The Restricted Section of the Library was for staff and approved and monitored visits only. Getting permission for access was nearly impossible. And the door was magically sealed shut by order of The Double O.
“Only a librarian of Vaukore can-”
With the wave of his palm the door clicked open. And Maeve fell silent.
“That old ghost is in love with you,” she said, referring to the ghost of Marybelle Marsen, the first librarian of Vaukore Castle ten centuries ago.
Mal smirked softly in triumph.
“Don’t smile. It’s weird,” she said brushing past him.
Once they were on the other side, he shut the door behind them quietly. The Restricted Area wasn’t lit.
A beam of bright light swirled from the gold linked bracelet on her wrist as they entered the darkness, lighting their way. It floated alongside them, its light wafting and waving between white and blue.
“Let me guess,” he said. “A gift from your father.”
“It’s a lux charm,” said Maeve. “Everyone has them.”
She looked away from him as it slipped from her mouth. Those charms were expensive. “I’m sor-”
“We only have the hour,” said Mal. “Hendrix and Abraxas will cover for us, and then we need to be on our way.”
Maeve didn’t argue. “And what exactly are we doing here?”
“Looking for something that would be, to quote you, ‘quite the accomplishment’.”
Maeve’s eyebrows raised and she frowned slightly. “You want to know if it’s possible to cheat death.”
“Sharp as a thorn.”
Mal was not smiling. He was not attempting to charm or manipulate her.
“Well,” said Maeve. “We should start right away then.”
Between the two of them, they took three books each that proved promising, based on titles alone. The plan was to read them, find any and all useful information and return them to the Restricted Section. And continue that pattern until Mal had his answers.
“Did you enjoy being me last night?” Maeve asked Abraxas on the way to Alchemy the following day.
“No offense, Maeve, but I pretended to be Mal, not you.”
Maeve pushed him as they laughed together.
Hummingdoor paired Maeve with Roswyn to brew their own Everlasting Elixirs, which would come in handy if you never wanted to run out of a potion.
“Was Mal with you last night, like Abraxas says?” Roswyn asked Maeve.
Maeve was measuring out snake fangs on a set of scales. “I don’t see why that’s important to you.”
Roswyn snatched the bottle of snake fangs from Maeve, his temper swelling to the surface.
“Watch it,” warned Maeve, her voice low. “I don’t intend to fail the day because you want to throw a tantrum.”
Roswyn stared her down, huffed, and placed the vial back on the desk.
Despite his sour attitude, Hummingdoor passed their Everlasting Elixir, and the rest of the day was quite nice.
Maeve came across some interesting concepts from her Restricted Section books, but not exactly what they were looking for. A few days had passed since their initial visit, and Mal proposed they swap the books out for more.
