"Well?"

"He understands quickly. Sometimes it seems as if he is being reminded, rather than instructed afresh."

"Good. He has met the Author, elsewhere. In attempting to quench that which smouldered, the flame was rekindled."

"That is...impressive, but dangerous. If left unguided..."

"It is being dealt with. Return and continue watching. No doubt he will be tested here too. He must be ready."

----------

Johannes looked up from his manuscript as Clarity entered. "Is there an end to the land?"

Clarity's brow folded as she considered. "An end in time, or an end in distance? And which land; the physical earth beneath us, or the place in which we live?"

Johannes seemed surprised at his question being returned with additions, but then he sat back and laughed, genuinely happy. Clarity realised, more than a little shocked, that this was the first time she had seen that emotion on his face.

"Everytime I think I've understood something," Johannes said, "I find another layer behind it. I feel like I'm free to think for the first time in my life, a bird being pushed out of the nest to make it fly." He chuckled again. "An end, in distance, to the place in which we live. Does it go on forever? If not, what lies beyond it?"

Clarity smiled, finding his newfound enthusiam infectious. "Our land is surrounded by water in each direction, though the distance to the shores are by no means equal. The closest is two day's travel towards the sunrise."

"And what lies beyond the seas?"

"No one knows, as yet..." Clarity's voice trailed off suddenly, and she studied Johannes intently for a long moment. When she spoke again, her voice was hushed, and delivered each word carefully. "How did you know the surrounding water was called sea?"

Johannes frowned. "You just explained it to me, did you not?"

"I made sure to use only terms I knew you would be familiar with. You did not get that word from me."

"I must have read it in one of these manuscripts, I suppose," Johannes said, gesturing towards the scattered scrolls and indices on the desk before him.

Clarity said, "Then why did you not already know what lay beyond the land? If you had read of the sea, you would have no need to ask." She paused again, and briefly examained each manuscript that waited patiently on the wooden surface between them. "How did you know how a bird learns to fly? None of these references deal with animals."

"I...I don't know how. I just do. I have an image in my mind of the parent birds as they persuade a chick over the edge. I can see a coastline in my mind, hear the waves as they collapse onto the sand and smell salt in the air." Johannes looked puzzled. "Why salt? There is no salt in rivers. How do I know the sea is salty?"

"How far back can you remember, Johannes?" Clarity asked, soberly, concern merging with puzzlement. "When do your memories start?"

Johannes thought for a moment, then looked up at Clarity astonished. "I don't know." He shook his head as he spoke, clearly unwilling to accept what he was admitting to. "My only memories are of stable work, here, with Simmons. Endless days, all the same. I don't remember being younger, growing up, coming here, nothing. Yet I'd never even thought about it before. That doesn't make sense. I must have grown up. I must be growing up."

"Could you have lost your memory? It is known to happen if someone receives a sudden blow to the head. A fall, perhaps, or an accident with a horse?"

"Amnesia? I suppose." Johannes noticed Clarity's expression, and stopped. "I shouldn't know that word either, should I?" He looked at Clarity imploringly. "Where is this information coming from? Why could I not recall it before I came here?" He sat back sharply, his expression reforming to fear and distrust as he glanced around the room and back at Clarity. She wondered why that made her feel so hurt. "What are you doing to me?"

"Nothing, I promise you. We are only trying to help." Clarity said.

He ignored her, repeatedly folding and unfolding a corner of a page, his eyes equally restless, searching for safety and finding none. She reached out a hand to his, flinching when he snatched it away to his chest.

She tried again. "You have been learning and thinking more than you ever have done before. Does it not make sense that such effort would trigger a restoration, as exercise can aid recovery from ills?"

He calmed a little, nodding slowly after a moment. Clarity continued watching him carefully as he explored her plea in his mind. She found herself genuinely worried, realising how much strain his world had been exposed to, and how close it must be to shattering. Suddenly he seemed to collapse, his head falling forward which was only just caught by his hands before it struck the age-roughened desktop.

"I'm sorry. I don't know what to think. Nothing is what I thought anymore." Johannes voice was muffled by his hands, and it took Clarity a moment to realise he was crying. Without thinking she moved to put an arm across his shoulders, drawing him to her. He did not resist, but rested against her chest, sobbing gently. Instinctively she she began to run her fingers through his hair, then chided herself for her surprise at its condition.

Anger and guilt mixed spontaneously into an unexpected decision. "We are the ones who should apologise. We have pulled your life from under you, and not stopped to ask if you need to rest, recover or be refreshed even once. Come, I shall show you to our washrooms and eating hall."

She stood and gently lifted Johannes to his feet. He nodded slightly, which Clarity obviously assumed to be accepetance, and she slowly walked him from the room, her arm still around him. He noticed little of the journey, the information he had learnt and the emotions he was feeling battling for attention in his mind.

When he realised they had stopped, he looked up. A row of stalls waited in front of him, reminding Johannes of the stables, though each one was shallower, and fully enclosed. Clarity led him into the nearest, and once inside Johannes could see a metal protusion vaguely like a large, thick spoon embedded in back wall. Fixed upon the wall to his right was a gentle curve of the same material the summoners were made from, that Son had explained was frozen thought. Part of him wanted to question that, but he tiredly pushed the debate aside, and tried to concentrate on what Clarity was explaining to him.

"...and then the water will come out the nozzle. You'd better take your shirt off, Johannes."

Johannes looked at her with alarm, and not a little embarassment. "Why?"

Clarity sighed, though not unkindly. "You haven't heard anything I've just explained, have you? Never mind, " she said, as she reached forward and started to undo his shirt, "just trust me."

Johannes was too tired to argue, but he attempted to salvage a little respect by reclaiming the control of his undressing. Clarity took the shirt from his hands, hanging it on one of a row of hooks set on the inside of the now shut door. She placed her hand on the shell-sized arc of thoughtstuff, as Johannes was content to name it for the moment and suddenly a stream of water struck him from above, and he gave a yell of surprise.

"Oh, quiet. It serves you right for not listening earlier, " Clarity said, "just let me know what the temperature is like."

"You can change it?" Johannes asked, curiousity briefly struggling to the surface for breath in the stormy seas of his mind.

"That's what I told you earlier. Try for yourself."

Johannes placed his hand on what was apparently the control device. As he leaned forward and turned the jet of water splashed off his back and leapt at Clarity, causing her to splutter in surprise.

"Careful!" she said as jumped back. "Now I'm soaking. Have you any idea how long this will take to dry?"

"What did you expect?" Johannes replied petuantly. "You should have taken it off like I did."

"No! I'm not..." Johannes grabbed the belt that held the habit shut and tugged it open. "...wearing undergarments."

Droplets of water winked coyly upon Clarity's ivory skin, tugging his gaze with them as they meandered down the curves of her body, before disappearing into dense golden hair. The moment grew and matured into a breathless pause, Clarity's hand neither opening nor closing the door of her modesty. Only her face showed time still passed, a spectrum of emotions crossing the normally serene features of her face. Abruptly the flickering feelings stopped, leaving apprehension fading beneath rising confidence. She tugged the rough material over her gently rounded shoulders, letting it slide teasingly away from her breasts and smiled as Johannes eyes failed to follow the habit as it fell the rest of the way.

Johannes mind emptied, irritation and annoyance vanishing down a whirlpool of disbelief. What remained of the foundations of his world fractured, leaving his conciousness sinking into a void. Only one thought remained, one thing he could be sure of in that moment, and he seized the desire like a drowning man would a raft, quenching his confusion in the steam and the passion.