The Fateful Heart

"So if I just concentrate, I'll be fine," Odeta concluded.

"Think about it, just not so hard," Elrick echoed.

"I'll have to practice that," Odeta said, looking up to Evaline again. "Maybe you can help me?"

Evaline glanced at Odeta and found herself swinging her arm along with her, just a little.

"I can certainly try my best, but I don't know how much help I'll be since my magic works differently," she said. "The advice I gave you is what I heard from another fire mage."

As the group continued through the desert and the sparsely populated plant life, James stayed silent. No one addressed him, and no one besides Raya (and occasionally Elrick) sent him sideways glances, just to make sure he was there, and, presumably, not up to anything.

He listened as Elrick started to explain to Evaline that there were a few more people waiting for them back at their camp. From what he described, it sounded like a humble home they'd made out in the outskirts of the desert, and Elrick had been out with Odeta and Raya checking the perimeter. Apparently, they hadn't run into anyone for some weeks, which was why they'd been so quick to trap him and Evaline.

It probably helped that they likely scared anyone off with traps and magic effects. James was glad they didn't stumble into those and actually stumbled into actual people that could be reasoned with. Even if they didn't want to hear his reason.

It wasn't long before they saw the camp up ahead. With the forest mostly gone, there was little in the way of their sight to see the circle of tents, the fire pit, and the hanging clothes on the clothesline between the two largest trees. As they drew nearer, more details came into view.

Three people sat around the campfire preparing food. Two were teenaged girls, one was a little boy, probably around 7 or 8 years old. The girls were adding to a large pot, stirring what looked and smelled like a vegetable stew.

There were horses, too. Four of them, tied off to a tree. Three of them were various shades of brown, but one had a black and white pinto pattern that stood out. It looked like two young men were caring for them - one of them was especially tall.

As they approached, everyone's heads turned to the new arrivals with uncertainty. A woman stepped out of a tent with a baby on her hip, and she squinted at them with a hand shielding her eyes from the sun. She looked thin and wiry, and her thick brown curls were pulled into a messy bun atop her head.

Elrick excused himself from Evaline and Odeta with a wave of his hand and hurried up to the woman and the child. He pecked the woman on the cheek and whispered something in her ear. The woman's hardened expression softened, and she looked over to Evaline with a smile before walking up with Elrick to meet her.

"Evaline," Elrick said. "This is my wife, Maisy."

Maisy brushed a curl out of her face and bounced the baby on her hip before extending a hand towards Evaline.

"It's a pleasure to meet you. Especially a time mage, like yourself."

Evaline was glad that the conversation shifted from her to them, and she was even more glad to see that the camp was everything they talked about, but more. Her eyes widened a bit as she pleasantly took everything in: the inviting canopy of trees, the smell of hearty soup, the sound of people laughing, and of course, overall civilization that proved people lived here. It wasn't much, but she was still pretty deprived of Nye civilization, and this was filling in the gaps.

She snapped out of her wonder as Elrick introduced her to his wife, Maisy.

"It's nice to meet you," she said through a warm smile, taking her offered hand to shake.

Evaline, a time mage. Somehow, she didn't hate this.

She looked down at the baby by Maisy's hip, and for a quick second, wondered what it was like to be born into a world where your very identity is outlawed. It couldn't have been easy.

"Is everyone here a mage?" she asked, eyes lingering on the baby before glancing back at her surroundings.

"Yes, we are," Maisy said.

"We're all mages. Each of us... we've escaped from different situations. But out here, we look after each other. We're all we've got," Elrick said, putting his arm around Maisy.

"Oh," Maisy said, shifting the baby into her arms. "And this is our daughter, Leah."

Maisy pulled back the blankets around Leah's head, revealing her wispy red hair, at the beginnings of curls. The baby wasn't more than a few months old, and she looked calm in her mother's arms.

"She's our little gem out here in the desert," Maisy said, looking down at her daughter with a smile. "Aren't you, Leah bear?" she cooed.

Leah smiled a little bit at that, and Elrick stuck out his finger in front of her, and Leah grabbed it.

Maisy's eyes flicked over to James behind them.

