The highlander has drawn the healer aside, and asked her a question she never expected to hear. Just a short distance away, Gergesene and Kensington rest up, before their long flight back to Einheimische Keep #1.

Jonas kneels before Buran, head bowed, awaiting an answer to his question. A hopeful expression, tinged with awe, is on his face.

The healer, who had been expecting to hear a concern about her patient or an answer to her earlier questions, is taken by surprise. Not one to easily lose control of a situation – the product of a life lived where discipline is vital – she chooses her words carefully.

Buran says, "I have been sent, yes," she says, "to learn of Chronotopia and to give any help needed. There are those here who are hurt." The winged Khatta gestures toward Talia. "And I am a healer; I felt it my duty to help.""

Jonas pauses, confused. This was not the answer he was expecting. "But, Epona is the Lady of Healing, Mistress. Why is She not here in Your stead?"

Buran hides her confusion. "I wished to learn the art."

Jonas pauses again, growing more confused. "Mistress," he begins, but pauses again, searching for the words. "I am but a poor Child o' Yer Brother, Bruin, and have no place to question the decisions o' the Primogen and the Mother," he declares after a moment. "What do Ye wish of me?"

The healer's gaze drifts toward Talia, resting upon her cot. The question is one to which she has a ready answer. "You know more than I of the Kaizer's palace. You must know how I can keep her safe from harm as Sir St. Germain has asked me to do. I would be grateful for your help."

Jonas listens attentively and then bows his head in obeisance. "As Ye command, Mistress, I shall do."

Jonas stands and moves to the guards. "Where may we place this injured Daughter o' Herne?" he asks, motioning to Talia.

Buran follows after Jonas and whispers quietly in his ear. "Be careful!" she cautions. "Can we trust these men? I would rather as few knew of Talia as possible."

Jonas pauses, and then nods. "I understand, Mistress. I will do what I can to protect her."

The first guard looks up at Jonas' question. "Well sir… " He starts to stay, then stops as he catches sight of something in the palace courtyard. His gaze leads to Lord Ruthven, impressively striding with a cloak flowing behind him, and ten guards following that. He arrives, with a posture that indicates he is taking charge. "Hello Commissar, what is going on here?"

Gergesene whispers to Kensington, "So, we need… " His voice trails off as he notices the appearance of Lord Ruthven, at which he draws himself up straight. "Milord!"

"Sir St. Germain!" Ruthven's eyes dart past the highlander to see the Korv who was hidden by his bulk. "What are you still doing here?"

Jonas turns to look at Ruthven, his face showing a small surprise at the appearance of the noble. "Lord Ruthven," he says, "it is good to see yer up and about. We were about to take this wounded doe someplace where she could be tended to."

Kensington, dosing off partway through Gergesene's explanation, suddenly startles, standing upright as well at the exclamation. "Wha?! I'm listenin', I'm… oh."

"I had intended to take care of last affairs in Chronotopia before embarking upon a journey from which I may not return," Gergesene says with a slight blush. "But it appears that these last affairs have turned out somewhat more momentous than I had thought. As a matter of fact, I believe we are now prepared to arrest a major suspect who has been causing untold trials and tribulations for all of us!"

Buran, who had been explaining to Jonas the need for utmost secrecy in this matter, senses the lord's approach. Though she does not know him, it is apparent from his demeanor that he is of some power here. She nods politely to him.

Ruthven's expression darkens. "I ordered you to go to Bosch and destroy the source of this corruption. What is the point of staying here scratching at fleas when you can eliminate the eggs? Commissar Jonas has been given the power to deal with affairs. I suspect it is not as simple as you believe, and every flaw you fix here will only cause another one, and not be the end of the problem."

"I was brought a report of a Fiend outside the gates of the Palace!" Ruthven stabs at the street outside. "What more evidence do you need? Go to Bosch. Jonas will deal with matters here."

Gergesene blanches. "Of course, milord. I shall leave immediately." He salutes to Lord Ruthven.

Kensington folds his wings, and struts to stand by his cousin. "Steady on, mate! Ye may be a lord an' all, but there's no call fer jumpin' all over poor Gerry here! He's just tryin' t'do what's right, makin' sure nothin's left behind 'afore he goes an' risks 'is damn fool neck fer one of you pompous noblemen!"

Gergesene awps at his cousin and tries to put his wing over Kensington's beak. "Please excuse my cousin, Lord Ruthven. He's been gone a long time from Chronotopia."

Jonas's eyebrows shoot up at Kensington's comments, and he hides a smile behind one hand.

