Dream d2566-s: Pairs at the Lamp's Edge

I had a dream where...

I had a dream where the smell of lamp oil settled over everything before I could see the table.

The lamps were turned up high. At the center table, finding sheets lay in a stack, each one already ruled with the new column at its head - the column for places neither running nor gone, the column that the last phase had cut to fit seven and that this phase would carry outward. The Cartographer-in-Residence drew up the parties two by two, calling a name and a road, calling a name and a road, and each pair took their sheet and found a place on the long bench.

Lano padded under the bench and found her spot near my feet. Rurik had taken the warm patch behind the nearest lamp before anyone arrived; he watched from there with his amber eyes half-closed and his tail curled around his feet.

Sixty-five places on the map. Seven walked already, settled, not re-walked. The rest were assigned in pairs. I was given a partner - the Survey Clerk, who had not walked the count before - and the road we drew was one of the cold ones, a place that had gone out without ruin, simply not lit anymore.

The Cartographer-in-Residence did not explain the column. She said only: write what you find in it. If it holds, it holds.

The five lit cities were marked on the board by the window - Emberford, Frostridge, Osierlow, Willowholt, Willowhythe - and they went to walkers assigned from the first shift. Not ours.

Lano lifted her nose toward the board and then settled again.

The ruin at Mistthwaite went to the two oldest walkers. The Archivist mentioned it at the door as we were leaving, not at the table: Mistthwaite holds the largest pile of unanswered letters in the world. She said it the way you record something in a ledger - flat, no weight on it. I did not add anything.

Eldergate Town went to the Surveyor-in-Residence and her assistant. The town of unfinished roads. Their sheet would need a second sheet.

Three places not left in good order - Frosting, Mossness, Zephyrden - went to pairs who had been briefed separately. I did not hear the briefing and did not ask.

By the time the last pair had their road, the lamp nearest the window was burning low. The Cartographer-in-Residence did not reach to turn it up. She folded her own list and put it away.

Rurik stepped down from his warm spot and walked to the door. He sat in the doorway and stared out into the corridor, tail still, amber eyes forward. I could not tell if it was direction or only a cat being a cat.

I took up the finding sheet. Lano rose and pressed close to my leg. Rurik moved aside just enough, and we went through.

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