“Very well. Leena will meet you in the library to begin work as soon as you’ve settled in.”
Leena’s eyes widened. “Wouldn’t you like to rest from the journey? We could start after the evening meal.”
Colin frowned. “No, I’d like to get started right away.”
Her face fell, but she bowed and retreated toward the east wing without a word of protest. As he turned to go to his own room, Marjory caught him by the elbow.
“Did something happen between you and Leena?” Marjory asked. “She seems quite preoccupied with avoiding you.”
He gave her a reassuring smile. “She stepped on a snail in the Mystic Wood. She made me dance with her. Said she’d never danced before and wanted to try it. Perfectly innocent but embarrassing for her, I’m sure. I admit my earlier snail comment was to tease her about it. She’s right to be angry with me.”
Marjory studied him. “I always worried Leena had taken her oath too soon. What you say does not surprise me. I think I should like to dance again if I had the excuse.” She grinned then. “I’m relieved it’s nothing serious. I’m sure she’ll be over her embarrassment soon enough to help you. Meanwhile, I suspect she’ll be highly motivated to find that crypt.”
As soon asColin dropped off his pack, he made his way to the sacred library. Stone and darkly stained wood shelves extended in rows from the massive wooden entry to the outer boundary of the room, each laden with leather tomes and stacks of tightly rolled scrolls. At the center of the library, the ceiling was open to the floors above. He counted six balconies above him. There were more, he was sure, hidden beyond a silver mist that hung like a storm cloud at the base of the seventh. He knew the floors extended below ground as well; just how many was anyone’s guess. The temple library was physically massive, but Colin understood that elven magic was at play here as well. Just as a scribe’s quill never ran out of ink and their scrolls never ran out of room to write, the sacred library never ran out of shelf space.
The scribes had recorded history since the founding of the kingdom of Rogos. At the center of it all was an altar of white marble. He found Leena flipping through a massive dusty tome at one of the many library tables scattered between the shelves.
She looked up and gave him a questioning look. “Do you know what year Medea hid the book?”
“It had to be right after Tavyss died and she was resurrected.”
Leena narrowed her eyes. “Where is Tavyss buried? Is it possible this is as simple as finding his grave?”
Colin raised his eyebrows. “That would be unlikely. When dragons are killed, their body disintegrates. The only thing left behind is their heart… Um, a gem about this big—” He formed a circle with his hands in front of his chest. “It matches our rings. Usually, whoever kills us takes it as a trophy or leaves it for the earth to swallow with time. We don’t have cemeteries because, well, we don’t die of natural causes.”
Leena scowled. “So Eleanor might still have Tavyss’s heart?”
Colin shrugged. “It’s possible. She’s not beyond keeping it. It wouldn’t even be the worst thing she’s ever done.”
With a grunt, Leena closed the book in front of her and placed it on the white stone altar at the center of the library. She scribbled a few symbols, and the book disappeared back to the stacks.
“I have the year the scroll was created. I’m calling up all references to Tavyss. We should be able to find a record of the exact date of his death. Then we can cross-reference all graves sealed around that time.” Leena wrote the request on the scroll, and magic swirled across the white table. “This will take some time. The magic needs to sift through scrolls and reference books dating back centuries.”
“There is the chance Medea hid the grimoire before Tavyss died.” Colin scratched the stubble on the side of his jaw.
“Wouldn’t Medea need it to attack Brynhoff and Eleanor?”
“Maybe. But it seems likely that Medea and Tavyss were double-crossed. If they thought they were going to Paragon to make peace, she might have left it behind. Or maybe she knew there was a risk of it falling into the wrong hands, so she preemptively locked it away.”
Leena groaned. “So we must consider all graves from just before the war to just after Tavyss died.” She scribbled again on the scroll, and Colin watched the magic absorb her request. “You know, we can narrow this down, but even if we identify the grave, without the three sisters translating that enchanted scroll, I don’t know how we’ll be able to use the key. It requires a code word in order to position the gears properly. I pray they find what they went looking for.”
“I’ve learned not to underestimate the three sisters. They’ll find it.”
With a nod, she turned from the altar and started shelving a few reference books left in a cart nearby.
“While we’re waiting for the scrolls, there’s something I want to ask you.” He lowered his voice. “Why didn’t you tell me you were orphaned? You told me your dad helped you animate your creation when you were nine. Marjory said you were orphaned that year. What happened?”
Her gaze shifted away from his, and she dusted her hands over the leather spine of one of the books. “It wasn’t pertinent to our mission. WhywouldI tell you?”
“The kissing and other things weren’t pertinent to our mission either, but you seemed to have time for that.”
Leena’s eyes narrowed, and she looked over both shoulders. “Shhh. Please. Colin, please don’t tell anyone what we’ve done.”
She looked as if she might cry, and he knew she meant more than the kissing. And didn’t that make him feel like a total ass? “I’m not going to tell anyone, okay? I just… I thought we were friends. We talked about things other than the scroll and the orbs. We’ve spent weeks together.”
Her face fell. She finished with the books and braced herself on the table. “It’s not something I like to talk about.”
Colin couldn’t stand the pain he saw in her eyes despite being curious about the cause. “I understand. I’m sorry. You don’t have to tell me. If I had the option of keeping the actions of my murderous mother a secret, believe me, I would.”