While Chronotopia's culture may be very different from that of Rephidim and the Temple, the expectations of the various social classes remain much the same. Buran looks at Kensington with disbelief on her face. {He's going to get it now}.

Jonas interrupts quickly, before Ruthven can bring his ire full force against Kensington. "Beggin' yer lordship's pardon, but there is the small problem of this young lad here." He motions towards "Jael."

Kensington caws, "An' what's more, says I, you could mph ogmurph mmphlph… " What remains of the corsair's sentence is disrupted before he can finish it by Gergesene's wing.

Ruthven seems on the verge of saying 'Arrest him', or perhaps taking matters into his own hands. Gergesene can recognize the look of a knight, or more correctly, ex-Landsknecht, about to issue a challenge. Instead, the Lord pauses at Jonas' words, and looks to the boy beside the doe. "Great Gears! Is that Talia? What happened to her? She looks ten years older." He approaches the mage.

Jonas says, "As I said, yer lordship, there is the matter o' this lad. And his mother. It seems she managed to hurt herself pretty badly earlier. The situation was made worse by a … er, what's the bloody word? A dippelgunger? A duplicate? In any case, it was of Sir Steinhardt."

Gergesene whispers to Kensington, "Cousin, you can not talk to nobles that way! It is… out of place in the Grand Machine! The order of things which is right and just under the light of the Star." He frets nervously.

"Some Boschian monstrosity 'appened, I'll wager," rasps Kensington, grimly. "Why, I seen men with their fur scared dead white by things we ran into on th' ships."

Kensington waves a wing at his cousin dismissively. "Bah… hoopjumpin' poppycockery's what all that is. Ain't no 'Grand Machine' fer me but th' Kensington Korvette." However, the corsair settles into a blessed, if temporary, silence, lost for a moment on the deck of a ship in his mind.

"I see." Ruthven replies to Jonas while Gergesene attempts to contain Kensington. He looks at the young Cervani. "That is her son, good." His gaze rests on Talia again.

The healer, who has returned to her patient's side, replies. "Sir, I don't know what led to it, but she jumped from a moving carriage in the street." One hand points roughly to the site where Buran was summoned to the doe's side. "I cannot tell you anything more for fear of falsehood." She nods slightly in Sir St. Germain's direction. "He can tell you more."

The appearance of the healer provokes the smallest of reactions in Ruthven, one that implies he has noticed her strangeness, but is used to many strange things. He turns that gaze to the Korv Landsknecht, "What can you tell me, Sir St. Germain?"

Gergesene looks shocked at his cousin. "Do not speak of such things," he exclaims. Noticing Buran's nod, he struggles for a moment to remember the question. "Ah – what do you wish to know, milord?"

Jonas frowns slightly at Buran's deference to Ruthven, which is, in his mind, reversed. But, in the interests of diplomacy – a skill that the Watch Commanders had to beat into his skull – he lets it pass, and says, "That'd be the puzzle, yer lordship. As I recall, I had breakfast with her son this morning, with Gergesene and his cousin, too. And then we came here. So, unless the boy can fly, I don't think that's him, but rather another duplicate. Or p'raps, the duplicate is back with Sir Rainscroft?"

"That will be your task to determine Commissar, for the moment however… " Ruthven turns, selecting out 6 of the guards. "… You, take Mage Talia to the infirmary, the Palace one, not the barracks. You, take the boy to a holding room in the barracks. Be careful, a Boschian doppleganger can be much stronger than they appear."

"I'd like to know anything new you have discovered since we last spoke, Sir St.Germain." Lord Ruthven answers the knight.

Jonas nods. "Aye, that it would be." He turns to Gergesene. "Ye said something about an arrest?"

Buran realizes that she may be separated from her patient, never a good feeling for a practitioner of the healing arts. "I will go with Talia," she declares. "It is my responsibility to keep her safe, and that I will do."

Jonas turns to look at Talia. He forms a questioning look in Buran's direction, as if asking for orders.

"This was indeed intended to be a deception," Gergesene says, grasping onto the fundamental thread. "But the truth is worser than this. The boy is a mere paid actor – we must arrest the one who has paid him, and threatened Talia with hounding of her and her true son if she does not cooperate with his machinations. It is he, who seeks to cloud the succession in the House of Lords with mummery and stage-foolery of the worst kind! He may be behind more as well, and I am certain that the Commissar's skilled questioning will ferret out these matters as well. We should depart at once to Einheimische Keep, milord, the Commissar, I, and my cousin, and carry out the arrest – and there, as well, I shall be able to fulfill your wishes and gather all that is needed for our expedition to the hated land of Bosch."

