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Mirror, Mirror

The King's Road must lead him somewhere, they must take him onwards. Jonathan Strange has fallen through into the fairy world and he must discover the paths for what they are. For if he is to discover this magic, he can bring it back to England and truly begin a new age of English magic. Norrell would disapprove, of course, but then, does not Norrell disapprove of all?

This flight of discovery only lasts him so long before he knows he must return to Arabella. Turning, he strives to find the nearest reflective surface he can, but the paths are unknown to him and Strange is new to all of this.

Finally, he finds a mirror, but when he seeks to take it back to England, that is not where he arrives. Instead, he steps out of the full length mirror and discovers himself in the midst of a terribly lovely ballroom that bears the finest chandeliers he's ever seen. Being a man only barely escaped from war, this luxury is unexpected and frivolous and yet, he wishes to bring Arabella here.

Perhaps this is yet another realm of the fairy? Perhaps the Raven King has led him onwards to a new domain, tucked away where he would not think to look?

Striving to be polite to any fairy he might come across, he presses a hand to his chest as he regards the nearest passing person, who does not seem to be under any enchantment, nor bearing any of the magic that Strange would think to look for. Perhaps these people are not the magicians he had expected and yet, he has come here by magic.

"Good day," he introduces himself as brightly as he might, bowing his head to them. "May I ask, which direction would I take to return to England?"

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"No direction ye should be wanting to go," Jamie says, the words falling off his lips in an amused burr. He's fine to leave England to the English and spend the rest of his days in this Purgatory even if it means never seeing Scotland again. There's always a chance this place is like the stones, after all, and he'll see his Claire again.

"To answer the question, though, I've not found a door that heads that way."

Strange looks over his shoulder to see whether the path he's taken is clear, but there is nothing but a mirror there. Of course, a proper spell might allow him to travel back, but this is a new power to him and one he has yet to truly understand. He regards the Scotsman with veiled amusement, given his comments regarding England, but he gestures in his direction. "Are you one of the faerie folk?" he asks, meaning to be as polite as possible.

It's odd, though. Strange doesn't feel any specific magical power emanating off this man.

"Och, no," Jamie says, laughing. "My father used to tell me I was a changeling and they were going to steal me back to keep me in line but I'm no' one of those. Just a man."

For an Englishman, this one seems all right, and if he's not immediately pointing out Jamie's Scottishness, he's probably not a threat.

"Are you? Never known an Englishman to be one of the wee folk."

Strange laughs warmly at the thought, wondering if he could convince some of England's ministers that there are changelings afoot. Perhaps it would invoke just enough interest that he might be allowed on the King's Roads again -- only if Norrell didn't find out, of course. "I'm no faerie, but I'm in the market to meet one," he explains eagerly. "I've just walked the King's Roads for the first time," he says excitedly.

"I'd very much like to see a bit more of their world and was hoping this might be it. I can sense something here, like a tune in the back of my head."

"Aye, you'll not be finding those here. I mean, ye might," Jamie says, not wanting to discount it - the hotel's a strange place - but he hasn't run into any faeries here since he's been here.

"No rafts or anything I can see. I guess ye ken all about them then, if you're looking for them? About how they'll curdle your milk and steal your bairns?"

"Of course we've heard the stories of changelings. In fact, that's how the Raven King came to be. He was raised in England, but stolen away and grew to be the most powerful magician in all the land," Strange says, having picked up as much history as Norrell would allow without giving him his books.

"What sort of place is this, then?"

"Aye, it's a crossroads between places," Jamie explains. "A place between worlds. I've never seen anything like it before coming here."

He knows he isn't explaining it well but he feels like he doesn't have the right words for it. "It's a bit like the standing stones. You'll ken those, right?"

Strange thinks that rather magical sounding and instantly, he knows that he will be spending a great deal of time trying to learn the ins and outs of this wild, magical place. "I've not used standing stones, but I have read of their uses in several of the books Norrell possesses. I believe there is a certain passage in Absalom's book. Did you use them to travel here?"

"Not as such," Jamie says. He had gotten here through a door, proper, but he knows standing stones can be used to go between worlds. "My wife, Claire, she came to me through the stones. They work at certain times of year, when the way between the worlds is thinner than usual."

Those are old legends, older than Christ, and just thinking of them makes Jamie cross himself unconsciously; hopefully this man isn't out to catch a Papist and turn him in or else he's in trouble.

"If you were to encounter the stones again, I would very much enjoy to visit with you," Strange says eagerly, for he has been so deprived of books by Norrell that he is willing to take advantage of whatever magic he can. Stones to allow the passage between worlds would be something that he could greatly enjoy, if he were to wrap his head around it.

"Aye, if I find them, I'll be showing them to you," Jamie promises. It's the least he can do if the man is searching for something. Besides, if they can get them to work, maybe he can find Claire again.

"Are ye needing a place to stay? We can get you settled in the inn."

"I hadn't counted on staying long enough to require the bed," Strange admits, given that he is staring around him already, his eyes on the mirrors as he debates trying to find his way back to them. "Arabella will be waiting for me, and I cannot tarry. She does get cross when I am late."

"Arabella would be your wife, then?" Jamie kens well about keeping a wife happy and he doesna wish to cause marital discord.

"I'll be happy to help ye find the way back to her."

"The most wondrous of women, clever and sharp and very sharp of tongue when I am not meeting her expectations," Strange agrees, his bright smile only increasing in size and glow to think of her and how he had wooed her for so very long. "She's not entirely pleased with my taking up magic," he admits. "Though she is always supportive."

