The Forgotten Beasts of Eld

He was silent a moment, struggling. He said finally, “But you had a right to be angry.”

“Yes. But not to hurt those I love, or myself.”

“The Riddle Master himself lost the key to his own riddles one day,” he said in his deep, reed-pure voice, “and he found it again at the bottom of his heart.”

Wisdom never learned silence, and it is most annoying when least wanted.

Men see what they are most afraid of.

The small red eyes regarded him, unblinking. “What would you give me for all the wisdom of the world?”

“Nothing.” He turned back to his work. “I have heard you know the answers to every riddle save one. That will be the one I need answering.”

I do not want to choose which one of you I must love or hate. Here, I am free to do neither. I want no part of your bitterness.

What concern of mine are your affairs? Or Coren’s? What kind of peace would there be in me or in my house if I took interest in the wars and feuds that you weave in the courts below? I do not understand such things. I understand only what lies within my walls.