Ch. 11 Getting to Know you
The room everyone ended up in was smaller than the one they had just come from, but still large enough to fit in all the mages, who followed the Queen and her party.
All of them snuck peeks at Anna from time to time. She was starting to wonder if she had grown an extra head when she wasn't looking. She couldn't blame them though, if some stranger showed up doing the things she had been doing, she didn't think her government would have been as nice about it as these people had been.
Once everyone entered the room, Selenay gestured for everyone to sit. Darin steered her towards something that looked a lot like a couch, when they sat she leaned against him, finding some comfort in his presence.
Selenay glanced around the room, then turned to Anna "It looks like everybody is here, Anna would you like to tell us about yourself and a little about why you're here".
"I suppose" she said softly. Some of the others in the room leaned forward to hear what she had to say. "Sorry" she said louder.
"I think I come from another world" she felt Darin start in surprise and turned slightly towards him.
"My people have been to almost every part of our world at one time or another and they have never seen anything like Companion's or like Brytha" she smiled " I've never heard of your country before, or any of the languages you've given me, but maybe if I could see a map it would help".
Selenay nodded to her consort, he stood up walking over to a desk near the back of the room. "There should be a map here somewhere" he said absently while moving papers aside. "Here it is" he said pulling out a rolled up and tied piece of.. ..when he got closer she could see it looked like vellum.
He looked around for someplace to unroll it and Anna said "Why don't you put it on the floor here" she said "Then everyone can see it.
He knelt down and unrolled the map, Anna leaned forward watching closely as more was revealed. "No, I've never seen any of this before and..." she broke off.
"And" Elspeth prompted.
"Well, my people have a theory, that there are multiple universes, but if that was it, the lay of the land should be the same and it's not. At least not that I can tell" Anna mused.
"Can't this just be a place you hadn't heard of" one of the men towards the back of the room asked "We do know that there are other people across the ocean, you could be from one of those lands".
Anna looked up "No, that's not possible" she said reluctantly " my people have mapped the whole world".
"Well, I think that part of the mystery will have to wait for now" Selenay said. "We want to learn about you, who are you and what are your plans now that you've found us".
"My name is Annalise Trelain" she started to say.
"We know that " Elspeth said with an irritated look.
Anna sighed, she could easily grow to dislike that woman and she still didn't even know her name. " Several months ago I was in an accident, one that I was told no one expected me to survive" she felt Darin arm tighten for a moment."before that happened I was just like anyone else there wasn't anything different about me" Well that wasn't the entire truth, but for the sake of time she wouldn't go into that.
"What kind of accident" Darin asked.
"I was hit by a drunk driver" she started to say.
"A what" someone asked.
"My people have made a vehicle made from metal that runs by itself, unfortunately, it can't steer itself and the person driving it was drunk".
"Oh" said one of the mages "like the steam carriages the artisfer's have been working on".
"Something like that" she mused as the image came to her from the concepts she had absorbed with the languages she had gotten. "Actually I think I remember that my people started with something like that themselves".
"Are you, have you recovered" Darin asked softly.
"Almost, I still have to use the cane for awhile and I think I'll always have a limp, but considering the alternatives I have no complaints".
He hugged her again "Maybe you should see one of the healer's,they might be able to help".
She nodded, it wouldn't hurt and she felt it would make him feel better.
"You hinted that you changed after the accident" Selenay said.
"Yes, after I woke up I could see things, I was pretty sure no one else could see them, but I was afraid to ask. They would have thought I was crazy" she said.
She leaned back against Darin her eyes going unfocused as she remembered back.
"What did you see" the old man who had been watching her since the party asked.
"Everywhere I look, after a few seconds, I can see a wall or curtain of energy. It overlays everything" she paused "At first I didn't dare do anything, when I was in the hospital, someone could have come in at any time, but when I got home I touched it".
"What did it feel like" he asked.
"Soft, it flowed through my hand, I'm not sure how to describe it, but I saw your garden through it" she said.
"Is that when you came here" Selenay asked.
"No, I took a nap and ended up next to a rosebush, then I panicked and pulled myself back to my bedroom" she said "but not before I took a rose, I think that without the rose I wouldn't have believed something like that could happen to me" she said shaking her head.
The old man was still watching, but now his thoughts seemed to be turned inward, Anna got the idea that he wasn't really seeing her. Suddenly his eyes sharpened and he said " I don't think you're really a mage".
"What do you mean Sejanes" Elspeth asked. "Not a mage, then how did she tie those men up in power, I assure you that wasn't fetching, or any other mindgift I've ever seen".
"Well, she is a mage of a sort, but she can see and access on a level deeper than I've ever heard of" he said thoughtfully.
Anna shook her head confused "I'm not sure what a mage is anyway, magic is just a myth where I come from, or at least it's not common".
"you're untrained" he asked clearly startled.
"Who would train me" she asked.
"You can't do anything more, until you get trained, it's much too dangerous, and not just for you". He said.
"You can stay here until then" Selenay said.
"No, that's not necessary, I made a doorway to my closet, I can go home without doing anything else, I left it open, I don't even have to resize it" she said.
Elspeth's eyes sharpened and she said "Where is it, we need to put a guard on it, and we still don't know your intentions".
"It's hidden, no one can find it without my help" Anna said suddenly afraid at some of the looks she was getting.
"You don't have to worry about her, she's not our enemy, and I don't think she ever will be" Darin said.
"And how will you guarantee this" Elspeth asked sarcastically.
"She's my lifebonded" he said.
Mouths opened as everyone stared, Elspeth recovered first. "Lifebonded" she said weakly.
"What's that"Anna asked.
"Don't you feel what I'm feeling" Darin asked quietly.
"Yes, but I've always been able to do that to some degree, though it does seem to be much stronger with you" she said. "I think that's why I trust you so much".
"You're an Empath" Selenay asked her.
"I guess, I've never really thought about it, it sort of runs in the family" she said.
Sejanes said "You still need to be trained, so you must stay here for some time".
"I'd have to arrange for some free time at home" she said "I still don't want anyone from there to know about this". Anna said.
Selenay nodded " then I'll go ahead and arrange for a room unless you want to stay with your lifebonded".
"Ok" Anna said.