Legacy of the Golden Wielder

Chapter 3

 

CHAPTER 3

“About time you boys got here,” said the master record keeper. Or like Aadi liked to call him, “master sleep inducer.” It’s not that he didn’t like him– in fact, he rather enjoyed the man’s rants on the history of wielding, royal lines of succession, importance of books, or any other subject he was particularly interested in that day. The problem was that he would speak for hours on end without stopping. It would eventually induce Aadi into a deep sleep. Zoen, on the other hand, listened to his entire speeches with glaring interest.

“Sorry, Frode,” Zoen apologized. “Aadi here was too busy flirting with one of the royal servants and playing hero.”

 Frode turned to Aadi, eyes wide open. His wrinkled face twisted to show even more lines than usual. “You did what? You do realize you could be whipped for talking to a servant without permission, right?” His voice rose with intensity. “Who was it? Please don’t say it was one of the emperor’s servants.”

“Relax,” said Aadi. “It was one of the princess’s servants.”

Frode rubbed his head as he exhaled a breath of relief. Save for three strands of hair, he was completely bald. He had a long peppered mustache that reached down to his stomach. He wore a long gray robe that looked as if it belonged to a simple beggar. “Oh, that’s a relief. The princess comes to the library from time to time. Unlike her father, she has an appreciation for knowledge.”

Zoen nodded. “Yes. I was surprised to see how she treated her servants. She saw them as friends, not as pieces of property. Very strange indeed.”

“You want to see strange? Follow me and take a look at this.” Frode moved down the empty hallways of the grand library. His slow footsteps echoed loudly across the walls that seemed to reach up to the sky. High arched windows let rays of morning light into the otherwise dark room. All around them were stairs upon stairs that led up to over a dozen levels. Each level contained countless shelves stacked with books, both new and old. Even though hardly anyone came to the majestic library anymore (most people were too busy scraping for food to stay alive), it still required constant tending. Which is where Aadi and Zoen came in. Many were the days they spent dusting books and keeping them in order. Aadi would much rather scour the streets, but his friend enjoyed being surrounded by the books, so he joined him from time to time.

The master record keeper stood behind the oak woodcounter. He reached under it and took out a rolled up scroll. He placed it down on the counter and spread it open. Aadi reached out and touched the rough texture as he took in the aroma of dry ink.

“Keep your hands off of it,” said Frode, swatting Aadi’s hand away. “This scroll is over a thousand years old.”

Zoen stood around the scroll, his eyes twinkling with admiration. “Truly amazing. Judging from these blue lines on top, I would surmise that it came from one of the water cities. The text is written in a highly arched manner. Is it from the Maki people?”

“Very good,” said Frode. He looked down at Zoen as if he had just found his successor. “Very good indeed. You are correct. This scroll was sent to me by the Master Record Keeper of Amanzi, the largest water capital city in Va’siel. He found it in an excavation of the Maki ruins.” He turned the scroll toward his heir apparent. “Can you read the text?”

Zoen’s face lit up. He began to read in a hushed whisper. Aadi couldn’t really hear him, but judging from the way his friend’s frown increased each passing second, he figured it couldn’t be anything good. By the time Zoen reached the last line, all the joy had been wiped from his face.