"The boy," Gergesene adds. "May prove useful in confounding and confronting his master. I am sure he is merely youthfully unaware of the treachery in which he was to play a part."

Jonas turns and fixes the boy with a forbidding glare. "I'm not so sure," he mutters. "Children're capable o' more malice than many give them credit fer."

Kensington nods rubbing the bottom of his beak with his wing claws. "Aye, he's a crafty lad, I can tell. You don't get by in the pira-… shippin' business without knowin' a trick or two, an' mark me words, that boy knows 'is tricks." The Korv sniffs. "I kin respect that, though."

"There are enough Landsknechts at Keep #1 that Jonas will not need your assistance. Prepare for your journey and ask for volunteers to join you on your quest." Ruthven orders, watching as two guards bear Talia away, simply nodding to Buran's words then forgetting about her. "The boy will be detained here, there is no need to drag him into a confrontation. If he is a fiend, he would complicate matters, if he isn't, you will be risking his life."

With another gesture, the Cervani Lord waves at the three guards to take the false Jael away.

Jonas says, "I doon't want to countermand yer orders, Lord Ruthven, but I'd prefer to keep an eye on the little bugger, if'n ye doon't mind."

Taken aback somewhat by Lord Ruthven's curtness, Gergesene merely nods mechanically as he stands a bit dumbfoundedly.

Buran looks upset at this man's disregard for her request. Does he not understand its importance?

Jonas says, "It does no good to keep yer eggs in one basket, as it were, but it does less good to place them where they kin be stolen by passing tinkers."

Gergesene nod… nod… nod…

"Who is the traitor you plan to arrest?" Ruthven asks.

Gergesene gets a grip on his beak and holds it still for a bit, then looks about. "It would not be good to speak his name out in public, milord. Bosch has many spies about, and if one were to get word to him in advance of us, then he might be able to flee, along with any information we could coerce from him… "

Gergesene walks closer to Lord Ruthven, motioning for him to lean over so he can whisper the name of the suspected accomplice.

Jonas leans close, trying to hear the name, since he has not yet heard who this suspect is.

Kensington shifts his cutlass on his hip uneasily. {Iffen they were worried about an uproar over me manners, I hate t'see what this'll cause… }

Ruthven nods, incling his head to hear the Korv's words

The Korv knight whispers, "I believe it is Sir Hehner. I am told that he was the one who ordered Mage Talia to be moved to Einheimische Keep, secretly! And she has told me herself, that he instructed her that unless she identified the boy as Jael, her son, that he would keep searching for the true Jael. Sir Hehner. He must be the one behind all this… Or in the pay of whomever that might be! But we – that is, the Commissar must take him into custody now, or word will get back to him that his twisted machinations have failed. It is incredible, Lord Ruthven, that one of our numbers should have succumbed to ambition… " The Korv looks shaken.

Jonas straightens, an alarmed look on his face. He speaks in low tones to Gergesene, "That leaves Sir Fadyr alone among warriors that will follow Hehner's orders. He and the lad could well be in serious danger!"

"What!" The Lord's eyes glare, and his hand drops to his sword belt. He looks directly at Jonas. "Are you going to stay here and watch the boy, or go to the keep?"

Gergesene nods. "Let us make haste, Commissar. Milord, with your permission, I and Kensington shall go immediately there, to ensure that the true boy is kept safe and to spy out the traitor's movements. The Commissar should follow as fast as a carriage can carry him… "

Jonas nods. He turns to take custody of the young impostor, and spies Buran, looking upset. He steps towards her, and says, "Mistress, I must take care of the lad; my oath to the Black Watch demands it. I shall return as soon as I am able."

Buran nods to Jonas. "I would never ask otherwise."

Jonas smiles in thanks. Felis would understand, of course, but She is a vain goddess, and expects respect. He is glad that She is one of Her better moods.

He turns and takes hold of the young Cervani who is impersonating Jael. "Now, yer not going to be any trouble, are ye?" he asks, the smile that was directed towards Buran dissolving into a frown.

The healer queries Ruthven, asking where Talia will be taken and insisting once more that she be allowed to continue caring for the wounded doe. Her features show her determination; she apparently takes her healer's duty seriously. She is respectful but firm.

"You will do no such thing." Ruthven says as Jonas stops the guards leading the false Jael away. Facing the highlander he says, "You will go sit and make sure he stays in the barracks where I have ordered him placed if you insist on keeping him in your sight."

