The Scrollrunners

Chapter 10 | Chosen Family

As the once-grand temple echoed with murmurs, prayers, chants, and chatter bouncing between its towering columns and marble statues, Talibah and Letes followed the old woman Bas as she led them towards a back alcove and held aside a dusty, faded purple curtain and beckoned them inside. Talibah went first, ducking under the short arm of their giddy new friend, and Letes went in uncertainly after. They emerged into a small half-circle room lit by candles with a stone bench against the single rounded wall, interrupted only by an Egyptian statue of a cat at the room's forefront. Athena padded in after them and gave the cat statue a once-over before curling up between its large stone feet.

Once inside the room, Bas removed her colorful head covering to reveal curly gray hair that sprung every which way, only adding to the half-mad look that always shone from her eyes. She beckoned the girls to sit down and sat on the bench across the room from them, folding her hands in her lap and, ever so calmly, said, "Tell me your story."

The friends had known they would have to share their greatest secret with Bas in order for the old woman to be able to help them. They had decided they could trust her (Talibah, fully, but Letes only worried that the crone might take things too far).

So, Talibah began the story of their secret classroom while Letes cut in every once and a while to add a detail or two. Bas never interrupted once, she just sat listening with an uncanny stillness, as if she could pounce, not at the girls, but at the villains in their story, at any moment.

A long while later, Talibah ended by telling Bas about her argument with her father, and that Talibah needed to do better than him, with Bas's help, of course.

Once Talibah finished telling her tale, Bas stood up quickly, looked the young fighter deep in the eyes, and simply said, "Your mother would be proud." She then swept out of the room with a swish of the curtain.

Letes stared after her while Talibah let out a long sigh of relief.

"It felt so good to say all that— to finally be able to talk about it with someone other than you."

Letes answered, "I feel like we're vulnerable now that the secret is out, though. But this is good," She sounded more like she was trying to convince herself. "We need to start spreading the word... Where do you think Bas went? Should we wait for her?"

"I think she means to come back— we should wait. She looked like she was on a mission."

"She always looks like that, Tali." Letes said exasperatedly.

And so the two girls sat lost in their own swirling thoughts and waited for the old woman to return.

Bas bustled back into the fire-lit alcove just a few minutes later, bringing someone along with her. The contrast between the demeanor of the old woman and this hooded figure was almost laughable; she, imposing and full of energy and confidence, the stranger, head bowed and shoulders hunched, as if trying to blend into the background. There was something very familiar about the way this person held themself.

"Arben!" Upon recognizing their cloaked friend, the girls broke into surprised smiles. They both rushed to give him a hug that he returned fiercely.

They then directed tumbling, interrupting questions at the poor boy, "How do you know Bas?"— "How long have you been coming to the temple?"—"It's so good to see you!"

Arben, though completely comfortable with his two friend-teachers and Bas, flinched slightly at all the excited questions flung at him. They recognized this and settled down onto the benches.

"Arben grew up here," Bas said. "Though, in past months he's been disappearing more often, and we all wondered where he's been going off to. This one doesn't talk much," Bas nudged him with her elbow and gave him a fond wink, "but he's looked happier than he has in years, bringing back trinkets, art, and even writings. I already suspected that this had something to do with the two of you, and once you told me about the classroom, I knew."