The Books of Knowledge

  Over the two weeks Slate spent at the Falls’ residence, he devoured books with relish, making his way through the entire set of encyclopedias in the library to try and catch up with all he had never known about his world. He also attended some of Arianna’s classes, where he sat rapt in the back at all there was to learn. When she wasn’t at school, Arianna, Slate, and Pilotte would go exploring together. Slate was enjoying his time and company, but always at the back of his mind was the nagging notion that he had to get back on the trail to Airyel.

  After deciding one night that the next day with the Falls would be his last, and struggling for hours with how he would tell Arianna, when he was finally ready to make his announcement, it was cut short by Brit, who brought home his own big news. Arianna’s brother burst through the front door with a holler, and then proceeded to make four loops around the house, whooping and celebrating before his mother demanded an explanation.

  “What are you so excited about, Brit? Did the school burn down?” she asked.

  “Mother, my Mother. Tell me, did you vote today?” asked Brit with a huge, presumptive smile.

  "Of course I did," Mrs. Falls said.

  "And how did you vote, Mother?"

  “You know I voted against the Heritage Act, we talked about it at breakfast this morning.”

  “Well that’s strange, Mom. Because no one voted against the Act,” said Brit.

  “What do you mean?” asked a suddenly worried Mrs. Falls.

  Arianna ran out from the kitchen.

  “Yeah, what do you mean no one voted against it? It passed?” she cried.

  “No, no, it didn’t pass,” said Brit. “But no one voted against it. Actually, no one voted for it, either.

  How? Come on Brit, just tell us what happened,” plead Mrs. Falls.

  “Happy to. This is the best story ever,” Brit began. “So all the votes are all counted up in public, right, and nothing’s been reported yet, because those are the rules, right? Then, just before the tallies are about to be announced, someone in the crowd stands up, a Green Shield, from what I heard, and asks the crowd, ‘People, how can we trust Kale’s ballots?’ Now, Kale is there, of course, and he’s so confident, he quiets the crowd and says, ‘I guarantee that this vote is one hundred percent accurate, with no tampering or distortion of any kind. The electoral system is foolproof, and we needn’t listen to men such as this, who try to breed mistrust.’ And so they begin reading off the tallies, and the place just explodes. Every vote, every single one, is for ‘Freedom.’ The Green Shield re-rigged the rigged election and caught Kale in his own lies, right out in the open!”

  “Nnno!” gasped Mrs. Falls.

  The Falls family danced around the kitchen, singing and cheering. Slate was happy for their excitement, but couldn’t share it. He quietly left the celebrations to join Pilotte in the back yard, where he continued to struggle as he had since the night before with how he’d tell Arianna that he had to be on his way.

  “Slate?” Arianna asked from the back porch. “Where’d you go? Is something wrong?”

  “What?” Slate asked. “Oh, no. I just don't really know anything about politics. I’m glad the vote turned out good, though.”

  “You seem upset. Tell me what’s wrong.”

  “I think I have to be leaving, Arianna. Before the deep winter. Before the snow starts to stick.”

  “Wait, what? You are going to leave already? Why are you going to leave?”

  “I’ve really got to find my father. I know he’s expecting me,” Slate explained. “I mean, I can’t just stay here forever, can I?”

  “Why not? You don’t even know where your father is,” Arianna protested.

  “Sure I do, he’s in Airyel.”

  “But we are more than happy to have you here, we all really like you.”

  “And I really like all of you, too. But he’s my dad, and he’s expecting me. I can’t just stay here forever. Arianna, I’ve only known you for two weeks and you’re already my best friend. This is not an easy decision for me to make. But I have to let my father know I’m okay, and know that he’s okay, too. Can you understand that?”

  Arianna searched Slate’s face and then sighed. “As hard as it is, I trust you if you say you have to go. Airyel is just so far away, Slate.”

  “There’s nothing I can do about that.”

  “And it’s a huge city, Slate, like nothing you’ve ever known.”

  “Most of the world is like nothing I’ve known, apparently. And I’ve got Pilotte to protect me.”

  The wulf looked up happily from the rather large hole he had been digging for the past few days.

  “I’m worried you are being too rash about all of this,” Arianna said.

  “If your father were out there, somewhere, wouldn’t you try to find him? I’m fine, I know how to take care of myself. Can you just support me on this?”

  Arianna sighed. “Fine,” she said.

  “Thank you. And you’ll be here when I'm done, when I get back, right?” Slate asked softly, putting his hand on Arianna’s shoulder.

  Arianna shook her head. “You’re never going to come back, though,” she said.

  “Why would you say that?”

  “People leave, Slate.”

  “I won’t leave you forever, Arianna, I promise. Just like the story of Henti and Ote from the Legend. Friends separated by the fates their whole lives,” Slate said. “Chance saw them buried in the same graveyard, and then two trees planted over their graves eventually grew so high and tall that the boughs reached out and stretched all the way across the other graves, growing intertwined and reuniting them at last. Like Henti and Ote, whatever happens, we will see each other again, I promise,” Slate swore.

