The great width of the dark wood desk no longer held the stacks of books and ledgers of his work. Those had been moved, stacked neatly on a shelf among the tall bookshelves of his study. Papers were still covering Professor Jolyon Gardiner's desk. These papers, however, were two dozen curriculum vitae.
Applications for student assistants were larger than he had anticipated, and these were the ones already weeded through by the University archaeology offices. Jolyon sat back in his chair, the cup of tea Arcelia had made for him two hours before in hand. Cold tea now, he did not drink it but just held the delicate stem of the cup. The words typed on the crisp pages lined out before him the educational and practical experience of the current best students. Students he was no longer teaching.
He set aside the cup and turned from the desk, looking up at the books on the shelves and the pieces of history he had found that shared nooks of space with them. That is what he had studied and worked so hard to do, to find history, study it, learn of it, and share that knowledge with others. It felt like a time that had slipped away from him.
Standing slowly, he picked up the edge of a broken pot from the shelf. The runes were faded upon its find, but treatment and great care had kept the piece as it looked once he had cleaned it. That memory was so clear in his mind. So much had happened over the past year, and yet that memory from eight years ago came fresh to his mind. The heat, dirt, itch of days without a bath all in his mind.
Setting the shard back to the shelf, he looked back over his shoulder at the desk, the pages representing those starting out on the adventure anew. What discoveries they might make. He was not a teacher at the university any longer, nor did he have a pupil in Rhydin, but he could find one student and bring them into a wide world of discovery.
Sitting down once more, he narrowed down the stack to five names. Five students to interview, and he had to do so soon before the trip back home.
Applications for student assistants were larger than he had anticipated, and these were the ones already weeded through by the University archaeology offices. Jolyon sat back in his chair, the cup of tea Arcelia had made for him two hours before in hand. Cold tea now, he did not drink it but just held the delicate stem of the cup. The words typed on the crisp pages lined out before him the educational and practical experience of the current best students. Students he was no longer teaching.
He set aside the cup and turned from the desk, looking up at the books on the shelves and the pieces of history he had found that shared nooks of space with them. That is what he had studied and worked so hard to do, to find history, study it, learn of it, and share that knowledge with others. It felt like a time that had slipped away from him.
Standing slowly, he picked up the edge of a broken pot from the shelf. The runes were faded upon its find, but treatment and great care had kept the piece as it looked once he had cleaned it. That memory was so clear in his mind. So much had happened over the past year, and yet that memory from eight years ago came fresh to his mind. The heat, dirt, itch of days without a bath all in his mind.
Setting the shard back to the shelf, he looked back over his shoulder at the desk, the pages representing those starting out on the adventure anew. What discoveries they might make. He was not a teacher at the university any longer, nor did he have a pupil in Rhydin, but he could find one student and bring them into a wide world of discovery.
Sitting down once more, he narrowed down the stack to five names. Five students to interview, and he had to do so soon before the trip back home.