"You can take the horses over there, with the others," she instructed, and pointed over to where the other horses stood grouped together. James only nodded and headed off in that direction by himself. Raya, this time, didn't follow, but she seemed to be watching from afar.

Odeta - who had stayed stuck to Evaline's hip this whole time, even though they'd stopped holding hands - piped up.

"You're probably hungry, aren't you?" she said to Evaline, poking her ribs. "I want to show you to my friends!"

Elrick pulled away from Maisy with a quick kiss and Maisy turned back towards her tent.

"Odeta, you don't just get to show Evaline off like she's a new toy. She's a person," he chided.

Odeta nodded. "Okay, okay, but can we go now?"

Elrick glanced at Evaline and nodded with a small smile. "Go on ahead."

Odeta didn't hesitate to yank Evaline by the arm again, dragging her towards the fire and the pot full of stew.

Evaline nervously chuckled, scratching her cheek. Everyone was very nice and welcoming, and it was nice that Odeta warmed up to her from being a mischievous girl who tried to get under her skin at first, but this was starting to get overwhelming. She distanced herself from the conversation and watched as James started walking away to tie up Elliot. She was about to take a step forward and say she'll accompany him, but then Odeta excitedly yanked her away. Again.

"Oh, okay," she managed to sputter out as Odeta giggled and ran to lead her to a bunch of kids sitting around a bonfire with a pot of soup. She found her mouth salivating at the scent; it had been a while since she ate a hearty meal. The food the last few days have been more flavorful thanks to the things she picked out, but they both of them still ate out of necessity, not flavor.

She couldn't even remember the last time she sat around people close to her and ate a delicious home cooked meal.

Her thoughts were interrupted when she was close enough to see everyone. There was a skinny little boy with big brown eyes and scruffy sandy hair, swinging his legs on a lone log, but already curiously looking over at her. On another log sat two teenage girls whispering to one another, one looking older than the other, but they both looked older that Odete. The younger of the two had bronzy skin and wavy dark hair, pulled into a low ponytail, and wearing simple black pants and a red sweater. The other girl had fair skin with freckles all over her body, wispy shoulder-length hair so blonde it was almost white. She was wearing a blue dress that showed her shoulders, revealing more freckles on her arms.

Once nearby, Odeta chirped to get their attention. "Everyone! I'd like you meet my newest friend!"

"... Hi everyone," Evaline said stiffly with an awkward wave. "It's nice to meet you all."

It wasn't until she said those words that she realized she forgot to introduce herself. She mentally facepalmed herself.

Luckily, this didn't seem to phase Odeta. "Evaline, this is Bethany, Masil, and Red," she said, pointing at the oldest girl, the other girl, and then the boy. "Everyone, this is Evaline. She's a time mage!" She said that part with a proud grin, like she was the one who discovered this herself.

The three kids around the campfire suddenly looked up at Evaline with wonder and amazement in their eyes.

"A time mage?" the two teenage girls said at the same time, and then they poked each other for saying the same thing.

Odeta then quickly led her to an unoccupied log, motioning for her to sit before sitting close to her. A little too close, especially since there was so much more room on the log.

"Yeah! Tell us how it works," Odeta said with starry eyes, turning to her and touching her knee. The other three chirped excitedly and moved to sat closer to her, with Red sitting on the other side of her, and the two girls sitting by her feet. She suddenly could see what James meant when he said it was common to be close or touch others to show affection, and thankfully, she didn't mind this. It was almost kind of nice, even if they were all strangers to her still.

She quickly glanced to her side and saw James tying up Elliot, standing by other men their age. It felt strange to nonchalantly talk about her power like this when he didn't really fully understand it himself.

"Well..." she began, turning to everyone and nervously smiling. "I can go back in time."

Odeta giggled. "Okay, I think we got that. But how? And how long?"

"It depends," Evaline said, briefly looking up at the sky to quickly think about how she could talk about this in the most vague way possible. She had no idea if time magic worked the same way here, and she didn't know if they already knew something. "It ranges between a few seconds to about ten minutes. It's all dependent on the emotion I'm feeling."

