whelp.”
Jarvis didn’t look much like the Jarvis I knew. He
looked more like someone else, and I thought maybe I’d
better be going before he threw something at me even if he
did promise not to. But Jarvis only stared at me some more
and then said, “Get out of here,” so I left and didn’t write
anything down at all until now.
I walked around town for a little bit after that, thinking
about what Jarvis had said and wishing I could get
something to eat, because I hadn’t had anything so far, what
with being chased and thrown in jail and starting fires by
accident. I wasn’t getting very far on my assignment, and I
didn’t feel very good at all. I finally got a drink of water
from the town fountain, and that helped a little, so I sat on
the fountain rim and bunched myself up because if was still
a little cold, and I wondered why you were so worried about
Ark finding someone who understood why the gods had
destroyed Istar, and how you would feel if no one ever
understood but Ark and me, and how you would feel if
sometimes even Ark and me don’t quite understand, either,
since the Cataclysm seems to have made everyone so rude-
minded. And I didn’t understand how not understanding
would cause everyone more problems later. Nothing made
any sense then, and it still doesn’t now, but I’m getting
ahead of myself, because it’s boring to be here on the
rooftop, even with the nice view.
Anyway, I was sitting by the fountain when a man
riding a horse came over. He wore a little bit of armor, so I
knew he wasn’t from town even if I didn’t recognize him
anyway, since no one here wears any armor because goblins
never come to the coast and the barbarians aren’t bothering
anybody this year, because they’re all sick. The man looked
like he was very old but very strong, and he had a
moustache bigger and thicker than Jarvis’s, but it was full of
gray hair. He rode his horse up to the fountain and got off
and let his horse drink while he stretched and scratched his
backside and began to rub his horse down. It was about the
time when he pulled a cloth out of his pocket and began
wiping off his armor that I thought he might be a knight,
because only a knight would do that. Nobody else cares
what his or her armor looks like.
Ark had told me a lot about the Knights of Solamnia when
I was younger, and I never knew if he liked them or didn’t
like them, because the knights did both good things and bad
things, but they often did them both at the same time, so I
was pretty confused as to which side they were on. I got out
my papers and pen so I could ask my question, but I saw the
knight pull out a long steel sword with notches and scrapes
cut into the blade, so I decided I would wait a little while
and ask about the weather first instead. Ark always says I
should think first, since I’m not very good at it sometimes,
and maybe I would live longer that way, and right then I
decided that maybe he knew what he was talking about.
The knight glanced at me a few times but said nothing
as he cleaned his armor, every bit of it, then got himself a
drink from the fountain. He acted like I wasn’t really there. I
forgot how hungry I was getting because I had never seen a
real knight up close, and this one smelled like old sweat and
leather and fur and steel. His eyes were like a gray winter
sky, and the more I looked at him the less I wanted to ask
my question, but I knew I’d have to do it anyway for Ark
and you. I was just clearing my throat and was trying to get
the question framed properly, so that I could run if
necessary, when I saw Kroogi walk up from the
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