Sonder wandered the halls.
The upper observatory was quiet at this hour and cold, too, which probably explained why no one else was there.
Her little companion walked ahead of her, its ceramic feet clicking softly against the granite floor.
It had no name, not yet, as she couldn't think of any.
It was just her golem for now.
A clay-bodied thing with a painted-on face. Something she first created, half to see if she could, half because she missed having a doll.
She followed the lessons that Vell gave in class and then researched on her own.
Now, it was a full golem.
After a while, the wandering lost its luster, and she made her way back to her room.
Vell was inside, by the long desk beneath a window.
Moonlight poured in, papers spread out before him. He was hunched slightly over a scroll, one hand moving slowly across it like he was following a trail only he could see.
She stepped inside without saying anything. Her golem stopped with her, standing still for half a second before it folded neatly at the knees and collapsed like a doll beside her feet.
"Can't sleep?" Vell asked, eyes still on the scroll.
"Not really," she said. "I just wanted to explore for a bit."
She didn't bother asking if he couldn't sleep.
She'd spent enough time around him to know he barely did at all, if ever.
Still, she said it anyway. "You aren't either."
He made a small motion toward the desk. "These things won't leave me alone once I start digging into them."
She moved to stand next to him, her eyes skimming the open scrolls. Some of the glyphs looked familiar, and she could read a little here and there, but most of it didn't make sense; either she couldn't read it, or she just didn't know what the symbols meant.
"Did you find anything?" she asked.
He didn't answer right away. Then, softly, "No."
"Nothing that can help the Kalandir?"
"Not yet."
She slid up to sit on the edge of the desk. Her golem followed and climbed into her lap, arms cool yet a bit rough and uneven as it settled there.
"I'll keep looking, of course," Vell said. "I've barely scratched the surface of what's in the archive. And I think the librarian's warmed up to me. He's a kind of dragonling that walks on two legs. I think he does it to emulate people, but honestly it makes him look strange, if just a little."
The golem in her lap turned its little head toward her, as if it expected her to explain what he just said meant.
Vell noticed. He studied it for a long moment, thinking it strangely smart, then reached out and gently touched its shoulder.
"This is very well made," he said. "The balance, the strength in the limbs. Honestly, better than some of the students' work."
Sonder didn't say anything right away. But she smiled, just a little. And then it disappeared because she worried for the Kalandir.