"So emotions are how you can go back in time?" the freckled girl, Bethany, said, tilting her head. She looked like she was trying to absorb it all in and fact-check her. She was probably smart for her age. "Can you go back in time any time you want, or is it only dictated by your emotions?"

"The second one," Evaline answered. "I can only go back in time based on my emotions."

Bethany nodded, looking lost in thought. "What kind of emotions?"

"For me, it's any strong emotion."

"Like what?"

Evaline hesitated. Why was she starting to feel interrogated now?

"All kinds," she said, not letting her nerves show. "Fear is a strong one. Anger, sometimes. Sadness... But also happiness. It depends."

"What about love?" the wavy haired girl, Masil, said in a longing voice, putting her hands together and looking up at the sky like she was reminiscing about a romance book. Or something. She had no idea what may have gone through that teenager's mind.

Evaline only nervously laughed, and the boy next to her, Red, plugged his nose and made a face of disgust.

"Gross, Masil!" he cooed.

"What? That's a strong emotion, too!" Masil said defensively.

Luckily, or perhaps unluckily, Bethany changed the subject. "How come the time ranges so much?" she asked. "Does it depend on the emotion? And also, are there any side effects? Does anyone know you go back? Can you show us?"

Evaline blinked with every passing question.

"Time doesn't work that way, Bethany!" Odeta said with a sneer, but Evaline only knew she was saying that because she already told her this was something she couldn't show her. "Evaline can't show us, because only she goes back. How would we be able to see that?"

Bethany seemed to admit her defeat, playfully shooting her tongue out at Odeta instead.

"She can show us some things, right, Evaline?" she said excitedly, elbowing her.

"Right," Evaline said softly though a forced smile. "I also have—"

"Memory magic!" Odeta finished for her. "She used it on me. She was able to see a memory I showed her. It really works!"

The three of them seemed to make an oooo noise at the same time.

"Ooh, can you try it on me?" Masil piped up.

"I'd like to see this too," Bethany said.

"Hey, me too!" Red squeaked.

Suddenly this was starting to get really overwhelming, and right on cue, Raya approached the campfire and seemed to detect her thoughts.

"Kids, give Evaline some space," she said with a stern voice, sitting on the log opposite side of them. Evaline noted that she'd be able to see James's every move from that position. "She just arrived. Let her relax."

Bethany, Masil, and Red all grumbled and sauntered over to their respective logs. Odeta even sighed and inched a little away from Evaline, but not by much.

Raya must have had an authoritarian presence with the kids. Somehow, that didn't surprise Evaline given her stern and critical interactions she had with her so far. She seemed more approachable now, though. She even gave her a faint smile that almost looked like it was supposed to be an apology for the way she had treated her before knowing she was a mage.

"So, Evaline," she said, taking control of the conversation from the kids. "It's been a while since we've had a new mage enter our camp. Tell us about yourself. Where are you from?"

It dawned on Evaline that using her usual fake location in Lettera would make no sense, so her mind quickly raced to think of a new answer.

"I'm from the Moonlight Kingdom," she said, purposefully trying to sound sad in hopes that Raya would pick up that she wouldn't want to talk about her fake hometown.

It seemed to work.

"I see. So you've been living there until now?" she asked.

Evaline nodded, and she mentally braced for the next question that she knew was coming.

"How did you get to be on the run, if you don't mind me asking?"

Evaline thought quickly on the spot. "I was in hiding with just my parents, who are also time mages. Turns out, hiding in plain sight is easy with magic no one else can see. My parents don't have memory magic, but my grandma did, from my mom's side. And that's how I got caught. My memory magic."

She looked up at Raya and glanced at the kids, hoping they wouldn't press for more details.

Odeta, of course, didn't seem to pick up on this. "How did that happen?" she asked.

"Odeta!" Raya scolded. "That's a personal question."

"What?" Odeta harped. "I'm just curious. It's not like it would happen on accident."

Evaline looked down and smiled wistfully. "No, that's okay," she said softly. "It's a valid question."

She paused, feeling all eyes glued to her. She took a deep breath.

"A friend betrayed me," she said quietly. "I thought I trusted him. I shouldn't have."

