A scroll tied with a
golden ribbon appeared under his nose. He followed the arm up to a face. He saw
it was Nuncius who held out the scroll.
He sat back in his
chair and looked at the smaller man, “What is this then?”
Nuncius rolled his
eyes, “Verum, you know what it is; Dux sent it.” He shook it in the big man’s
face, “Just take it.”
Verum reached out
carefully; as if the scroll would come to life and bite him. He took it from
Nuncius and laid it slowly on the desktop; afraid of what it might contain.
Nuncius nodded and
turned away, walking towards the door.
Verum pulled at the
ends and watched the ribbon untie itself then disappear. He watched as it
unrolled and flattened. He took hold of it gingerly and began reading. He
looked up.
“Nuncius” he called,
just as the door was closing.
He reopened the door
and stepped into the room. Taking a few steps, he stopped well before the man’s
desk.
“A couple more
footsteps and I would have been gone.”
The man behind the desk
nodded, but said nothing; reading the scroll.
Nuncius turned again.
“Nuncius, this cannot
be right.”
He cringed and turned
again, walking all the way back to the man’s desk. He held his hands out, “What
can I tell you? That’s what Dux gave me.”
“But, why two worlds?
With a corridor between them? Why?” he looked up from the scroll; his brow
furrowed.
Nuncius took another
step, “Verum, that is what he gave me.” He repeated.
“What did Dux say
exactly? This does not make any sense.” Nuncius opened his mouth, but Verum went
on, “why two? With the same exact things on them?” Verum still sat looking at
the scroll.
Nuncius took a step
towards him; shaking his head, “These are different. Dux is putting mortal
creatures on them, see?” He pointed to a place further down the scroll, “they
will have essences; the immortal part of the creatures. And the essences are
going to be split in half so that they will forever be…”
“But I do not
understand” Verum said, looking at Nuncius; not caring that he interrupted the
other man, “how will they…”
Nuncius blew out air
and pointed to another place on the scroll.
Verum whistled and leaned
back; reading further.
Nuncius waited.
Verum stood quickly;
his chair hitting the back of the wall with a crash, “I have to work; with
him?” his face reddening.
Nuncius backed away
slowly.
Verum sensed the
movement and quickly looked up; fixing Nuncius’ location. He started walking
towards him, “He expects me to work with Diliges?’ Verum spat out the name as
though it left a bad taste in his mouth.
“I do not know.”
Nuncius said, walking backwards to get away from the larger man, whose face was
growing redder by the minute.
“Does he realize that
Diliges cannot keep a serious thought in his head?” Verum looked at the scroll
yet again, hoping that he had made a mistake, “but why must I work with such an
irresponsible ninny?”
“I don’t know.” Nuncius
said again and reached back; fumbling for the door knob.
“Did you know about
this?”
Nuncius took hold of
the knob and was turning it. He shook his head, “Only what I read from there to
here.” He opened the door and was slipping out.
Verum caught his arm
and pulled him back through the doorway, “What did Dux tell you exactly?”
He allowed himself to
be pulled; he knew not to raise Verum’s ire when he was in this mood.
“All he said was that I was
to deliver these to you and Diliges and Arbiter.”
Verum released his arm
and looked at him; his eyebrows knitted; deepening the furrow between his eyes,
“Arbiter? Is he not responsible for scales or some such thing?”
Nuncius nodded, “Yes,
he is the god of balance.” He opened the door again and walked through.
Verum followed.
Reaching out, he took hold of Nuncius’ shoulder, making him turn to look at
him, “Balance?”
“Yes, Verum; I have to
go. Dux is going to wonder where I am. And I still have to tell Diliges and
Arbiter.”
Verum put a hand to his
goatee, “But you do not have to tell them; do you?”
Nuncius held out his
hands, “Oh no, nothing doing; Dux will have my head if I do not follow his
orders.” He put a hand to the side of his head, “And, I still feel a bit
crooked from the last time he made me go without it.”
Verum’s face softened
and Nuncius cringed, “Uh uh, I know that look Verum.”
The larger man tried to
put his arm around Nuncius’ shoulders, but the smaller man ducked underneath,
avoiding it.
Verum held his hands
out, “Please Nuncius; just give me one hour alone with Dux; before you tell the
others, so I can straighten out this whole mess.”
Nuncius shook his head,
“No, are you crazy?” he walked out the door, followed by Verum.
Verum stepped in front of
him, preventing any further forward motion, “Okay, how about thirty minutes?”
Nuncius continued
shaking his head, “No”
Verum reached out and
pulled Nuncius’ arm, “Please Nuncius; what can you give me?”
He thought; Verum had
come to his rescue more than once, his shoulders drooped in resignation, “Okay,
I will give you the time it takes for me to get something to eat.”
Verum’s face brightened
and he slapped Nuncius on the back, “Thank you.” not wanting to waste time; he
walked past the smaller man to the nearest window. Spreading his arms to the
sun shining through it, he closed his eyes and while Nuncius watched, the large
man became one with the light and warmth; dissolving into the sun ray and was
soon gone.
Nuncius; satisfied that
Verum was gone, turned and slammed into a wall of solid muscle. His eyes
traveled up the clothed chest to reveal dark eyes set in a sympathetic face.
“Take care my little
man.” The accent told of the man’s eastern descent.
“Oh I am sorry Arbiter;
I was not paying attention where I was going.”
“Obviously” The man’s
eyes crinkled and his face softened, “No harm done.” He looked unsure at the
smaller man, “you did not injure yourself” Arbiter looked at the man up and
down, inspecting him for any visible injuries, “did you?”
Nuncius shook his head,
“No, I am fine.”
Arbiter’s smile lit up
his face and Nuncius could not help but smile himself.
“Well then all is good.
I bid you a good day.” The larger man
tipped his head slightly in Nuncius’ direction then turned to go.
He watched the man’s
back recede and then remembered.
“Oh Arbiter?”
He ran to catch up with
Arbiter; who stopped to wait for him.
“Dux sent this to you.”
he reached into his jacket and brought out a scroll tied with a golden ribbon.
Arbiter
took it from him, “Anything else?” he looked down at Nuncius; annoyance
knitting his brows.
“Yes,
you are called to his office; you are to be in his office in” Nuncius put up
his hand to look at his watch, “very soon.”
Arbiter’s
eyebrows rose then lowered again.
Nuncius held his hands
up, “Do not blame me. Verum would not let me go.”
Darkness
crept across the larger man’s face, “Since you have waited so long to deliver
this message to me, you must come with me and tell me what this is all about.”
Nuncius
tried to back away, but Arbiter took a film hold of his jacket, “Oh no, you
will not run away.”
“But
you do not understand” Nuncius twisted in the stronger man’s grasp, “I still
have to deliver to Diliges.”
Arbiter
looked surprised at the name, “Verum AND Diliges? This is getting curiouser and
curiouser.” He nodded, “now you really must tell me what’s going on.” He took
hold of both of Nuncius’ arms, nodded and they flew out the nearest window.