"Aye, well, that's how wives are," Jamie says, laughing softly. "They never want ye to do anything dangerous for fear they might lose ye." On this last, he chokes up a bit; he had never wanted to lose Claire and had wanted only to protect her, as best he could. He wasna able to do so and now he'd had to be without her all these long years. It's more than a man might handle.

In Arabella's case, she might be exactly right if Jonathan has somehow managed to find his way to an entirely different plane of existence by using the mirrors. He must be very cautious not to mention this little misadventure to Mrs. Strange just yet. "And yours? Is she here with you?"

"No, she's not. I had hoped I might find her," Jamie explains. "But I've been here for months and no' seen a sign of her. My Claire's not here."

She's the only woman he's ever loved and he wonders if he has that capacity in him without her. He wonders if there's anyone who might take a similar role in his life (for no one could replace her) and he thinks it's not possible.

"I'm sorry to hear," Strange replies, given that he can only imagine being in a similar position with Arabella and he knows that he wouldn't like to find out. "Perhaps in the meantime, you would be inclined to show me around. Even if these aren't the King's Roads, they're certainly magical within their own right."

"Aye, I can show ye around," Jamie confirms. He sees no harm in showing the man about, especially since he hasn't seemed to bring along a squadron of English soldiers behind him. It's the least he can do for him.

"Ye will be wanting a room, I imagine? We can get ye set up there."

"I suppose a room to house whatever trinkets I find would be wise," Strange admits, given that he expects to come back and knows that he would not wish for his possessions to suddenly be lost simply because he departed for a time. "Is that something you might help with? Perhaps an innkeeper is to be alerted?"

"There's a desk, aye, and an innkeep. They should have your name." It had been that way when Jamie himself had first gotten there and he has no reason to believe it's changed in the months since. It's one of the few constant things about this place.

"Want me to show you?"

Strange gives a nod of his head, feeling at once more comfortable with his arrival here than he had the whole of the time he'd been in the army. It had taken miracles and magic for them to come to respect him and here, he has it without even a worry and a care. "My name is already known to them? What sort of magic can this be?" he asks, genuinely thrilled by the notion.

"No idea," Jamie admits easily enough. "But they knew me when I came all these months ago, ye ken, so they'll be knowing you too. At least, they ought to." Jamie doesna think it's any different for anyone else.

"Well, if they're friendly towards me, then all the merrier. Perhaps this time, I won't be sent waiting for hours and hours while Wellington carries off as though I hadn't been sent to help him," he maligns, mostly rambling to himself as he absently follows after Jamie.

"Tis nice to have a place to lay your head if you've been traveling for a while," Jamie says. "I ken the feeling well. I have spent many a night on a cold hard ground with a stone for my pillow and leaves for blankets. This inn is a sight better at accommodating ye."

"Do you often travel between here and home?" Strange asks, a rather hopeful look on his face to think that he might be able to simply pop in when he feels he wants to, rather than always have to struggle to maintain himself in one or the next. "Are you able to show others this place? I'd dearly love to show it to Norrell," he says, perhaps a bit smug as he wishes to show him such magic that does not live in books.

"Nay, I've not been home. I've been to other worlds, though, and there's others what can go back and forth. I'm sure they'd like to show ye." Jamie wonders if he's somehow met his death back home, seeing as how he canna go back and forth the way he likes and he doesna like to think on that. There's too much that his family and his clan needs from him.

"It depends, I think, on the person."

"I take it that means that you're not a frequent traveller of the odd doors that are here, then?" Strange remarks, giving Jamie a curious look. He cannot imagine being given an opportunity like this and simply passing it by. It seems impossible, truly!

"Aye, no. Not risked it," Jamie admits easily enough. "Though I reckon I could stand to explore a few more of them here and there, should the occasion call for it. It's no' crossed my mind before now to do so. I've been looking for home, ye ken."

Home is the only place he wants to be - but only if Claire's there.

"Well, perhaps if I'm to be stuck here, I might be able to find a path home through the mirrors. Perhaps, if I grow better at it, then I might even find a way back to your home," he says eagerly, even more desperate to try and widen his skill-set.

"I would very much love to expand my talents, without need of a faerie, but I know it would be difficult."

"Aye, well, if ye find a way back to Scotland, I'll be obliged to follow you through," Jamie says, giving the man a genuine, if quick smile. "Because I'd like to see my home again, even if it's just for a wee moment before having to come back through to here. I'm an outlaw, ye know, owing to the fact that the Scottish aren't the best English subjects."

Scotland! It would be a wild thing to be in Scotland when last he had been seen in London. Then again, traversing countries using mirrors is something he would greatly like to do. "I hardly mind outlaws," Strange is quick to assure. "The public is divided in opinion as to whether magicians are criminals, as well."

"It only makes us interesting, I think."

"Well, anyone on the bad side of the English is a friend of mine," Jamie admits quietly. "So if ye need some help, ye let me know. I'll be happy to help ye with finding a way back to wherever ye like."

Especially if it meant getting back home to his own Scotland.

"Well, I suppose it rather depends on the day as to whether I'm a friend or foe of the English government," he concedes, knowing all too well that the very same applies to Norrell, though he does worry he is far more foe than friend lately. "And I thank you for your kindness. It shan't be forgotten, I assure you. When you're in need of a magician, feel free to call upon me."

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Mirror, Mirror

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