After hanging up her jacket and hat in the entryway, Vera made her way to the back of the building where several scribes in training were painstakingly copying books word for word as neatly as they could. And little by little, book by book, their school's library was growing. There were now several rows of bookcases full of books all written and bound by students, though many were duplicates.
She spotted Stewart sitting at a table in the back a fancy book on loan from the royal library opened on a small pedestal a single sheet of parchment in front of him and on a block to either side were more pages a stack of blank pages to the right and neatly filled pages to the left. Stewart was very particular about this setup, but it saved him more than once as spilled ink could ruin both blank parchment and hours' worth of copied text in seconds. And no scribe would dare lay a book borrowed from the royal library on the same surface as a bottle of ink. The fines for ruining a book like that were extravagant and no commoner could easily afford it.
Vera stood behind him for a moment reading the book over his shoulder as he cluelessly continued to work.
Stewart was the youngest certified scribe in a decade and the first of common upbringing. He had a thirst for knowledge, and he hero-worshipped the second prince. He claimed the prince had saved every member of his family, though indirectly as almost no one had ever seen this elusive prince let alone met him.
The training program for healers and the cheap clinic where they practiced had saved a lot of people when the sickness hit the previous winter and his scribe work helped him earn money for his family and offered him a job beyond anything a commoner could have previously hoped for. It was Stewart's dream to be assigned as a castle scribe to someday get a chance to meet his idol.
She shook her head. It was great what he had done, even if all the ideas hadn't come from him, he had still helped make them happen which was more than any other royal had done for any of them.
When he finished his page and picked it up to air out and examine it with pride she finally spoke, startling him.
"Another book on medicine? At this rate, you'll be qualified to be a healer soon too."
"Oh!, V-e-r-a-" he dragged out her name in a whine, "why do you always have to startle me like that?"
"At least I waited until you were done with your page." She said nodding at the paper he held. He gently laid it on top of his finished pile and turned to talk to her fully. "you're back early, aren't you? It's not even spring."
"Of course it is, there are buds on the trees and tiny green sprouts popping up where the snow has melted. Have you stepped outside lately or do you just live here now? She asked him jokingly."
"My mother would tell you I practically live here, but I do go home to sleep…"
"Good because it looks like you've been forgetting to eat again."
"I eat." He said defensively, meaning he had forgotten at least once.
"Uh-huh. She pulled out an extra sandwich from her pockets and handed it to him, "you've probably already been here a few hours. Why don't you have a snack break and catch me up on all I've missed."
"Yet to meet Dan then?" he asked with a slightly bitter edge. He didn't like Dan because after learning that her friend personally knew his idle he'd begged her to meet him. When she finally relented three years ago, they had met just once and it had not gone well.
Dan didn't have particularly good things to say about Stewart's hero and Stewart couldn't forgive him for that and refused to ever speak to him again, Dan didn't mind this at all and refused to apologize, so despite both her male friends having a similar love for books and knowledge it seemed a friendship between the two was just not meant to be. When Dan became the prince's personal assistant, it was just salt in the wound for Stewart.
"No, I have, but he rarely talks of politics and when he does it's often vague."
Stewart huffed, "Of course, he has no appreciation for the importance of governance or details." He took the offered sandwich and pulled out a seat for her. And they sat as he told her all he knew of the current government affairs.
"Vera, my favorite translator!" Exclaimed the school's scribe master. She smiled and ran to hug the old man. They had gotten off to a bit of a rough start, the old man believed, like many at that time, that women could not and should not be scribes.
Upset that the boys could get 10-15 coppers per book they transcribed and work towards their scribe ship, she turned in three books. One of the hardest mathematical theory books with her own explanations and examples to help illustrate the late author's points and two translations. One was translated from a book in the northern script and the other a book in Serilian.
It had taken her two months to complete, the latter having taken up a full month of that time as she had needed help from her uncle and Dan. The old man was amazed and a bit disbelieving at first. He had her scribe something in front of him as proof and then compared the script. After that, he helped her submit them to the book committee under a pseudonym for coin.
She got extra for the rare translations, one a first of its kind, and was added to the royal library, making her wonder where on earth her uncle had found such a book, but as he was a translator himself it made sense he would have books in his language of expertise.
The century-long war, followed by a shaky truce for almost two decades, explained why the royal library had few books of Serilian origin. She had been paid 10 silvers for that alone. Since then, she had translated several other books, none earning her nearly as much; as they were not new to the royal library. But it was enough to have quite the nest egg saved up for future traveling and to splurge on a few expensive gifts for her friends.
After her hug from the scribe master, she retrieved her bag excitedly and pulled out a few books to show him. His eyes lit up like a child at a baker's shop as she showed him the books she had translated while she was away; all from the northern lands.
She talked to the two of them for at least an hour then borrowed a few of the newly copied books from the growing library to read at home or with Dan. It was hard to find titles he hadn't already snuck out of the royal library to share with her over the years, but she would try.
She waved one last goodbye at the door and smiled as they distractedly waved back more focused on reading the books she had just brought. These two might just have Dan beat when it came to a love of books, she shook her head and went off to join Mrs. Millers' class.