Ellen Severson - Hederick the Theocrat

In response, Hederick's hand went to his chest, felt briefly for something, then fell away empty.

For a moment, his watery blue eyes shone with fear. Then his eyelids drooped, and he staggered away from the goblins without comment or dismissal. A silver flask appeared in his hand.

His words drifted back in the night air.

"So what if it's gone, I don't need it, I don't need her. I don't need anybody!"

Astitms, leader of the Order of Aesthetics, surveyed the scribes before him and permitted a half-smile to grace his face for a fraction of a moment. Then it relaxed again into sternness.

Shortly before, Olven, Eban, and Marya had completed the manuscript, cut the scroll into uniform lengths, and bound the leaves into a book. That now book lay atop Astinus's desk in his private cell. He patted the tome as he addressed the scribes- now two, not three.

"You have done good work," he said. "You are apprentices no longer, but assistant scribes. Welcome."

Eban sighed in relief. But Marya said, "Where is Olven, master?"

Astinus didn't answer right away. Instead, the historian slipped off the stool, picked up the Hederick volume, and placed it on the wooden cart by the doorway. Later in the day, an assistant

would list the book in the library's records and assign it a place on the already overloaded shelves.

"Olven decided that he preferred a life out in the world," Astinus said after he returned to the stool. "We talked long. He felt chafed by the strictures he found here. Olven decided that he could not be happy for long if he were merely recording history. He is, I believe, on his way to Solace."

Eban's freckled face appeared mystified, but Marya suddenly smiled.

"And you, Marya?" Astinus asked her gently. "Can you remain here?"

The woman nodded. "For the time being," she whispered. "1 have things to learn first, before going my own way. Perhaps eventually I will follow Olven."

Eban looked from one to the other without comprehension. But the historian and the female scribe exchanged glances of perfect understanding.