Cogs Of Fate

The Extraction

Present Day

Rowan returned to the infirmary after escorting Charlotte back to her room to rest. He stopped a few feet before Tenley's desk where she sat staring at her journal, causing her to glance up at him as he asked, "What's wrong with her?"

Tenley leaned back in her chair. "She's dehydrated," she said with a half shrug, "and she needs to rest."

"Seems like that's all she's been doing," he confessed, crossing his arms over his chest. "Ye didn't see anything off with her examination?"

Tenley shook her head. "Was I supposed to?"

"I don't know," he admitted. "She's been acting...different..."

"In what way?"

Rowan shifted in his spot. "I'm not sure how to explain it without sounding like..." he sighed heavily, shoulders slumping forward, "like a crazy person."

Tenley held his worried expression with one of her own. "Rowan," she began, her voice gentle, "you know you can tell me anything, right?"

He nodded, his lips pressed into a thin line. He lifted his gaze to meet her. He inhaled deeply. "She's a visionary."

"A what?"

"She can see the future."

Tenley blinked at him. "What? Like...Like - "

He nodded again. "Like Jiya, aye," he told her. "It's something she's had her whole life."

Tenley's eyes darted around his face. "Does..." she hesitated, "does Quinn know?"

"Aye, he knows," Rowan admitted. "She's told us some of the things she sees but..." Tenley waited for him to continue as he seemed to get distracted. He averted his gaze to his boots. "I think the visions are what's causing her to lose sleep."

"Why didn't you tell me she was your mother?"

Rowan's eyes snapped up to Tenley's. "Ah, I see she told ye." He leaned against one of the nearby exam tables. "I didn't want anyone to know."

Tenley stood from her desk, approaching him. "Why?"

"It wasn't safe," he confessed, studying Tenley's expression. "For any of us." He shrugged and added, "Still isn't."

"She said something similar about you," she told him. Rowan chuckled slightly. She hesitated but asked, "What do you know, Rowan? What aren't you telling me?"

His pained expression turned away from her as he pushed off of the exam table. "It's not safe yet," he warned. "I'm doing everything I can," he turned to face her, "I promise ye... I won't let anything happen - "

"Rowan," Tenley interrupted, her voice laced with a warning, "Don't string me along...not after everything we've been through."

"I can't," he whispered. "I can't risk losing it all..."

"There's no one here," she whispered back, motioning to the empty room.

Rowan shook his head. "That's where ye're wrong," he said, glancing toward the door. He turned back to face the doctor. He stepped up to her, wrapping her in his arms to embrace her, his lips dropping to her ear. He whispered, "We have a mole."

"What?" she whispered back, wrapping her arms around his neck, pulling closer to him. "How do you know? Who is it?"

Rowan leaned his head against her forehead. "I don't know yet," he whispered. "But ye need to be careful."