Truth, she thought and felt it echo deep inside.
Kasira had never been good at apologies, but a lady like Eirlana would be well practiced. “I’m sorry,” she said, catching his gaze so that he understood that she meant far more than her words. He’d lostsomeone, and he was still hurting. Let him think his well-being meant something to her, never mind that some part of her truly felt his grief.
It was the same part that had begun to think about what would happen to the Library once she succeeded, to the beasts currently outside Vera’s reach. A part Kasira had carved away and locked in the depths of her mind where it couldn’t reach her.
At that moment, the crossed swords of the Kalish door came alight with a green glow, and Allaster grinned. “Well, looks like you’re getting your wish. It’s green, which means O or H class. Should be simple. I normally wouldn’t even go myself on a mission like this, but since you’re so inexperienced …” He snapped his fingers.
Nothing happened. Frowning, he snapped them a second time, but there was still no response.
“Performance issues?” Kasira asked.
Allaster scowled and snapped his fingers again. This time, a beautiful gold-and-white bow appeared in his hand. Its limb was the delicate curve of a swan’s neck, the tips gilded and sharp enough to cut. Another snap and a quiver of arrows appeared that he slung across his back.
She held out her hand. “Don’t I get a weapon?”
“So you can stab me in the back with it? I don’t think so.” He snapped his fingers, and one of the wooden training staffs materialized. He tossed it to her. “Besides, we shouldn’t even need weapons. As I said, the first rule of beast missions is to defuse the situation without violence. Our goal is to relocate the animal, not harm it.”
Kasira regarded the staff with deep misgiving. What was a wooden stick going to do for her against a beast?
Allaster pulled open the Kalthos door, and Kasira felt a zip of magic like a buzz along her skin as she followed him through, successfully keeping her wonder from her face. Hearing about how the doors worked was one thing; passing through them was another altogether.
They entered a barren office, likely belonging to the head of a town, judging by the plaques behind the desk. It was empty, save for a pale-skinned Kalish man awaiting them, his stiff-cut coat with its columns of golden buttons denoting him as that very head.
“Thank the goddess you’re here.” He clasped his thin hands together, feet fidgeting in place. “There’s a Coscara within the town walls. I think it was drawn by the harvest.”
All Kalish towns were walled to keep out beasts. It was rare one got in unless it could go through or over the barrier. Which made it particularly odd for a Coscara, a scavenging creature known for its instinct to flee, to have gotten in. Odder still for the town’s head to have contacted Amorlin rather than the Malikinar. Kalthos usually only called on the Library for true emergencies.
She expected Allaster to question the story, but he only asked, “Which way?”
The man pointed toward the back of the room. “The storage building in the center of town. Please hurry.”
“Stay here. Corynth, with me.” They stepped out into a mild Kalish morning, the sun just skirting the edges of the trees. The town bordered the Isherwood, far enough inland she couldn’t hear the rush of the Seven Veils. It was quiet, its inhabitants likely holed up in their homes, most of which were built of stone to resist beast attacks and possessed little ornamentation.
“This doesn’t make any sense,” she whispered to Allaster as he drew an arrow but didn’t nock it. “How did a Coscara get inside the walls?”
“Likely, they let it in.”
Kasira ground to a halt. “What?”
“Keep moving,” he ordered. “You’ll look suspicious.” They traced their way back along the building they had appeared in, heading deeper into the eerily empty town.
Kasira’s grip on her staff flexed nervously. “If you knew something was off, why didn’t you say anything? There might not even be a beast here.”
“There is. And regardless of the reason for their trick, I intend to see it delivered safely back to the forest.”
“This seems like a very good way to get ourselves killed.”
Allaster drew up short, regarding her with blatant reproach. “This is what being Librarian means, Corynth. Your life for theirs. If youcan’t see that, then you still don’t understand our purpose here, in which case, you can go wait by the door.”
Considering this was her last opportunity to prove herself to Allaster in time for Vera’s deadline, that really wasn’t an option. So she hefted her staff and followed him past a line of houses that opened into the town square. Allaster cursed, and she spun to see what he had: A trail of silver blood led out from a large building on the far side of the square, the door in shambles and the stone of the frame cracked deep.
“A Coscara couldn’t have done that,” she said.
Allaster’s face hardened. “Go back to the door.”
“What?”
“That’s an order.”
