Chapter 35 – The Name the Cottage Must Never Hear Part 1 – The Name Mara Refused to Speak

More about Chapter 35 – The Name the Cottage Must Never Hear Part 1 – The Name Mara Refused to Speak

The Cottage of the Vanished Wizard
Chapter 35 – The Name the Cottage Must Never Hear Part 1 – The Name Mara Refused to Speak
The grey door did not move. Mara stood before it with the black key lying between her boots and the final silver mark ticking on Tiktora’s reader. Nobody spoke. The Cottage seemed to be listening. Then golden letters appeared above the grey door. WHO DID YOU SEE? Mara looked away. Madam Arabica’s lid clicked. “I assume silence is the preferred strategy.” Horologia nodded. “For once, yes.” The letters vanished. A second question appeared. WHO WAS ERASED? Mara folded her arms. “It can ask all it wants.” Memoris glanced at her. “Do you know the answer?” Mara hesitated. The silver mark pulsed. “Do not answer that either,” Horologia said. “Apparently hesitation counts as encouragement.” Biblior examined the reader. Fifty-three positions remained black. One numbered position stayed silver. Beyond them, the unnumbered mark continued ticking. The mark before one gave a faint answering click. “They are speaking to each other,” Biblior whispered. “And now fifty-four is listening too,” Tiktora said. Golden letters crawled across the floor. SAY THE NAME. Mara stepped backward. “No.” The silver mark flared. Everyone froze. Mara covered her mouth. “It reacted,” Tiktora said. “To ‘no’?” “Not to the word,” Horologia replied. “To the fact that you answered.” Sir Fegelot turned toward the walls. “New policy. Nobody answers the house.” Madam Arabica’s spout tilted. “Including rhetorical questions?” “Especially those.” The Cottage creaked. Seven doors appeared along the wall. Each bore a golden name. MARA. MEMORIS. BIBLIOR. HOROLOGIA. TIKTORA. FEG ELOT. ARABICA. Sir Fegelot stared at the badly spaced version of his name. “I refuse to be interrogated by architecture that cannot spell.” The doors opened. Behind each stood a memory. Mara saw herself in the garden holding the wooden sword. Memoris stood in a blue-lit library writing the first letter. Biblior knelt beside a door that had not yet learned how to be a door. Horologia watched silver marks appear around a clock face. Tiktora held the sequence reader before it had numbers. Sir Fegelot stood beside Madam Arabica during their first day in the Cottage. “Do not look for long,” Horologia warned. “Why?” “Because it is selecting.” The seven doors slammed shut. Their names vanished. An eighth door appeared. It had no name. Above it appeared a sentence. THIS MEMORY BELONGS TO YOU. The door opened. Inside stood the eighth chair. The forgotten Witness sat upon it, their face blurred. Beside them stood Mara. Not the Mara in the room. An older Mara, her hair streaked with silver. She held the black key. “That hasn’t happened,” Mara whispered. The silver mark blazed. Tiktora gasped. “Fifty-four moved.” Older Mara turned toward the Witness. “Tell me your name.” The Witness shook their head. “You already know it.” “Then why can’t I say it?” “Because the Cottage is listening.”