They stood there awkwardly for a moment until Axell said, “You were a bookkeeper, Ellie…?”
“No, I was a librarian.”
“Yes. A keeper of books.” Axell scowled. “We have a library needing a keeper.”
Dan shot him a look that Ellie didn’t quite understand, and Axell added, “You are moving out of the castle,ja? You can share.”
For a moment, Dan was silent, but then he sighed. “Fine. I liked having it as our space.”
“There’s a library?” Ellie prompted, steering them back to the best news she’d had other than discovering that Prospero loved her. “Where? I walked through the entire village and—”
“Here.” Prospero motioned around them. “The books are in the castle.”
“There was a library here the whole time? Where?” Ellie tried to think of every room and hallway here. Was there a place she’d missed? An area she’d failed to explore? “Does my aunt know?”
“She used to when she first lived here,” Prospero hedged. Then she laced her fingers with Ellie and walked away, pausing to scowl at the two men who were trailing behind them.
“Not scared of you,” Dan whispered loudly. He was lying, which they all undoubtedly knew.
They walked through the hallway to a giant arched doorway. Pillars too wide to wrap her arms around framed the doorway. The doors were massive carved wood with iron detailing. They looked like they belonged on an old castle or cathedral.
“Was this here the whole time?” Ellie asked in low voice.
“Yes,” Prospero said.
“No,” Dan said.
Both statements were somehow true, but she wasn’t sure how. Then Axell opened the door, and she didn’t care. There were thousands of books there, and as she walked around reading spines, she found that none of them were books she’d read.
“Why isn’t this available to everyone?” Ellie looked around. “That will change. We’ll need a card catalogue. And staff…”
She continued to shelf read, scanning titles as she walked, for several moments. Finally, she paused. “Fiction section?”
Prospero shook her head. “There’s some, mixed in with…”
Ellie held up a hand before she could finish saying that. “I’ll need to reorganize.”
Hobs started popping into the room, standing on shelves and tables. Every hob was smiling.
“Lady P likes fiction,” Bernice said from atop a globe.
“How do we get it?” Ellie looked around at them. “Can I get some volunteers to help reorganize? I can make the card catalogue. I need some twigs.”
Ellie started a mental list of things that needed to be managed to make this library fully functional in all ways.
“Friend Maggie would like a law section,” another hob offered.
“These are all magic books,” Ellie said, half asking, half guessing. “People need fiction, too. Plays. Poetry.”
“Make a list,” Axell said. “We can’t stay there long, but I bet a few trips to shop… Perhaps we can bring albums, too.”
“Yes.” Ellie looked around at the hobs and witches watching her. “I have aproject.” She met Prospero’s eyes. “Do you suppose you might want to help now that the conflicts are resolved?”
Prospero gave a nod, but she was smiling in a way that veered on giddy for her. “New books and music? You’ll have plenty of volunteers.”
Ellie’s imagination was running away, and the best part was that with magic, she could accomplish it all. She let out a small squeal and wrapped her arms around Prospero. They’d build up the library, and they’d open it to the public. She could picture it.
“Crenshaw Library,” Ellie said.
