavinia, just a child, said that you were a waste of resources. Pepper and the Wizard did everything we could to get you better, but progress came slowly. Eventually, the fits stopped, but that only was a week ago, almost to the deadline.
"Oddly enough, the last day for you to explain yourself was yesterday. If you had been conscious yesterday, we would not have this mess."
"Everyone else in the castle was willing to let me die! I cannot believe it! I have known all of them for years. They are my friends! They abandoned me! They better hope I never see any of them again..." She continued to rant. She did not bother to ask what mess I was referring to, but I suppose it is natural to remain on the thought that a large group of people would be willing to let you die. Dragon and I got comfortable while she continued to rant. "...even people I thought were my friends were going to let me die. Wait. If I had until yesterday to recover, than why am I not alone in the woods somewhere?"
I sighed. "That is the mess I was referring to."
"You brought me here? But I was to be banished! You are defying the King's orders! They can take away your knight-hood for that!"
"Can and already have. When the King refused to repeal his decision, I spat on the floor in front of him, stormed out of the throne room, and Dragon carried you here. I immediately saddled Cleaver and rode him here. A few of the others came up, knowing the only place I could be. Jester came to explain that 'the King was barking mad and wanted to send the knights up here, but Theodore made him realize the foolishness in attacking Dragon's cave', and regretfully admitted that he could not join me. He could do nothing but perform, and the only place to do so was the castle. Rake and Pepper came to say that neither could leave the castle: Rake had to stay with his garden and Pepper had to stay with Rake. The Wizard sent a scroll with them informing us that he could not join us, as his skills were only useful in a castle. I did not really expect any of them to leave, though I had hoped.
"I think we will be fine here for awhile, though we might have to move on before winter comes. If we travel to another kingdom, I might get a position as a knight and you could help in the stables, just as before, though we could never stay somewhere that did not accept Dragon-"
"I do not accept your plan. This is my cave. I am not going anywhere." I gave Dragon my most killer stare for a moment and he returned it tenfold. I backed down, after a moment.
"Very well. If the entire kingdom lived here in the wilderness years, we can manage, just the three of us." I forced a smile, hoping to look reassuring, but I failed. Inez returned with a smile, trying to look hopeful, but failed.
It was silent.
After a while, Inez spoke, suddenly. "I did not try to kill myself. I was framed."
"You are saying that someone stabbed you in the shoulder? Do you remember who it was?"
"Yes and no. All that I know is that I would not have tried to kill myself over stress. The last thing I remember was a conversation that we had the night it stormed and you could not sleep in your tower. My guess would be Caitlyn did this."
"Caitlyn? I admit, I do not like her, but accusing her of attempted murder..." I did not like the fiendish look in Inez's eyes.
"She probably gave me something to cause those fits."
"I do not think she knew herbage well enough to do that..." She seemed to be stretching things to fit her story.
"And doubtless she told people of my 'mental instability'."
"I suppose that is possible..." I was growing frightened of this Inez.
"And she was probably the biggest supporter of the new decree!"
"That, she was." I had to concede that piece of truth, but I could not believe anything more.
"All we have to do is prove it! But how..."
I had to stop this before it got out of control. "Inez?"
"Yes, Jane?"
"What if she did not do this?" I tried to phrase it politely, but she took it as a personal affront.
"Who else would want to, Jane?"
My mind raced, trying to provide an answer besides Inez herself. "Gunther, perhaps. He knew that I would follow if you were banished and he was tired of the competition I provided."
"But what are the chances-"
"Maybe I did. I was tired of living in the castle and needed an excuse to leave." I was wiling to admit that this was a weak argument.
"That is unreasonable-"
"Or any one of the knights who dislike me and Dragon both and wish to be rid of us could have done it. The same logic as Gunther, but with a stronger motive." This seemed somewhat likely in my mind.
"But why would they do that?"
"Why would it be Caitlyn?"
"She is extremely mean and cold-hearted."
"I see. So being 'mean and cold-hearted' makes you a plotting, conniving murderer?" I laced my voice with sarcasm.
"Not necessarily, but-"
"You know, I am not sure what happened in that room three moons ago, but I wish it had not. The Inez I knew was a fun-loving, light-hearted person who wanted to be friends with everyone. You are not Inez. You cannot even recognize the possibility that you might have tried to kill yourself!" The sudden bout of anger was rather like me, but I could not believe that I was actually losing my temper at the most reasonable person I knew.
"The Inez you knew was insane, apparently. 'Great metal ships that fly'! Maybe whatever happened in that room made me come to my senses!" Inez looked at me with ferocity I had never before seen. "You know what, I do not need you! I do not need Dragon, I do not need your little friends, and I do not need help! Perhaps I am not the crazy one! I am not the one who refuses to see what is right before one's eyes! And I refuse to consort with mad women and beasts!" Dragon stood up at this insult, a fiery glow coming to his eyes.
"What did you just call me?"
"A beast! And I think I could do better on my own!" She stormed off towards the exit to the cave.
Dragon took a deep breath in, preparing to roast her. While I admit, I would have wanted to do the same thing in his place, I stepped in front of him. "No, Dragon. Something is wrong with her, and I intend to find out what."
OoOoO
I charged out of the cave like an angry dragon. As I descended the mountain, I felt myself increase the pace steadily until I broke into a jog which developed into a run. I might not be as good a runner as...My thoughts stopped. I knew that I must have been a worse runner than someone, but my memory would not supply the face or name. I shrugged it off and assumed the name would come.
My breath began to come in shorter gasps and my stride shortened. I was getting tired. I slowed my pace to a walk, hoping that my breath would return and I would then be able run once more. As I regained control of my breathing, I realized just how cold it was outside. I started running again, hoping the exertion would combat the cold enough to keep me comfortable.
The name that I could not remember continued to bug me. I felt like whoever it was, they were important. It felt like, perhaps, if I could remember them and find them, my problems would be solved.
I felt the ground beneath me grow slightly softer. No longer was I running across stone, but dirt. Twigs and leaves, fallen from their former hosts, crunched beneath my feet. I slowed a portion, worried about roots and fallen branches that could trip me in the forest which grew thicker with every step.
As the mat of dead leaves grew thicker, I became concerned with the presence of wolves. Jane had told me that they sometimes frequent the area. This thought in my head, I slowed consideralbly to a cautious walk. I attempted to minimize the noise being made by my footsteps, but now every movement seemed like the movement of ten armies. Once again, the cold became a concern. I wondered why I would ever have left home.