She could feel the tension rise around them, just a little.

"Evaline..." Raya began, voice cool. "Was it Tiberius?"

"What?" she said, perking up and looking at her. "No. No, of course not. I told you, Tiberius is a friend."

Raya nodded at this, somehow looking relieved but more suspicious at the same time. "Did you meet Tiberius while being on the run?" she asked.

Evaline nodded. "Yes. Like he said, we kind of just ran into each other in the forest. He's saved me from danger many times, as have I. We help each other out."

Raya hummed, but other than that, she was hard to read. "Well that's good," she said. "That you... look out for each other."

Evaline tried to study her, not really sure if she was still trying to say she was casting doubt. She didn't really want to know, either. "It is," she said instead.

Raya nodded, and then changed the subject.

"Well, now that you're with us, you'll have a lot more people to look out for you, Evaline. So you don't have to worry as much. We've got your back," she said with a firm nod.

"Right," Evaline said softly, trying to decipher what Raya wasn't saying. She made it sound like she was going to stay here permanently.

She decided to change the subject too.

"Well, enough about me," she said. "What about you? And everyone else?" She gestured to everyone around the fire. "I haven't met many other mages, so I'd love to hear more about you and your magic."

"I do earth! I do earth!" Red said, bouncing in his seat.

"Elrick's been teaching him," Raya added. "And you already know I'm a water mage."

"I can control the air," Bethany said. "Though I'm not very good at it yet, I can make some gusts of wind and stuff."

She spun her hand in Masil's direction and blew air into her face. The loose hairs of Masil's ponytail fluttered around and she closed her eyes, before sending Bethany a little glare, and trying to fix it, tucking hairs behind her ears.

"I have healing magic," Masil said, jabbing Bethany in the side with her elbow for good measure. "I used to live on a farm, and I'd heal our animals when my parents weren't looking. Didn't think much of it as a kid, but... yeah, anyway."

"You met Maisy," Raya said. "She's a plant mage. She can manipulate plantlife, and since Elrick's an earth mage, they're hoping Leah might inherit a bit of both. But we have to wait and see."

Evaline listened intently, glad to be able to learn more about the various types of magic while not being the subject of difficult questions. There were so many questions she could have asked: how their magic worked, if they could demonstrate, details on Masil's animal healing story... but she couldn't help but notice that Raya shared nothing about herself, despite asking her all the questions to get to know her.

"It sounds like you have a well-rounded group," Evaline observed, nodding. "How did you make it to the camp?" This question was directed towards everyone, but she was looking at Raya.

The kids seemed to understand, and they all looked to Raya too. Raya barely smiled to Red, the little boy, and then looked back to Evaline.

"I'm from the Isles," she said. "I actually lived on one of the islands, when I was a kid. My parents were water mages like me, and we thought on an island, we'd be safe from all the guilds inland. And they were right, for a while. But the mage hunters eventually found their way to our island... and they didn't leave until they'd found every mage in hiding. I was the only one who managed to escape, as a stowaway on their own ship."

She paused there, looking into the fire with a grim expression.

"When I finally made it inland, I ran into Jared," she said, gesturing to the tall man over by the horses, with James. "We were both water mages, and we kind of helped each other learn while we were on the run. We found Elrick when we made it to the desert. Or rather, he found us, on the side of the road. We were lucky it was him, and not someone else. But he helped us... and that's how we're both here today."

Evaline paused, making sure she was done sharing before she said anything. She didn't expect Raya to give the whole story like this. She certainly wouldn't have.

"Thank you for sharing," she said, meeting her eyes. "I'm sorry that happened to you. I'm just glad that you had other people looking out for you."

Raya smiled, and then Red jumped out of his seat and into Raya's lap, giving her a hug. Raya smiled a little, like she was embarrassed, but didn't push the boy away. She put her arm around him and patted his back.

"Me too," she said. And from the way she said it and looked at Evaline, it almost sounded like she was saying that she was glad Evaline was being looked out for too.

At this moment, Maisy approached them straddling little Leah in her arms. "Sorry if I am interrupting," she said softly, careful to not wake the baby. "Kids, can you help me set up lunch?"

