Did he follow me in here?
Keane juts his chin back to the man with a grin. I turn to the counter and take the deep maroon pouch he’s handing me, thanking him again before walking back towards the entrance.
“Thank you,” I smile to the Prince.
“Do you play?” Keane asks, holding open the door.
“No,” I shake my head with a small blush, “they’re for Willem.”
“Yara’s Willem?” he smirks.
“Yes,” I duck my head, spotting Holis and Mana farther along the main road, “they’re my ‘I’m sorry’ gift.”
Keane leans down to my side with a playful smirk. “You mean an,I’m sorry for manipulating a ten-year-old, gift?”
“Yes,” I shove my shoulder into his as he chuckles, “that one.”
I drop the velvet pouch in my bag and grab three cinerin, holding my hand out to the Prince as we head back to our group.
“I don’t know the difference between cinerin and pyes, but thank you for covering me.”
Keane’s brows furrow at the gesture, his eyes looking at me as if I’m a foreign being. He looks at the gold coins in my hand and then back at my face, as if he doesn’t understand the offer of returning a payment.
I give him a chuckle of my own and sneak my hand under his tunic to the pocket lining his hip, dropping the coins inside.
“It’s called returning the debt, Your Highness,” I grin, nearly wanting to laugh, “and while I’ll never turn down a few free drinks from you, I cannot allow you to pay for this gift.”
Keane stands tall in the road, his eyes following my hand that’s leaving his pocket as a new smirk graces his lips. I roll my eyes and step back in line with our group, feeling a small pinch against my rear that has me both biting my lip and shaking my head.
We continue through the city for some time until we reach a building carved into the mountain that so obviously doesn’t belong with the rest of the homes and shops. Massive pillars dart strong into the rock just like the throne room, twelve blocks in total that tower above a wide set of stairs and lead to a dark entrance farther beyond. My step falters when I see the massive building, recognizing the new structure as what has to be the back entrance of the library.
I take a deep breath and catch both Keane and Cal crowding my sides, the two men coming to stand next to me at the bottom of the steps as Clair and Alba begin to walk up to the top. Prince McQuoid, Holis and Mana remain with us at the bottom, the three men looking at me to follow behind the Princess.
My next breath is fueled by Cal and Keane’s reassuring glances. I take those looks and step onto the first stair with both men following at my left and right, the three of us steadily moving towards the library in quiet silence.
About halfway up I turn back to look at the road, spotting Holis as he gives me a small smile and nods me forward. I smile back at him before eyeing the massive staircase in front of me, continuing with the steps that seem to last a lifetime until we eventually meet the Princess at the top.
“Come, Alexis,” she smiles and reaches down to pat Alba’s neck, “we’ll show you around.”
I’m grateful for her easy comment and follow behind the Princess, leaving the two men behind.
So far the back entrance of Red Falls’ library has been endless. We’ve been walking for a while, our feet echoing off the cold walls as the small torches barely provide any guidance. Clair obviously knows where she’s going, but I make sure to keep an eye on Alba’s vibrant white fur as we move deeper inside.
“Almost there,” the Princess turns, almost as if reading my thoughts.
I nod and squint at a small ball of silver light moving towards us from the far end of the entrance, the shimmer bobbing left and right as if swinging with a nonexistent wind. An old woman appears behind that light with a crystal lantern held in her hand.
She’s wearing a simple grey dress without sleeves, her snow white hair twisted at the front and falling into a large, plaited braid down her back. The deep red flames under her skin are moving slowly, but the color looks to be just as powerful as the Prince’s. Her flames are greeted by too manywrinkles that I can’t count, the lines darting across her arms and hands and into her face. She’s a well-lived woman, whoever she is, and has a tiredness in her features that only greets someone after they’ve lived a satisfactory life. The sight of her makes me smile.
The new woman stops in front of us and gives Clair a friendly nod. I hold back a gasp when I notice the color of her eyes, the pair a milky blue in color that almost reminds me of Prince McQuoid’s. But where the Prince has a normal set of black pupils to accompany the unnatural blue, hers are unlike anything I’ve ever seen and slanted like that of a cat’s.
“You do not stare at me in discomfort,” the old woman turns her gaze on mine, head slanting just slightly to the right, “but in open interest and fascination.”
Clair grins as I sink into averylow bow.
“I stare because I am intrigued by you,Duhni,” I offer her the greeting of a Discerni elder, unsure if it applies in this Kingdom but still offering it as a sign of respect.
“As I will be of you, human. The first of her kind to ever enter our Old World libraries,” she replies with a small bow of her own.
