It was warm and toasty already in the tent, a relief from the cold.
"Please, sit."
I settled onto a pillow beside the fire while she went to the table and poured milk into a goblet.
"Drink." Ghoajin brought it to me and then sat on the pillow nearest me.
I sipped the milk. It was a little bitter, chilled from the cold, and thick. Definitely not the skim milk I was accustomed to. Not wanting to offend my hostess, I drank it down. It settled my stomach, which was still churning from the trip through time. The faint headache that accompanied both my trips through time faded as I drank and rested.
"What manner of dress is this?" Ghoajin asked, puzzled, as she touched the wool riding habit. In the firelight, I could see how pretty she was with large, dark eyes, delicate features and gleaming, blue-black hair. She appeared much younger than her husband.
"It's, ah, how we dress far away." I replied awkwardly. When exhausted, I wasn't the best conversationalist.
She stood. "You will not be warm enough. Wait here."
Ghoajin left the tent.
I sneaked out the cell to check for any more bizarre messages from Carter. The adrenaline from the travel was starting to wear off, leaving me with the memories I came here to escape.
There was nothing from Carter, so I texted him quickly. What am I here to do???? I knew better than to assume he had sent me back without a purpose and understood this time around the purpose he gave me might not be the truth, either.
The worst part of all if this: I was at the mercy of a man I couldn't trust whose motivations were too far beyond my understanding to predict. I knew he was using me, but I didn't know why. My appearance in front of an army wasn't the most inconspicuous entry into this time period, but maybe there was a reason for it. He had done his best the first time around to place me somewhere safe, and from my reception here, had done the same. They viewed me as divine or near divine after witnessing me survive a fall from the sky. As long as no one needed a demonstration of magical proportions, I was safe enough for now.
I despised Carter for that, too. My life was in his hands. Unable to understand him or what he did, I at least was able to take some interest in witnessing worlds and times and people no one in my era ever had. My favorite television show was Doctor Who, and pretending to be one of the Doctor's human companions helped me view the world around me as a little less scary.