A/N: The Architect's and the Old One's relationship is an interesting one. I'm not quite sure why she saw it fit to punish him with that that clock of hers; personally, I think it was a test of sorts. :D For someone to love another for eternity sounds like a very simple idea, and it's the same to hold a grudge against another for that long; the Architect is too creative/clever/restless for that (the will attests to that). Maybe she did want to continue loving the Old One, or she wondered if she was still capable of love. In contrast, the Old One seemed more simple a character, like how he tested Arthur in the first book. It was as simple as life and death…literally! But that's just my take on it.


The Architects and the Morrow Days
2. The Old One

He was a poor fool who had thought forever
he could love: a sun that would never dim
its flowering flames – but she was too clever
to be satisfied on the inner rim
of a world too in awe of her to change
itself, to amuse her, to provide essence
in a life that sat too far in her range.
She needed to let go, and he was first:
the man who'd thought he could love on and on
and keep her happy inside Paradise.
He could live a simple life: future won
but she was too wild for that to suffice.
She chained him to the clock she stared oft at,
waiting for the hands to strike the mallet.