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the corner of the running wall of rooms. It was also, Will noted, as far from Arthur’s house as one could get in this village. He smiled inwardly at the symbolism. “I note with interest that our last room in now filled. Will, perhaps it is an omen that you are the final piece to the success of our community.”
    Will merely inclined his head, accepting what he assessed to be a compliment, or, failing that, a positive comment.
    “I have work to do to prepare for the Trading mission tomorrow, Arthur, so if you’ll excuse me, I’ll get to work,” Eva said. Arthur nodded, and Eva shut the door. Will was still unclear as to what Elizabeth was doing there, or why Eva had given Arthur a silver coin if the two had such an adversarial relationship.
    Arthur walked the handful of steps to the room to the right of Eva’s, and opened the door, ushering Will inside. The layout was a mirror image to that of Eva’s home, with the beds and tables sharing a common wall.
    “This will be your room,” Arthur said. “We will get one of our scribes to write your name upon the door…”
    “I can write my own name,” Will said. He immediately realized he should have stayed silent.
    Arthur arched an eyebrow. “You can write? And presumably read, as well?”
    Will silently cursed himself for speaking on impulse, but it was too late to deny it now. “I can, a little bit.”
    Arthur smiled. “We’re talking about trying to teach everyone how to read and write, for it’s essential to our work. You can assist in that way as well. You’ve only been here a few hours, Will, and yet you’re already proving yourself to be quite valuable.”
    Will sat on the small bed and looked at Arthur. “And yet I don’t know what it is that we’re striving for here. You’d indicated that you’ve made some advances but that there’s still greater potential to reach. What does that mean, exactly? And what do you mean that some here have already seen it?”
    Arthur sighed. “I feel that I’m doing all of the talking, and I’m sure that Eva will provide her rather unique views on everything. But, I shall answer your question. Tell me this, Will: do you believe in magic?”
    Will blinked. “Magic? You mean, witches and cauldrons and wands? No, I don’t.”
    Arthur nodded. “I don’t, or more to the point, I didn’t. And yet somehow, we’ve always had stories of people doing the miraculous, haven’t we? How do you suppose that stories of people flying or turning invisible or reading thoughts began?”
    Will shrugged. “People have imagination. They see a bird fly, imagine that they can do it, and tell a story about it.”
    “Yet we’ve been told all our lives that people can’t fly. Why not simply talk about someone quite skilled at something everyone can do? A person who can run more quickly than anyone else, or cut down trees at a high rate of speed, or something of that sort? Why do our stories so often focus on what we know people can’t do?”
    Will considered the question, then glanced at Arthur. “I don’t know.”
    “It’s because we know, deep down, that we can do those things. It’s simply buried inside us, waiting to be unlocked. We know that somewhere, out on this flat world under the great dome of the sky, that there are people who are flying or reading thoughts or other such impossible things. They are seen, and those reports travel around. That’s where we get our stories.”
    Will stared at him. “So, you’re saying that there are people who actually can fly?”
    “No. I’m saying that all of us could fly. Only a very few actually have unlocked that ability, however. But that will change, because that is what this group exists to do. Some of our members, our Travelers, track down these stories of people doing the impossible. They travel around until they find those actually performing these feats, and see them with their own eyes. Then, most importantly, they seek to learn how these people have managed to do it.