Water Mirrored Moon - 水鏡月

Part III - Beloved of the Seventh Prince: 39. Dove

Standing in a side courtyard, the Abbot quietly observed a young monk stroke the feathers of a dove. The boy was murmuring to it, holding it very gently with both hands. Smiling down, he patted its head while it cooed up at him. From the small metal tube tied to its foot, it was apparent that the bird had just returned to the dovecote. Turning, the boy nearly dropped the bird when he saw the Abbot and quickly made his bow.

"Abbot!" the boy breathed, flustered. He had unwittingly clutched the bird a bit too hard causing it to squawk its annoyance and soil the boy's hand.

"You were frightened?" asked the old man with a small chuckle, trying to hold in his laugh.

"Ah! No, just a little surprised..." the boy murmured, looking down. He hurriedly cleaned the embarrassing puddle on his palm with snow, looking apologetic.

The Abbot smiled and held out his own hand as the boy blinked.

There was an awkward pause.

"Ohhh!" the boy gasped, realizing what the Abbot was waiting for, and quickly untied the small metal tube from the dove's foot. He then thrust the bird back into the cote, presenting two tubes, one retrieved from a dove he'd previously returned to the cote. Once he passed the tubes to the Abbot, he made to bow and leave, but the old man gestured for him to stop.

"Stay here a moment. I may have further need for you..."

"Er...Yes Abbot," the boy said, colouring a little. He had rarely interacted with the head of the temple, and was obviously unnerved. However, the Abbot knew that the boy wouldn't have been assigned to this task if he were not a trustworthy child with high potential. After all, the doves of the temple ferried news back and forth from all over the whole of Tiansheng, and some of that information would be dangerous if leaked outside.

The boy continued to look shyly at his feet, patiently waiting though the Abbot could see that it was difficult for him to stand still under such scrutiny.

The old man tried not to smile. Despite his shyness, he is reserved and steady...a good child. So, earnest...

With a calm look on his face and practiced hands, the old man slid the small scrap of paper out of the first tube, unrolled it, and then flapped it out. His eyebrows slid up a little as he squinted at the small squiggles.

Gods, his writing never improves...it still looks like chickens scratching in the dirt...

The boy's eyes widened as the thin, brown, onion skin-like paper seemed to unroll and unfurl until it was the size of a normal sheet of paper. Taking in the boy's expression, the Abbot really did chuckle then.

"Ahhh...you've not seen the thousand leaf paper before, is that right?"

The boy shook his head.

"It is very useful," said the Abbot, smiling. He unfurled the second message, which was much shorter than the first. For a moment, he simply scanned the writing.