Red excitedly jumped out of Raya's lap and zipped towards the tent, and Bethany and Masil both walked over, waving at Evaline and telling her it was nice to meet her.

Odeta looked at the tent, then back at Evaline. "I'll be back!" she whispered in a hush voice, rushing over to follow the others.

Maisy smiled at Raya and Evaline. "I'll let you know when lunch is ready," she said, turning back to walk towards the tent.

Evaline looked back at Raya, and Raya looked back at her. Somehow, even despite sharing all these facts about themselves, it felt awkward to talk to her without anyone else nearby. Or maybe it was just Evaline feeling that. She had no idea.

She decided to break the brief silence, not making this more awkward than it needed to be.

"So, you're a water mage," Evaline began, folding her arms on top of her knees. "I actually have never met a water mage before."

Raya's eyes flitted from James before landing back to Evaline. "Really?" she said, sounding a bit surprised, which made Evaline panic a little. Maybe she shouldn't have said that. "We're not uncommon, but you did say you haven't met many mages before."

She could hear the question in her words. Evaline nodded, deciding to continue to stay consistent with her story. "I haven't. My parents are time mages, so obviously them, but believe it or not, I've only met one other mage. A fire mage."

Raya hummed. "So you've never seen water magic?"

Evaline shook her head.

Raya hesitated, then let out a small smile. "Would you like to see?"

Evaline raised a brow. Raya was offering a demonstration. She wouldn't say no to that.

"I'd like that," she answered gently, hoping that this would finally stop distracting her from thinking about how suspicious James was.

She opened the canteen by her side, and water rushed out, floating in the air beside her. She looked at the ball of water in front of her as it seemed to levitate over her hands.

"You've seen me do this back when we met," she said as the water slowly lifted up in the air. "But you haven't really seen what a water mage could do."

The water suddenly thinned and turned to a straight line, then a circle, swirling around the campfire. Little water designs started to appear in the circle, completely symmetrical as the water originated from the perimeter of the circle. The water was filled with animated swirls and artistic lines as it spun around them, almost pulsating. This went on for about ten seconds, and then Raya spun her arms around, motioning for the water to zip up into the air, and then land as mist around them. Sunlight peeked through the mist, resulting in little prisms of rainbows around them.

"Wow," Evaline breathed out, in awe around her.

Raya looked satisfied, closing her empty canteen. "Well, that's what I do to pass the time, sometimes. Most water mages wouldn't be as artistic."

"I love it," Evaline said, looking back at her with an approving smile. "I think mixing magic with art is... well. It's beautiful."

"Thanks," Raya said, then hesitated. "I remember you mentioning that you can draw people to prove that you've seen their memory. Are you an artist yourself?"

Evaline hummed over the thought that Raya may have showed her an artistic magic demonstration just so she could lead her into this conversation. "I am," she said. "In a different way than you, obviously. I'm a sketch artist. I draw people." She paused. "I don't think I'd be very good at drawing other things, though."

"Why not?" she asked, and Evaline got the impression that she wanted to draw this out, like she just wanted to have a pleasant conversation with her. Or something.

She shrugged. "I guess I haven't practiced. I've just been drawing people my whole life."

Raya leaned back a little bit on the log, her face suddenly looking somber. "Elrick said this was a good way to control my emotions. Because of... trauma and all. It affected my magic for a while, but I've learned to control it better now."

Evaline recalled the time that James explained to her how magic worked. Emotions were the power source for mages, and a mage with bad control of their emotions could result in instability. "I'm glad you found an outlet for your emotions," she replied softly.

Another brief silence fell between the two of them.

"I hope you don't mind that I listened to some of what you were saying to the kids earlier," Raya said, deciding to break the silence. "Your magic sounds interesting. I haven't heard of emotions being a strong motivator of magic before, but of course, time magic probably works differently."

Evaline nodded, and honestly, had no idea what to say, and she was suddenly grateful that two more strangers walked up to the bonfire to save her from this conversation.

Raya looked back to see the two men walking up, and she seemed to hesitate before changing the subject. "Oh. This is Jared, who I told you about before," she said.

