Reports to My Most Glorious Sultan, Concerning the Prophet of Stars — Part Two
By Jared Oliver Adams
Lesson 5: The Sage at his Cuneiform
The Sage is recognized by the staff he leans upon to squat at his cuneiform tablet, and by the tightly packed trio of stars that make up his stylus.
"There sits the Sage," he says, "enmeshed in the stars, yet apart from them. He charts their courses until his soul spins in time with the firmament. He is not wise, however, until he looks down at his fellow man and sees the starlight in each of them. Only then can he begin to see living constellations form and predict when events will come around again."
"Is everything clear to him?" I prod.
In the moonlight, he props himself on an elbow and looks at me. "Not everything, my apprentice, but many things."
In the darkness, his expression is impossible to decipher, yet there seems a sharpness to his gaze.
Do I imagine it? Exactly how much does he know?
Caution, dear Sultan.
Caution.
An Apology for my Lack of Progress:
I understand your impatience, Glorious Sultan. Though I work diligently, the Star Prophet's constellations are tiresome in their complexity. They are neither gods nor animals, only people, and that of the lowest sort. There is The Harlot, The Tanner, The Beggar, The Stitcher, The Penitent, The Vegetable Seller, on and on. Some are recognizable, but others are abstract clusters with no real form, and some are single stars! Furthermore, he maintains no quadranting system to locate them, leaving me looking down his arm for half the night. Trying to notate them within our mathematical system is slow work that I can only do covertly while the Prophet sleeps.
We travel back to the city to begin residence in the temple in three days' time. When your servants come to the cave, have your copyists take care to return each tablet to the rack exactly as it was before.
The Star Prophet notices everything.
Jared Oliver Adams lives in Knoxville, Tennessee, where he writes, explores, and dabbles in things better left alone. He holds two degrees in music performance, a third degree in elementary education, and is utterly incapable of passing a doorway without checking to see if it leads to Narnia.
Find him online at www.jaredoliveradams.com.
Copyright © 2025 Jared Oliver Adams