Humans are inherently chaotic. Anyone who has spent time with humans realizes this from the start. They aren't inherently evil or chaotic, but they tend to go down paths some of us would turn away from before it gets too bad.
The worst thing that can happen to a fae is to be with a human who suddenly thinks something really strange would be interesting to check out. Short of knocking them unconscious, sometimes you can do nothing but go along with them.
I thought I could trust Bob. He had seemed like a sane sort of human. I hadn't seen him do anything out of the ordinary, and the months he spent with the Fae after our encounter with Sylsan had been pleasantly calm. I was spending my time in the archives because nobody trusted me out on the street, including me. Besides, I enjoyed sitting in the archives and dusting off old manuscripts that nobody looked at in decades. I had an affinity for finding older works that no one had even remembered.
On day twelve of the humans' forced exile into our fae realm, Bob came to me and asked if he could sit in the room while I looked at the archives.
"I don't mind," I replied. The idea of some company during the long hours appealed to me now that the continuous headache had eased back to something manageable. "But why me? I'm not the most interesting fae in the area."
"I don't need interesting," he said with more emotion than I expected. "I've been spending a lot of time with Adon and Gold. Sometimes, Adon and I can talk for half an hour before I realize we aren't talking about the same thing. In fact, we are often worlds apart. The other humans have made similar observations. You and I could talk back in the human realm. I hope we can make that connection again so I can feel more comfortable with the others, both human and fae."
"What problems do you have talking to us?" I asked.
"Anything dealing with time," he replied and gave me a long stare. "Why don't you have that problem?"
"Anything that has to do with time –"
"Time isn't a constant here," I told him.
Bob looked at me as though I had gone mad. "That's not possible … is it?"
"Anything that can be named and measured can be manipulated."
Bob took a moment to consider that one. I knew where his thoughts were going, too. He glanced around the archives, but that was not what he was thinking about.
"I can be named and measured."
"Yes, you can. However, eons of experience have taught us that manipulating allies is never a good idea. They resent it. That karma comes back on you. However, if you were standing in front of a falling building, it would be easier to move you rather than the building."
"And I like to think I would be grateful."
"If you are trying to get a group of fae to set a date and time for something to begin, forget it. The best you can do is to set parameters that must be met before the event can begin."
"And the enemy, noting that I have gathered troops, would begin gathering his own," Bob answered.
"Exactly."
"So there's no way to have a surprise attack," Bob said, looking toward the window behind them. A slight breeze rolled through, picking up dust from everywhere.
I thought about creating a cleaning spell specifically for the archives. It would have to be gentle, but now wasn't the time to consider it. Bob was still looking for answers.
"A surprise battle was very rare. It takes a lot of magic, which people usually discover anyway. It is why our wars are minor affairs, and assassins are more common. We don't think assassins would go after the humans, but we are keeping watch more carefully than we normally would under these circumstances."
Bob looked at me, and I could see unasked questions in his stare. It seemed as if he considered one thing after another before he discarded each one. Then he finally nodded.
"I can't tell if you are taking Sylsan seriously or not."
"We purposely are not making him powerful," I replied, wondering if this was one of those things humans and fae didn't share. "If we do more than try to track him, we limit our choices later. We can't set up a trap because he would sense the magic."
"Then humans should set up a trap."
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