Jared sat down on a log next to Evaline and smiled warmly, giving her a little wave. "Hi," he said.

"And Nathan," Raya introduced.

Nathan went over to Raya, and sat next to her, giving her a little space.

"The kids probably pounded you with questions, huh," Jared said, looking to Evaline with understanding.

Evaline let out a short laugh. "Don't worry. I survived," she said, then looked between Nathan and Jared. "My name is Evaline, by the way."

"Nice to meet you," Jared said.

"Interesting company you keep," Nathan said, looking over to James, who was still by the horses with Elrick.

Evaline looked off to her side, letting her gaze rest on James for a few moments. He didn't look uncomfortable. That probably meant he was uncomfortable.

"He's not half bad," she mused out loud, turning back to face the others.

"She met him while she was on the run," Raya explained for her, seemingly anticipating Nathan's question before he asked it.

"Yeah, Tiberius told me," Nathan said.

Jared looked a little nervous, like he was eager to ease the tension.

"How long have you two been traveling together?" he asked Evaline.

Evaline paused to think about this. How long had they been traveling together? Time seemed to blend together. "One month, I think," was what she settled on. "Maybe two. I know I'm a time mage, but it can be difficult to gauge time when living out in nature."

Jared laughed a little. "It really is."

"So, that's not that long, actually," Nathan said. "I mean, in the grand scheme of things."

Evaline waited for him to elaborate. He didn't. "I... guess?" she said.

"Have you guys just been traveling that whole time?" Jared asked.

Evaline nodded.

"I'm back!" Odeta suddenly yelled, running towards them with a stack of bowls on her hand. Evaline would've been concerned that the bowls would all fall over and break, but something told her that this wasn't the first time she had done this. Behind her, the rest of the kids were approaching the fire with other items to prep for their lunch.

Odeta went to Evaline first, giving her a bowl. "I'm happy you're here today. For lunch you'll have my favorite stew. It's go beans, and lentil, and vegetables, and..." She went on and on, passing bowls around the campfire.

Everyone seemed to head towards the campfire, and Evaline looked back at James and noted that Elrick was close to approaching her, while James held back a bit further behind, but still approaching.

James hadn't felt so out of place in a very long time. This was different than being in a town and keeping his head low. These people were wanted as well, but there was a great divide between them. They were wanted for things out of their control, while he was wanted for a choice that he made. There were always mages who managed to hide their magic and hide in plain sight, but many were never afforded that choice in the first place. Most mages discovered they had magic on accident, or under pressure. Normally, it was friends or family who turned them in.

It was no wonder mages drew together so tightly to compensate for the family they often lost.

As James walked over to the horses, he noticed how people kept looking over to him with interest. By now, no doubt, they probably thought he was a mage. He hoped Elrick would explain the situation to everyone so that he wouldn't be met with more hostility, but he had a feeling there was nothing he could do to dissuade them of their worries and avoid suspicion.

There were two men by the horses - all four of them were tied to a wooden pole that connected horizontally to two wooden stakes, securely hammered into the dirt. The horses only looked mildly interested in James and Elliot, but it was the two men who stood up and stopped what they were doing.

One of them - a very tall man, surely over 6 feet tall - had been brushing the pinto. He set the brush aside on a rock and patted the horse before leaning on one of the wooden stakes with his elbow.

The man looked a little lean, but strong. He had warm brown skin and his black hair was cut short and stuck up in places in natural waves. He was wearing simple clothes, unlike Elrick and the others, who looked like they'd left the camp prepared to fight if needed.

The other man was only a few inches shorter than James, and he looked a little on the underfed side. He had dirty blonde hair pulled back into a short ponytail at the nape of his neck, and his tunic and pants looked a little loose on him. He was holding a bucket of water that he set on the ground, along with a wet rag he tossed into it.

But next to each other, the men seemed to be friends. They definitely sized James up together.

James stopped a few feet in front of them and smiled politely.

"Hello," he said. "Maisy said I could bring my horse over here."

"Oh, yeah, of course," the tall man said, patting the end of the pole. "There should be room."

"So what's your name?" the lanky one asked.