  “In a graveyard?” Arianna asked

  “Before that, I promise.”

  Arianna nodded reluctantly. “You’d better, Slate,” she said. “You’d better.”

  Later, Slate was reading an old visitor’s guide to Airyel on the edge of his bed when Mrs. Falls came and knocked on his doorjamb.

  “May I enter?” she asked.

  “Yes, of course,” Slate answered.

  “Slate,” Mrs. Falls began, “Firstly, I just want to say that we all appreciate the help you’ve been giving around the house. I want to let you know, again, just so you do, that you are welcome to stay here as long as you like.”

  “Thanks, Mrs. Falls.”

  “Arianna tells me that you feel that you have to leave tomorrow, to go see your father in Airyel.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Well, I wish it wasn’t so soon. But just know that, wherever you go, you are always welcome here.”

  “Thank you,” Slate said. “I don’t intend to be there forever. I promise I will repay you someday, on my way home, or, wherever, however. For all you’ve done for me.”

  “You don’t owe us a thing. However, if you never come back to at least visit and let us know you’re okay, I will track you down and yell at you.”

  “I’ll be back through Aislin; I’ve already made a promise to Arianna.”

  “Oh, thank the Gods. She cares about you so much, we all do. I just hope that there is an Aislin for you to return to.”

  “Me too. I feel a little scared, going out into such a confused world,” Slate said. “Who knows what is happening in the east?”

  “Well,” Mrs. Falls said, “One can never be certain about the future. But we can be hopeful. Otherwise, everything is already lost.”

  “Do you ever wish you could stop it all from changing so fast?” asked Slate.

  “It’s funny you should say that,” Mrs. Falls said. “I have a favor to ask. I need you to carry a book to North Airyel for me, Slate. I need you to bring it to a man there named Guh Hsing. He owns a well-known bookstore there; it should be easy to locate him.”

  “Okay, I guess I can do that," Slate said. "But why don’t you use the post? They still seem to be functioning pretty well.”

  “I can't,” Mrs. Fal
ls said. “I must tell you; it is of the greatest importance that you get the book to Guh Hsing.

  Mrs. Falls, I don’t want to be rude, but I don’t know if I can be trusted with something of great importance. I hardly know what I’m thinking one minute to the next. The post would deliver your book for sure.”

  “I cannot use the post. Son,” Mrs. Falls explained, “This is something that I wouldn’t even have brought to you if we didn’t think that you were capable. You have proven you are. You made it all the way here from Alleste on your own. And you’re smart as a whip. And you have the protection of a snarlingwulf, which is a rare as a silver thornicanth. Airyel isn’t a difficult trip from here. I'm certain that you can make it. We need you to.”

  “We?”

  “You’ll understand it all soon enough. I have some goldquartz to send you with so that you can catch a boat out of Nowhere,” Mrs. Falls said. “It will make your trip even easier. You’ll deliver the book, and then you can ask about your father, just like you wanted.”

  “A boat?” Slate gulped nervously. “What if I get eaten by a gibu, or I drown?”

  “Slate, I’m asking you for this favor because I know you are smart and strong and capable,” said Mrs. Falls. “If fate has decided our book shall be lost, it will be no fault of you or your character.”

  “I just don’t know…”

  “Slate, don’t let anxiety control you. Trust me. You will take the book, and you will see that it gets to Guh Hsing. There is no reason to fear otherwise. And he will tell you why, when you get there. I cannot.”

  “Why?”

  “You’ll know when you get there.”

  Slate’s stomach turned with a loud groan. “Okay,” he said. “If you really think it'll be okay, I’d be honored to take the book to North Airyel for you, Mrs. Falls. It’s the least I could do to repay you.”

  “If the book makes it to Guh Hsing, you’ll have repaid me twenty fold. And if it doesn’t, I will love you no less,” Mrs. Falls said.

  “I will do my best,” said Slate.

  He and Pilotte set out early one morning into a foot of fresh snow, with the book for Guh Hsing stowed in a new leather pack from Mrs. Falls along with a change of clothes, a few travelers supplies he’d received as gifts from Arianna, and a decent amount of goldquartz. The snow crunching under his feet and the metallic smell of the winter air distracted Slate from his worry and sadness. The cold was bracing and invigorated his imagination for what was yet to come. Ahead were the Vallor Mountains; it wouldn’t be long before he would cross them and leave the bitter chill behind.

  That first evening back on the trail, as he and Pilotte sat before a small fire eating roasted hare with fern sprouts, Slate felt very sad for having left Arianna and the Falls. The only thing that kept his sadness at bay was the certainty in his mind that he would return to see them soon enough, as soon as he was able to see his father and let him know he was alright. Pilotte sensed Slate’s sadness, and distracted him as best he could with a game of fetch, until Slate was so tired he couldn’t stay awake to dwell on his sadness any longer.

  Chapter 7