o-o-o Apologies for delays. Life happened...
Safehold fans will be pleased to know that the Mad Wizard has begun posting snippets of the next book (Hell's Foundations Quiver) on his forum. Which I am not going to link to, because I know what's good for me. David Weber/Mad Wizard Weber/Runsforcelery owns Safehold. It is his sandbox, I merely play in it.
Now on with Cal's adventures. This is a short chapter; I think you'll see why I ended it where I did when you get there. I need to re-read OAR soon and get a sense for timelines; the next chapter is going to set up a lot of what follows.
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I ran so far through the streets of Tellesberg that night. I ran through streets and down alleys. There were taverns everywhere, inviting splashes of colour and noise in the dark and wet. I couldn't though; I couldn't go in, sit down, and keep looking over my shoulder waiting for that to happen again.
I kept running. As I got a little further, the taverns thinned out. I could see bedraggled whores standing at corners, hoping for custom. Good luck to them; I felt no particular temptation in that direction. Miranda wouldn't have liked it, and I didn't think that getting the clap would help me with anything right now.
I ran so far that Tellesberg started fading into countryside. I knew there could be no pursuit behind me, it had faded into running purely for the joy of the movement. I was soaking wet. I had been assaulted earlier. I was running in the dark, in a foreign city; a stranger in a strange land indeed. I considered the possibility that all the oddness had finally cracked my mind, then discarded it to focus on putting one foot in front of another.
Eventually the moon rose, and in the improved light I turned around. I paused briefly to stretch a little, then I began running back down the road to the city. Once I was meeting junctions, I started turning off at random to end up somewhere different in the city to where I had started. I came closer to the docks than I had been, and there was an extra smell over and above the usual briny tang. The smoke of a burning building only fought its way to the forefront of my attention when I came in sight of it; a towering fire, consuming a big building on the waterfront. I slowed to a walk, then sauntered down an alley to find someone standing and watching.
"Good evening to you. Nasty fire, what building is that?"
The greybeard I had spoken to turned to look at me. He was devastated, poor man, looked on the point of tears.
"That's the Royal College. All our archives, the results of our investigations, going right up in smoke."
I had heard a bit about the Royal College. The King's initiative to bring together scholars and let them learn from each other, something like that. I would have called them an early university, but I hadn't heard anything about them taking on students.
"I'm so sorry. Was there anyone in the building?"
"I don't know. I've not seen Razhyr, and he often works late. I pray to God and his Archangels that Razhyr wasn't in there, we'll never recover without him."
I didn't know what to say; I'd hoped to satisfy my idle curiosity by asking a bystander, not get involved in someone's life burning down around their ears. I got so busy kicking myself for that, I started talking without really thinking about it.
"I hope you find your friend. I would say this about your archives though; they can be rebuilt. The important thing is that you keep working, keep discovering more. Knowledge is never really lost as long as someone is trying to find it."
He looked at me oddly, as though startled out of his funk.
"You know, you sound a lot like - no, it's absurd. But do you know Merlin?"
Time to go.
"Haha, that's an odd name. Can't say I've ever met anyone going by it. Anyway, I had better be off home, it's rather late."
"Wait! Don't go - oh, at least come back soon. Merlin will want to meet you, and Razhyr."
Oh hell no. Merlin, scary man with a sword and the ear of the king? I mean, maybe Merlin thought like me, and he could be a powerful ally; but what if he was a magical thinker? Merlin the wizard, huh? Or maybe he just wanted power for himself, and didn't want to go picking a fight with the Church...
Ok, maybe I fucked up. Maybe I should have gone back next day, or gone straight to the palace to talk to Merlin. Maybe. But right then I couldn't face the risk of disaster, so I ran for it. Ran, with my shadow flickering before me as the flames roared behind, and the old scholar's words echoing in my ears.
"Come baaaack!"
I'm sorry Miranda. I need to be stronger.
o-o-o Comments, questions, rotten tomatoes? o-o-o