James felt himself cringe inwardly at the name he had to say. He knew he had to for consistency, and because the others knew who he was, but he didn't look forward to their reactions if they knew who he was.

"Tiberius Hemming," he said, leading Elliot over to the pole and tying his lead securely to it.

"Dragons above," the lanky one sputtered.

"What?" the tall one said. "You know him?"

"We've never met before," James said in a neutral tone. "What are your names?"

"Jared," the tall one said.

The lanky fellow didn't seem interested in names yet. He was looking wildly from James over to Evaline, and even glancing back over to where Maisy and Elrick's tent was, as if he was looking for confirmation. An explanation. Something.

"Nice to meet you, Jared," James said, not addressing the lanky man's obvious befuddlement and concern.

"No!" the lanky man interjected.

"His name is Nathan, by the way," Jared said.

James was about to say: "And you too, Nathan," but he didn't get to say that, becuase Nathan finally found words.

"What the hell is the Moonlight Kingdom's most wanted doing here?" Nathan sputtered. "You're not - you're not a mage," he said, looking at James in what could only be defined as disgust and dissaproval.

Jared seemed like he was still catching up.

"You're wanted for treason," Nathan said, like it was an accusation.

James shrugged, finishing his knot and patting Elliot on the side.

"And?" James asked.

"You're a criminal," Nathan accused again.

"So are you," James said with nonchalance, leaning onto the wooden beam beside Elliot.

"But why are you here with us?" Nathan asked, folding his arms and glaring at him.

"My friend," James said, pointing to Evaline, around the fire.

She seemed like she was doing okay - if a little overwhelmed - but none of the mages were hurting her. If anything, it was the opposite. The children were fawning over her and showering her with affection. And questions, probably. He did not envy her for that, but he knew if he answered for her, that would only get him weird looks at best, and make him look more suspicious than he did already at worst. She looked like she was holding her own. She did well back when they'd been trapped in the ground, and she was being interrogated.

He was impressed. Worried, too, but impressed.

"She's a mage," James explained. "A time mage. We've been traveling together for some time, now."

Nathan looked back to the fire along with Jared, and his expression softened. Only a little.

As the two looked away, James noticed Elrick and Maisy coming out of their tent. Maisy shouted something and called the kids over, and all of them fled the stew and the fire, leaving Raya and Evaline alone. Elrick turned a different direction, and headed toward James and the horses.

This caught Nathan's attention, who looked one second away from shouting something unpleasant at Elrick. James was glad to see he held his tongue.

Nathan shot James another glare, and Jared continued to look torn, though James figured he'd be likely to side with Nathan. Loyalties and all. It was a tense few seconds as Elrick hurried over, looking like he was already anticipating the need to diffuse the tension.

"Tiberius and Evaline are friends," Elrick said, cutting to the chase. "They'll be staying with us for the night." His eyes flicked to James. "Perhaps longer. It has yet to be discussed. But I think we owe them that much after ambushing them."

Nathan didn't look happy about this, but he nodded with reluctance. Jared nodded too, and he looked James up and down, like he was assessing him. He felt like he saw Jared's eyes linger hear his neck. James didn't want to look down and appear self-conscious, but he had a feeling Jared might've been able to see some of his bandages peeking out from his collar.

So, Jared was attentive, and Nathan knew things. How much Nathan knew and had heard had yet to be seen. He hoped it wasn't as much as Evaline heard from that sheriff in town. All of those rumors sounded grossly exaggerated or just flat-out wrong.

"...Okay," Nathan finally said stiffly after a too-long pause. "Thanks for letting us know."

Elrick smiled weakly, but the smile faded as he glanced at James, and then returned when he looked at Jared. It wasn't as subtle as Elrick tried to make it.

James knew when he wasn't wanted.

"Why don't you boys come over for lunch," Elrick said, his smile still a little tense.

Nathan and Jared nodded, and they started off quickly, not waiting for James to follow. Nathan did look back at him though, just to send another pointed glare. It was appreciated. At least they were acknowledging him.

Elrick stayed back for a moment, looking at James.

"You're welcome to come, you know," Elrick said.

