STAY AWHILE
“...another time in other place
he questions words and deeds apace...”
Delyih Nynnnu Wandyik IV
1:2:3:2/6, III:XV
It ended quite abruptly, nine months later, in the shadow of a costly victory. Farwen looked up after a moment, to find his master staring out the window at the stars. Time stretched forever.
“...What happened then?”
The old master turned his head to grin a bit. “Well, that’s another story.”
“But.” Spellbound and enthralled, Farwen composed a rough sentence of his own making. “I want to know what happens next!”
There was kindness and gladness in the old man’s stare, and Farwen relaxed a bit. “You have a choice to make, now. Will you make the atlas for this story? Or would you scribe my next story, and have me task another to map these lands and times?”
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
The starkness of the choice settled over him. “And if I map these lands and times myself, you’d choose another scribe?”
“You cannot do both. There’s not time in the day.”
Farwen slumped, shaking his head in disbelief. “I want to be your scribe, master,” he said at last. “I want to write every story. Even if it means no maps again, or only maps sometimes – this story deserves to be told, in full. And I want to be the one to write it.”
Moved, the old man still seemed mournful. “I must confess, Farwen. I don’t need a scribe, no matter whom it may be.” He waved a hand, and the quill lifted, inking his words across paper as he said them, “I am truly sorry.”
“But, what?” The old man’s smile eased his breathless panic. “Then why did you ask me to scribe for you?”
“It’s difficult to explain. I tried telling this story myself, and it would not come out right. My ideas would come in pieces, and I could not recall what I’d told before. You kept me honest,” his master grinned fondly. “With all your questions, I could not leave anything out.”
“So... this can still be our project?”
The master map-maker laughed heartily, and he approached to clasp his apprentice on the shoulder. “If you would stay awhile and listen, I’d be much obliged.”