Dream d2511-s: The Count Cannot Begin

I had a dream where...

I had a dream where the Council Hall was dark at its margins and lit only above the long table, where the ledger lay open at the centre of the page. Lano was there, settled near the foot of the table, watching the lamp.

The clerk read back the line. It had been written at the close of the previous session. It said: the question of how a place that is quiet but still standing is counted is deferred, pending repair of the instrument that sees the places.

Below that line, nothing. The day's list held one item. The deferral had not been answered; it had only waited, and now it was being read back to the room that had written it.

The seven places were attempted in the order of the record: Elderhaven, Glenholt, Mistgarth, Sablegate among those gone cold; Cinderfirth, Ivorymere, Nettleness among those still lit; the Council Hall itself, its head seat vacant; the Scriptorium Annex, its seat closed. None returned a reading. The instrument offered nothing for any of them. Cold places and lit places alike - the seeing had failed before the distinction could be applied.

The clerk made a note of this below the deferral. The instrument was the first work. The question of how cold places are counted could not move until the seeing was restored and could be trusted.

Lano did not leave the foot of the table. The ledger was not closed. The lamp held until the note was complete, and then the hall was quiet, and the page was left open for morning.

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