James could tell Elrick was really trying. But he could also tell Elrick was still suspicious. James didn't know if there was anything he could do to prove himself in this context, so he figured it'd be best to just do as he was told.

He smiled and bowed his head. "Thank you. I really appreciate it."

Elrick nodded, and it looked like he was about to leave, but he paused again.

"I just want to make sure my horse is situated, if that's alright," James said.

Elrick nodded again, but didn't budge.

James waited for him to say whatever it was he was hesitating to say.

"You said you wouldn't turn us in," Elrick began. "And I believe you on that because I know you can't as a criminal yourself. But..."

"But you don't trust me," James finished. "That's understandable."

Elrick looked relieved that James understood. He sighed and pulled the ends of his lips into a not-smile.

"Just... you know. It's nothing personal," Elrick said.

"Of course."

Elrick then turned to leave, and James watched him go.

The children were coming back out with Maisy behind them, holding the baby in one arm and a loaf of bread in the other.

He looked over to Elliot and patted him on the side.

"Bet you didn't see this coming, did you?" he whispered to Elliot. Elliot turned his head and nudged James in the chest playfully. James grinned and pushed Elliot's nose away.

"Alright, so maybe you did. I'm the one who's short-sighted, not you."

He paused, petting Elliot's nose for a moment before he finally took a deep breath and broke away, approaching the fire. When he got there, Maisy was already standing over the pot with a large ladle, serving out the stew as everyone stuck out their bowls to her one by one.

Maisy served her a scoop of the stew, and Evaline was itching to taste it. The people around her talked and chatted, and she was glad that, just for a second, they gave her time to breathe... even with Odeta being way too close to her despite the ample room on the log.

As soon as James was nearby, she immediately locked eyes with him, trying to give him a look that said, 'Are you okay?' without outright saying it.

James nodded to let Evaline know he was fine, and stared back and tried to ask her the same question. He felt she would know they were both checking in on each other, if only for a few seconds of eye contact.

Evaline slowly nodded back too, not breaking eye contact. She wanted to ask him some other things, but it was hard to do with just eyes.

Suddenly Odeta poked her arm and interrupted her thoughts. "Hey, did you try the stew?" she asked, poking her some more.

Evaline blinked and looked down, realizing she hadn't. "Oh. Not yet," she said, then spooned some in her mouth. It was really good. Oddly... it tasted like home.

"I can see why this is your favorite," she said with a small smile over to Odeta, who looked pleased.

She looked up at James again, but he already looked away.

James was scanning the people around the fire, but found that no one even gave him a second glance. At least, not friendly ones. Natha and Raya especially seemed to be looking at him like he wasn’t supposed to be there. Or like he’d done something to offend them personally.

He found himself looking back to Evaline, and noticing the (only) empty spot beside her, walked over and sat down.

Maisy was kind enough to hand him a bowl of soup. He smiled as a thank-you.

Evaline was listening to Odeta float back and forth of conversation between her friends and Evaline, but it was more of a one-sided conversation, really. She heard her mention her name lots of times, and she mostly talked for her. Evaline almost missed the sly mischievous side of her.

She noted that James invisibly moved towards her, sitting down on the empty spot next to her. She smiled, watching as he also received a bowl of the stew.

"So is this what you had in mind when you were describing the Outlands to me? I agree it's rather dangerous to be attacked by curious children," she said in a quiet low voice to him before taking another bite, repressing a smirk.

James had just taken a sip of the stew at the moment Evaline whispered to him as an aside, and snorted, having to clear his throat before he swallowed.

It took him a second to speak after the broth almost went up his nose.

“Absolutely terrifying,” he said so only Evaline could hear.

Evaline had to repress a grin so that she wouldn't bring any extra attention to themselves, although she saw a few peering eyes look over when James snorted.

She waited a few more moments, listening to the others and taking another bite of the stew.

"We don't have to stay long," she said quietly to him, careful to say it quiet enough so Odeta wouldn't hear.

James nodded slightly, waiting for Jared and Raya to stop looking at them. His snort had drawn attention.

"Let's talk later, okay?" he whispered, leaning into her shoulder just a little so the words only reached her ear.