“Which we don’t have.”
I raised a brow.
“We’re willing to negotiate terms that are more…collaborative in nature,” I told him then, trying another tactic Milo had authorized me to use days ago when we’d discussed this very meeting.
His expression didn’t change but I saw the interest flare behind his eyes.
“More collaborative than threatening to burn our House down if I don’t come to the door?” he asked.
I bit down on the urge to smirk back at him as I answered.
“Much,” I said. “Milo is a firm believer in the old adage ‘knowledge is power’. There’s nothing he hates more thanignorance, specifically his own. Should you begin responding to our requests, we’ll allow you to make your own. You could be the first Minor House to ever have access to a Major House’s library. As a show of our intention to follow through on this mutually beneficial new relationship, we’ve brought you a gift, to be returned, of course.”
I snapped my fingers and Paxon, who’d been standing nearly on the other side of the ring to avoid being seen by Jude or any other House of Harlowe member, stepped forward. His scowl at having been snapped at had me suppressing a snort as he approached and held out a dusty old book. Jude glanced down at it before looking back up to me.
“The personal devotional journal of High Priest Naser from the 1530s,” I announced and watched as the scholar’s eyes bulged at both the name and the date. “A show of gratitude and our dedication to seeing this knowledge-sharing expedition to be a fruitful one. The more exchanges you allow, the loftier titles you will have access to. This is just a sample of what we have available.”
He took the book gently and turned it over to stare down at the cover. Paxon withdrew slightly to stand behind me, hands clasped behind his back and waiting. I watched as Jude opened the book and scanned the first page. He took a breath before looking back up at me.
“Collaboration,” he said.
“Access,” I replied with a nod.
He considered for a moment longer, then suddenly snapped the book shut and gestured toward the gate.
“Please, come with me,” he said.
Beside me, Paxon stiffened. I fought my own surprise as I made my way through the gates of the House of Harlowe as the first outsider to enter their grounds in known history. Paxon hesitated before following as well and I noticed a few lowerringers who’d been passing by on their way to shifts serving the Second Ringers stop and stare as well. Even servants weren’t invited into the House of Harlowe. They’d always managed themselves with absolutely no outside help. It was the most mysterious of Minor Houses by far, even more closed off than the First Ring, and now I was setting foot on the well-kept path to the front door.
Jude closed the gate behind us before hurrying to the front door and leading the way into the massive House. The House of Harlowe was long where the others were tall and had almost no decor on the outside. No blossoms like the House of Chasina or golden piety like the House of Alosia. There wasn’t a thirty-foot tall stature of their namesake or bronze swords decorating every inch of their gate. It was a simple behemoth, stretching three times longer than any of the other houses in the ring but not rising nearly so high. The only luxury it claimed was to be crafted entirely of smooth, shining marble all in one piece.
Jude led us to a front door, which was hidden behind a jutting lip of the marble, and nodded to a guard wearing the House of Harlowe crest on his breast. The guard showed no surprise at mine and Paxon’s presence but merely nodded back to his leader as Jude opened the door and held it for my cousin and I to enter.
“You won’t be permitted to access the library as a whole,” Jude informed us as we stepped into a simple, yet elegant foyer. “You can wait in here while I retrieve whatever I can find suitable for your Heir’s request.”
“Which you claimed didn’t exist,” I reminded him.
He merely smirked and strode off in the opposite direction.
Paxon and I turned toward the sitting room he’d gestured toward upon our entry. There were a few couches settled in corners and against the far walls but, mostly, the space was occupied by little desks and modest chairs in front of them. Each desk had a lamp with a pull string attached hanging over it forlate night reading and offered privacy screens in the form of wooden blockades between them.
“This is less exciting than I imagined,” Paxon muttered from beside me as we entered the sitting room and I snorted.
“The House of Harlowe isn’t known for its interior design prowess,” I replied, settling into a chair beside a desk facing the door. “We’re lucky we were allowed in at all. It was a risky play, offering a research alliance. He could have laughed in our face and said they had more information here than we could ever possibly hope to offer them and we wouldn’t even know if he was right.”
Paxon shook his head in disagreement.
“Those who seek knowledge always seek more,” he said. “Look at Milo. He doesn’t even sleep anymore and I’m certain he’s read every book in the library. I can’t imagine what could possibly be so important he would offer access to our family heritage to a Minor House. And so soon after giving the Bexleys free reign–”
“Not here,” I snapped, glancing around to ensure we were still alone.
Paxon stopped speaking immediately. He knew as well as I that the Bexleys’ new status as privileged visitors of the First Ring and House Avus itself was not yet widely known. But his concern for Milo’s latest unprecedented decisions was valid. My cousin was changing the course of history and that would always breed doubt and misgivings among those who weren’t quite ready, but it didn’t mean he was wrong. He needed the support of his family now more than ever. So Paxon needed to bring his issues to Milo directly, rather than discussing them here with me in foreign territory where anyone could be listening.
“Talk to him,” I said.
Paxon’s gaze swept to me but, after a moment, he nodded.
We sat in silence for what felt like forever before Jude reappeared with a teenager in tow. Her arms were loadedwith books of various bindings, all of which appeared to be exceptionally old. She stared at us, wide eyed, and I wondered how often she got out of her elusive house to see anyone beyond it. Jude dismissed her with a wave of his hand the moment she set the books down on the desk in front of me. She scurried out of the room without a word, glancing back one more time when she reached the door before disappearing into the hall on the other side.
