She put a finger over her lips and nudged her head toward the upper level.
Derren frowned but shrugged, and we followed her up the staircase.
As we climbed, Lexie leaned close to me. “Why is she avoiding the librarian?”
“Good question.”
Kerralyn pointed when we’d reached the top of the stairs. “This way.”
She led us to a semicircular alcove overlooking the main floor. Tables of dark wood gleamed beneath fairy-light globes, and the far wall was lined with tomes so ancient their titles had half-worn away. Other racks of books jutted around us from various directions.
“This place is beautiful,” I said, leaning over to study some of the books.
“Beautifully intimidating.” Derren grabbed a book and settled in a chair at the table.
“These ancient books are warded,” Kerralyn said absently, nudging her chin to a section labeled,Authorized Access Only. She trailed her fingers a breath above the bindings without touching. “To prevent decay and theft.”
“Warded how?” I asked.
“Depends on who cast them. Sometimes the wards are tied to the building’s guardians.”
I frowned.
“Like those.” Her gaze flicked toward the main floor below, where marble statues stood sentinel in various parts of the room. I’d noted one at the end of the corridor running along this section too. Some wore robes, others gowns. Each held a staff or sword.
Lexie leaned over the railing. “I thought they were decoration.”
Kerralyn released a thin smile. “They’re more than that. The castle libraries of old were said to defend their own knowledge. Woe to anyone who took without leave.”
“Definewoe,” Derren said, pointing. “Because that one near the wall looks like it could lift me and fling me across the room with one finger.”
“It’s not a problem if you behave,” I said.
Derren strolled closer to the shelf holding the ancient books with the warning, his hand stretching toward?—
A flutter of magic pulsed through the air, a faint hum that made the hair on my arms rise. The eyes of one of the statues on this level glimmered blue before going dark again.
“Did you see that?” Lexie whispered.
“It could’ve been a trick of the light,” Derren said, backing away from the shelf with his arms lifted. “Not going to touch again to find out.”
Kerralyn gestured to another wall. “The section on siege formations is over there.”
We each claimed a shelf. The hum subsided, replaced by the soft rustle of us turning pages.
I pulled down a volume titledOn the Art of Elemental Coordinationand sat at a table, flipping through brittle pages covered in diagrams of troop movements, finding the text dense but fascinating.
Lexie perched on the edge of a table, reading softly from a treatise she’d found. “Listen to this, ‘Never place fire beside wind in close ranks unless you desire the immediate loss of eyebrows.’ Practical advice.”
Derren groaned from where he sat near her. “I enjoy weapons’ training better. At least then the danger is obvious.”
“You’re allergic to learning,” Kerralyn said, taking notes in her journal.
“And you’re allergic to fun.”
“I’m plenty fun.”
He snorted. “Sure. Why hide from the librarian, then?”
