The Story of Samo-Chapter Two, Part Two
Sorry I’m late today. I hope you enjoy.
The chancellor walked into the small library and said, “Professor Lasci, I’d like to speak with you in private later. Now, I’d like to ask you to stop harassing our students.”
Lasci sputtered, more now than before, and said, “Well, I—yes, sir.” Without another word, he stormed out of the room.
The chancellor sighed and shook his head. He said, “I have got to fire that man.”
Kia said, “I wouldn’t complain, sir.”
“I doubt anyone would,” the chancellor replied. He walked to the table and looked at the books spread out. He said, “Finding what you need, Kiara?”
Kiara looked up from her notes and stared for a second. She said, “Huh? Oh, I’m just trying to find a little more about the engineering of the Inventor.”
“Oh?” The chancellor scanned the books and said, “And how are, hm, history books going to help that?”
She said, “Oh, those are about the war itself. The actual books by Dacule are illegal here, so I’m trying to figure it out by the descriptions.”
“Well,” the chancellor muttered. He brought his hand up and tapped his chin while holding his elbow with his other hand. He said, “I suppose some of them might be difficult to decipher the truth. Many are exaggerated.”
“We’re taking that into consideration,” Samo said. “We’re operating on the idea that the Inventor and his followers did not use sorcery, which leaves us with trying to find the true meaning behind the ‘great fire belching flying beast.’ I’m thinking sulfurous emissions from a metal tube.”
Turning to Samo, the chancellor said, “You’re working on this together?”
“Actually,” he said. “She’s helping me out. This was really my idea.”
“Yes, I heard about that altercation you had on the way here.” The chancellor chuckled and picked up a small leather-bound book. As he leafed through the pages, Kiara watched him with anxiety, tentatively reaching for the book. He said, “You might want to avoid drawing so much attention to your religious views.”
Samo said, “It’s not a religion!” He paused as the chancellor snapped the book shut and turned his eyes to him. He muttered, “Um, I mean it’s not a religion. Yeah, there are some aspects that are different from most-”
“It’s all right, Samo.” The chancellor handed the book to Kiara, who quickly shunted it to the bag she had been carrying with her. As Kia asked Kiara what was in the book, the chancellor said, “I know what the Inventor taught. In fact, I know something most people don’t know about him.”
“You do?” Samo stepped forward, eager as a puppy who had just sighted a piece of bacon. Kiara was telling her brother to butt out as Samo said, “Can you tell me?”
Trying to ignore Kia and Kiara’s arguing, the chancellor said, “He actually professed to serve the High King of Heaven.” The twins stopped arguing and stared at the chancellor. Samo looked down at the floor and then back up at the chancellor.
He shouted, “I knew it! They all say he was a sorcerer, but I knew he wasn’t! It just didn’t make sense.”
“Yes, yes, I know.” The chancellor smiled and motioned for Samo to calm down. He said, “And now everyone in the adjacent libraries knows as well. Now, I would like to speak with you all some more, but I need to go fire Professor Lasci. I’ll be back in about an hour. I assume you’ll still be here?”
Kiara said, “Oh, of course we will. I just have one question before you go.” As the chancellor turned to her, she said, “How do you know that about the Inventor?”
“Oh,” the chancellor replied. “I met him once.” With that, he turned and walked out of the room.
Tales of the Inventor's War 