Overview

Six, Rory, Maude, and King Castor confront the Harried Scribe in his hidden library and invoke the rite to "take up the mantle" by challenging him at his craft of knowledge. The Scribe poses three questions; the group answers only the final riddle correctly and then defeats him by asking a question he cannot answer—Six's true name. Enraged, the Scribe attacks with corrosive ink until Six knocks his inkwell from his grasp, and Rory uses his coin to shatter the Scribe into pieces. In the aftermath, Rory reveals the coin once belonged to the Artful Brigand and admits they killed that Omen days earlier.

Full Summary

Inside the vast domed library, Six reels as the bald, stone-eyed old man reveals himself as the Harried Scribe, claiming he has walked the Seacht for over two centuries with an inkwell that enables invisibility, travel, and weaponized ink. King Castor, prompted by Maude, declares his intent to challenge the Scribe for his inkwell by "taking up the mantle"—the king’s quest to claim all five stone objects of the Omens by defeating each at their craft. The Scribe accepts and seizes Six, flinging ink to move her high onto a shelf as leverage against the challengers.

The Harried Scribe outlines the rules: three questions on themes of love, faith, and war; the challengers must answer at least one, then ask him a question he cannot answer. For love, he asks what a king gifts his bride; King Castor guesses wealth, but the Scribe cites a crude poem by Ingle Taliesin that answers with the king’s body, and the group fails. For faith, he asks the name of the first Diviner; Maude asserts it is never spoken, and King Castor answers that the child had no name. The Scribe declares that wrong as well.

For war, the Scribe presents a riddle from a leaflet bearing a moth. Six recognizes the answer from her experience at Aisling’s stone wall, and Rory whispers to the king, who answers correctly: a hammer and a chisel. The Scribe then demands their unanswerable question. King Castor, conferring with Rory and Maude, asks the Scribe to state Six’s true name. The Scribe calls her a nameless daughter of Aisling. Six counters that everyone has a name and that if he were truly a god, he would know it, confirming their victory.

The Scribe realizes his inkwell is forfeit and lashes out, flinging ink that burns like acid. Maude, King Castor, and Rory are repeatedly struck and burned while the Scribe teleports via ink around the shelves. Six tries to descend from the shelves, but the Scribe grabs her. Acting on instinct, Six smashes the inkwell from his hand; it falls and spills across the stone. The Scribe backhands Six, splitting her lip, and both fall to the floor.

On the ground, the Scribe becomes feral, licking Six’s blood and lunging for more, raving that he can smell Aisling’s waters in it. Rory drags him off and, with Maude and King Castor looming, prepares to maim him. Rory then produces his coin and unleashes a crack that shatters the Scribe into hundreds of weeping, bloody-stone pieces, killing him.

Shaken, Six flees into the corridor. Rory catches her, but she shoves him into the wall and reaches for his pocketed coin, accusing him of being the Artful Brigand. Rory denies divinity but admits the coin belonged to the Artful Brigand until five days earlier, when they challenged and killed that Omen at Castle Luricht. He concludes that he is not a god—he is killing them.

Who Appears

• Six — Diviner from Aisling; seized by the Harried Scribe, knocks away his inkwell, bleeds, and survives the fight.
• Rory — Knight/heretic allied with the king; answers the war riddle via Six’s cue, uses his coin to kill the Scribe; reveals the coin belonged to the Artful Brigand and that they killed that Omen.
• Maude — Knight; supports King Castor, is burned by the ink attack, denounces the Scribe’s dishonor during the duel.
• King Benedict Castor III — Young king; initiates the mantle challenge, answers questions, is burned but persists, poses the unanswerable question about Six’s name.
• The Harried Scribe — Omen of knowledge; wields a magical inkwell to teleport and attack; fails the mantle challenge when he cannot name Six; becomes feral for her blood and is shattered to death by Rory.
• The Artful Brigand — Omen; not present but discussed; his coin is in Rory’s possession, and Rory, Maude, and the king killed him five days prior at Castle Luricht.