"She is in the palace infirmary." Ruthven answers the healer, pointing at guard, "He will show you the way, join her."

Gergesene looks confused. "But milord, the Commissar's writ is surely needed to ensure the lawful arrest of the traitor. What purpose would he serve doing a task any of your guards could accomplish just as well?"

"You, and You. Run and send the LuftRitteren to Keep #1. You, get my Drokkar." He flings his orders at several more guards. Ruthven turns to back, "I am going to the keep to take charge of this, and you can go to Bosch."

Jonas turns to look at Ruthven. He almost expected this. "Beggin' yer lorship's pardon once again, but no. My oath is the protection of the innocent, and the lad at the Landsknecht Keep is my duty. Ye have given me this other duty out of convenience to yerself, and I have done as well as I kin to keep that from interfering with my own oath. But, if'n the lad is in danger, my place is there. I will take the impostor with me, if ye wish, and make the arrest of the suspect, but I'll not stand aside and shirk my duties to the lad." He stares at Ruthven, waiting for the response.

Kensington starts to say something angry, but realizes, "Go to Bosch" isn't really an insult, but an order.

Buran begins to gather up the assorted supplies which were used in Talia's treatment, replacing them in their carrying-bag as each is inspected to ensure that it is cleaned and in proper order.

Gergesene looks torn between loyalty to his comrades and the orders of someone who is possibly the most important lord in Chronotopia, someday to be the Kaizer… Then turns to Kensington. "Cousin, whomever is sent to take charge of the matter, it will do no good if the traitor has fled the fort. Let's go." He casts a look to Jonas that suggests moral support is the best he can do, and then salutes to Ruthven.

Kensington's beak-edges quirk upward. "Aye, Gerry. Lead on," rasps the corsair.

Ruthven salutes Gergesene, and finishes answering Jonas. "The impostor stays. You have been charged with a high station based on Sir St. Germain's words, and your blatant disloyalty to a direct order is making me reconsider that decision. Your writ can be rescinded, and you can be arrested. Consider how that will help your oaths."

One of the stable hands arrives riding Ruthven's drokkar. "Here sir."

Gergesene wings off, sailing into the sky in the direction of Einheimische Keep #1…

Kensington trots a short distance, and takes to the air as well, following Gergesene in a precise echelon right.

Jonas stares at Ruthven. "Indeed," he says, "I expected ye might have that as yer answer. Ye assume, o' course, that my loyalty is to this country of yers. It is not. My loyalty is to innocents caught in between the struggles of furres o' power. Furres like yerself, it seems. As fer yer writ," he fishes the writ empowering him as a Comissar out of his sporran and holds it out, "ye kin have it back, and kin consider me just another wandering soldier fer all I care. I swore an oath on the Names and Legacies of my Clan, my Family, and the Black Watch, and to the Primogen and the Mother to defend all innocents caught in the middle of such struggles, and I WILL REMAIN FAITHFUL TO THAT OATH!!!" Jonas' voice drops from the sudden roar to quiet rumble, "Even if I have to go over ye to do so."

Buran's ears flick back in surprise at Jonas' tone, and at his harsh words. Disapproval briefly crosses her features, but it is quickly gone. She begins to close up her equipment bag.

Jonas faces the Cervani noble, and misses Buran's disapproval. His nostrils are flared, and his eyes cold. His hands lay at his sides, slowly clenching and unclenching.

The occasional clatter is heard as Buran puts her things away.

Ruthven watches the display, then turns without a further word to Jonas. He motions to the guards. "He is banished. Arrange for him to leave, by escourt, or airship. Remove his weapon in case he decides to act uncivilized. I have a traitor to arrest and no more time to waste here." He mounts his drokkar and spurs it out of the palace.

The remaining small group of guards look at Jonas, a Khatta finally ventures. "I hope you're going to come peacefully."

Jonas rumbles something in his own tongue, and spits at the spot where Ruthven stood. He tosses the writ to the floor and crushes the parchment under his boot. He looks at the Khatta, and sighs. He looks at Buran, and says, "I am sorry, Mistress. Bruin's children are known fer their strength, not fer their sense."

Jonas suddenly, without any sort of warning, lunges towards Buran. He sweeps her up into a headlock, and snarls at the guards, "If'n any of ye move, I'll snap her neck! Now, I'm leaving this place, but of my own will. Since time is such a treasure here, I want none of ye to move from this spot or say anything to anyone fer at least ten minutes. If ye do, I'll kill her, ye ken?" That said, Jonas begins backing away and out of the Palace, heading towards the Landsknecht Keep.