Reader of the King's Letters

From The Library at Hurtfew
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An unnamed person to whom Robert Findhelm attempted to send the book which the Raven King himself had written, containing the Prophecy of John Uskglass. This person, who lived in Bretton, Derbyshire, was the last man alive able to read the mysterious script in which the book was written. Unfortunately the book never reached him as on the way it was destroyed by Clegg, the servant Findhelm trusted to deliver it. In a drunken fit Clegg tore apart the pages - and ate them.

It seems however that a creation so imbued with magical essence as the King's Book is remarkably hard to destroy. Clegg later begot a son, Vinculus, whose body miraculously bore the full text of the King's Book of Magic imprinted on the skin. He became, as it were, a living book. Vinculus - by what means informed and moved we do not know - eventually found his own way to Bretton and there met the last Reader, who divulged the prophecy to him:"A starlit summer night, when the King's Book and the last Reader of the King's Letters met and drank wine together!"[67]