Disclaimer: I don't own any of this. Kendriun and Mikal are just figments
of my imagination.
******
Needless to say, it did not take me three minutes, let alone three days to decide. It was the opportunity of a lifetime and I would have been a fool to pass it up. Ah, to be young and naïve again! But I digress.
The first year passed in a blur with my mother and I taking up residence on the second floor of the tower. We had many hands to help us settle in and everyone was eager to get a look at the sorcerer's new apprentice. Mother was not pleased to move from our serene workshop to the castle with all of the comings and goings and bustle but she soon adjusted to it and made friends with several of the court ladies. They were well impressed with her son and she was very proud of me.
The first time I laid eyes on Kendriun's rooms it was marvelous! It was as if every bit of knowledge ever known to Middle Earth had been accumulated there. Shelves of books lined the walls from floors to ceiling, many careening off shelves in crazy angles. Some books lay opened on tables or stacked in the floor. Strange and fascinating objects that I did not recognize sat on tables or shared space with books on shelves and in the floor. In the far corner of the room was a pedestal shaped like an upturned claw with a large round stone sitting on it giving off a pale pink light.
I looked around in awe and Kendriun opened his arms in a gesture of embrace. "One day this would be all yours," he told me with a broad smile.
For several days, Kendruin allowed me to explore the two rooms that were his working areas. I felt as if I had died and gone to some wonderful place. Certainly not even the Blessed Realms of the Valar could compare to this. It was a world beyond measure far beyond anything I had ever dreamed possible. And he had chosen me to pass it on to after he was gone. I was humbled by his gift and resolved to do everything I could in order to carry on his work.
Reverently, I touched scrolls that had been written in Quenya by elven hands in ages long past, afraid that my human touch would somehow soil the preciousness of their writing. Curiously, I examined Kendruin's strange toys. Some I could not even fathom what they could be and others looked strangely like animal parts – wooden duck feet, paper bird wings and the like. Drawings littered tables and were jammed between and sometimes inside of books. Other unidentified objects were suspended from the crossbeams by a series of ropes and weights. It was all so strange and wonderful at the same time.
Herbs and bottles of ointments and other liquids were contained in the second room of the tower. This was more of my area and I carefully examined his stores as I breathed deeply of the herbarium smells. I was aghast at the sheer variety of samples the room contained. Many of his stores were dried, fresh and liquid. I was wandering the room gazing at the bottles and herbs in awe when I noticed a gray cat curled up on a table in the corner, delicately arranged on what looked like an elvin cloak surrounded by a small stack of books. I smiled, walking over and stroking its head with my fingertips.
"That would be Ghost," Kendruin said as he entered the room and found me bent over the cat. "He's my resident mouse-catcher," he added affectionately.
I smiled and turned up to face him. "I would like to thank you again for choosing me as your apprentice," I began.
He waved his hand dismissively. "How many times must I tell you that it is as much for my benefit as it is for yours? I could not, in good conscience, leave this treasure trove of junk to just anyone. You are one of the few who appreciates it as much as I do. Come, let us begin our journey," he said and drew me out of the herbarium and back into the room of books.
*****
******
Needless to say, it did not take me three minutes, let alone three days to decide. It was the opportunity of a lifetime and I would have been a fool to pass it up. Ah, to be young and naïve again! But I digress.
The first year passed in a blur with my mother and I taking up residence on the second floor of the tower. We had many hands to help us settle in and everyone was eager to get a look at the sorcerer's new apprentice. Mother was not pleased to move from our serene workshop to the castle with all of the comings and goings and bustle but she soon adjusted to it and made friends with several of the court ladies. They were well impressed with her son and she was very proud of me.
The first time I laid eyes on Kendriun's rooms it was marvelous! It was as if every bit of knowledge ever known to Middle Earth had been accumulated there. Shelves of books lined the walls from floors to ceiling, many careening off shelves in crazy angles. Some books lay opened on tables or stacked in the floor. Strange and fascinating objects that I did not recognize sat on tables or shared space with books on shelves and in the floor. In the far corner of the room was a pedestal shaped like an upturned claw with a large round stone sitting on it giving off a pale pink light.
I looked around in awe and Kendriun opened his arms in a gesture of embrace. "One day this would be all yours," he told me with a broad smile.
For several days, Kendruin allowed me to explore the two rooms that were his working areas. I felt as if I had died and gone to some wonderful place. Certainly not even the Blessed Realms of the Valar could compare to this. It was a world beyond measure far beyond anything I had ever dreamed possible. And he had chosen me to pass it on to after he was gone. I was humbled by his gift and resolved to do everything I could in order to carry on his work.
Reverently, I touched scrolls that had been written in Quenya by elven hands in ages long past, afraid that my human touch would somehow soil the preciousness of their writing. Curiously, I examined Kendruin's strange toys. Some I could not even fathom what they could be and others looked strangely like animal parts – wooden duck feet, paper bird wings and the like. Drawings littered tables and were jammed between and sometimes inside of books. Other unidentified objects were suspended from the crossbeams by a series of ropes and weights. It was all so strange and wonderful at the same time.
Herbs and bottles of ointments and other liquids were contained in the second room of the tower. This was more of my area and I carefully examined his stores as I breathed deeply of the herbarium smells. I was aghast at the sheer variety of samples the room contained. Many of his stores were dried, fresh and liquid. I was wandering the room gazing at the bottles and herbs in awe when I noticed a gray cat curled up on a table in the corner, delicately arranged on what looked like an elvin cloak surrounded by a small stack of books. I smiled, walking over and stroking its head with my fingertips.
"That would be Ghost," Kendruin said as he entered the room and found me bent over the cat. "He's my resident mouse-catcher," he added affectionately.
I smiled and turned up to face him. "I would like to thank you again for choosing me as your apprentice," I began.
He waved his hand dismissively. "How many times must I tell you that it is as much for my benefit as it is for yours? I could not, in good conscience, leave this treasure trove of junk to just anyone. You are one of the few who appreciates it as much as I do. Come, let us begin our journey," he said and drew me out of the herbarium and back into the room of books.
*****