Tabulae did not delay. She walked straight toward God Eldric.
Part of her kept waiting for the dream to break.
Part of her kept insisting this was not real. That she had climbed too long.
That she had bled too much. That this was only a hunger hallucination dressed in applause.
Radeon had read her faith long ago. He had read her like a ledger.
He had not taken her away from her family. Not at first.
Radeon had let her stay where she came from and let fate do its work.
"Young lady," Eldric said. "Would it suit you if we showed a brief account of your life? To inspire those watching."
Tabulae closed her eyes. Tears slid down her cheeks, not from shame, from release.
'Goodbye, father. Goodbye, grandfather. It is time for me to move on,' she said in her heart.
The linen screens flickered. Her life rose in pictures.
A small girl with a book held close like a treasure, eyes bright with the joy of words.
"A youth that found joy in reading," the heavenly voice said.
