MERE CHANCE?

(A Note from koromiel: Phoenix2056 is going in for surgery in the morning, so it might be a little while until the next chapter comes out. It is planned and ready...it just needs to be typed out. So we appreciate your patience. As always, feedback is appreciated. And I promise you...the next chapter will be a doozie! And with that, on with the story! Reviewers are loved!) UPDATE: Phoenix 2056 is back and added a few lines, so enjoy!

Fenix wiped his brow which was sweating profusely along with the all the rest of his other body parts. Overhead the sun was mostly white hot, the intensity of it's heat giving no clue to the approaching autumnal season. When you were doing farm work it was generally not wise to skimp too much on the clothing, hence Fenix and Jewellyn were basically wearing the same thing; coarse brown drawstring trousers along with white muslin shirts with the puffy sleeves which were at this time rolled back. Sometimes you had to compromise comfort for safety. Sunburns and those pesky horseflies were serious problems to consider.

He was guiding the furrowing plow after the harvest of the potatoes and the corn. Master Hagstone's black workhorse, Hobbs, was pulling the plow along. His black mane and velvet covered muscles refracted a little bit of the afternoon sun. This work was more difficult if possible than the actual harvesting. Jewellyn was picking out rocks up ahead, placing them in the wooden cart she had been pulling along. Fenix noted with a slight irritation that she did not seem to be sweating at all, did not even seem to be tiring from the day's labors.

"Hey Jewellyn!" he shouted to her up ahead, pausing with the plow. He could barely breathe at times in this heat. The wind stirred up some more dust in the air. She gestured to her ear indicating that she could hear and that he should go on. At this time, because of the distance, he wanted to try a little mindspeak, which caused him to think of the Heralds from Haven since they could do that too and just about anything else they wanted to do. Someday, he mused, I must really go there, maybe attend the Collegium...if I ever get chosen that is. Still, though not totally aware of it, this skill of his would blossom into a very useful talent in the near future. Even so he had to be very careful, the thoughts that came out of his mind always seemed to be less censored than his ordinary speech. He took a swig from his drinking pouch, then resumed, "I want to know how come I am working just as hard as you, yet you hardly seem to be breaking a sweat!" he asked loudly above the noise of the wind.

Jewellyn grinned widely, cupped her mouth and shouted, "Oh, didn't you know dear Fenix, that we women never sweat? It's because we are more efficient. We don't waste time always figuring out how to do things like you men do, we just know how to do it! Also, we women are superior too in that we don't have a lot of the same vulgar habits you men have, such as--"

"Oh, I know where you are going with that milady," he said interrupting her, then pausing briefly to catch his breath. Then he went on, "you women just don't do those things amidst the company of men!" He gestured flamboyantly then said mockingly, "We men however, though we don't usually hide it, are really more discreet with our vulgarities. We know the proper times to let loose...ah how shall we say it, in this case, our ah...internal gases!" he shouted. "It's very amusing sometimes the things you can learn by taking on different guises. There's been more than one time when I've scattered a rude bunch of pompous noblemen as they haughtily discuss the shortcomings of the local peasantry via an exudation of foul odors! It is amusing to watch them look at each other, slightly wincing, wondering who had dealt the offensive odor. Of course, they would never accuse one another, it just wasn't civil! Noblemen don't pass gas, that task is left to the peasantry!" He wiped more sweat from his brow. That soliloquy left him feeling a bit weak.

By this time Jewellyn was laughing out loud, and had to take quite the drink from her water pouch. She pitched another rock into the cart and said, "Fenix, sometimes you are a bit much!"

Despite Fenix' levity he was beginning to feel a bit like he might not be able to stand the heat much longer. There was virtually no shading right here in the farm field, only the sun beating down on an endless field of dirt...and they were getting dangerously low on drinking water. He could 'see' the heat waves coruscating and emanating from the hot soil a little ways beyond. Feeling light-headed now, he swayed a little as he continued to plow.

At that moment, one of the bits holding the left steering rail to the plow broke, in effect rendering it incapable of turning right. "This isn't good!" Fenix exclaimed. "Old Hagstone is really going to blow his top now, he'll say we're incompetent, we'll lose our jobs, we'll lose our living quarters , we'll starve!" Oddly, against character, Fenix did seem to be assuming a sense of mild panic here. "What are we going to do now!" he looked around frantically, looking somewhat lost, almost as if he was hoping some kind of answer would magically appear in the air and set things right.

Jewellyn sensed real panic coming off of Fenix. This wasn't like him at all. Maybe it's the heat, she mused, feeling a slight sense of panic herself now. She approached nearer to him and asked with an anxious concern, "Fenix, are you ok?" He didn't seem to be looking at anything in particular, his skin was pale, and sweat was literally dropping off of him. She feared he was going to pass out at any moment. "Fenix!"

His eyes rolled back and he fell into her arms and she eased him down to the ground. Instinctively it seemed, she placed her hands on his forehead, working her fingers about delicately yet with a sense of purpose. Jewellyn began to feel slightly ill. She was beginning to feel the heat more intensely now. She could feel that dizzying sense of panic and it seemed that she could feel her life ebbing then flowing out from her. Her skin became clammy and she tried with all her might to resist the ill effects of this heat shock with all the spiritual and physical strength at her command. She seemed to dimly realize that she was actually absorbing the ill effects of Fenix' illness, much as an empath would. She moaned and struggled and it seemed almost as if she were fighting an uphill battle. Despite all that she 'sent' soothing waves of calm at him to ease his suffering some more. It seemed to be working. Fenix' expression took on more of a placid mien. In sharp contrast she felt very fatigued and drained. She lay down on a burlap sac they had brought, it was time to relax. She was approaching sleep but fought it because to fall asleep out here in the remaining heat , of course, would be highly dangerous. She sensed that all was going to be well now though. Sooner rather than later, she hoped.

Once we come around, she thought, maybe we could take Hobbs to go see Mr. Hagstone for some help or tools or something. It would be a long ride back but the cooling evening was approaching and we do have a little water left, all of which would help some. She continued musing: What about what had happened with the bit in the plow breaking and how just that little event already changed the course of the whole day; what would all then happen as a result of this? She also thought, what if this had not happened then how would the day have gone? It was odd sometimes how life could be changed for the better or worse, just by a small happening of mere chance, or was it only chance? Somehow this event would maybe change their course of destiny in a major way, whatever that was to be. She visualized the broken plow as kind of a metaphor for her thoughts; how the plow could only go one direction now and how it seemed this afternoon's events were diverting them in one single direction, for a purpose as yet to be revealed.

Fenix was coming around now. She felt relieved to see her efforts met with success. When fully recovered they would seek out Mr. Hagstone. No doubt he would tell them to get some tools from the blacksmith in the nearby village and fix it themselves. Fenix sat up and looked around, still in kind of a daze. She would have a time, no doubt, explaining to him what had happened here.

The sun began it's descent, and Jewellyn looked up at the sky. Were the many diverse Gods of Valdemar behind all this? Were they all merely actors in a play, stumbling blindly along via some god's errant whims? Or was there something more purposeful going on here, a meeting of people and destinies uniting in one common goal?

Like it or not, Jewellyn thought, some of the answers would soon be on their way.