“This place is a disaster.” I glanced at a spiral staircase, which had missing steps, the banister missing rails and covered in dust. The upstairs looked like even more of a disaster, overgrown with leaves and vines that wrapped around the bookshelves, crushing a few of them.
“It is!” Margaret said, and I whirled around, staring at a painting of a ship on the ocean, Margaret standing at the helm.
“Margaret! You made it!”
Heat prickled my cheeks. I’d been so enamored by the library that I’d forgotten about Margaret, but I wouldn’t make that mistake again. I knew what it was like to feel alone, and I’d do everything I could to make sure Margaret never felt that.
Morton looked up from where he was currently eating another book, his body rotund and stretched.
I wagged my finger at him. “I think that’s enough books. Your mouth is coated in dust.”
“Hi, Margaret,” he said with a mouthful of paper.
Margaret tilted her head, staring at the bookwyrm. “Well, I’ve never seen that before.” She squealed and jumped up and down on the helm. “It worked. I’m free! Finally! Oh, I can’t wait to visit all my favorite places, catch up on all the gossip.” She leaned forward and whispered, “Before I got trapped, I heard the high prince was getting married.”
I stiffened at that.
“I never found out who she was, but my money is on Ceri.”
My eyebrows shot up in surprise. Ceri. That woman in the market Wolfe had told me was Cillian’s best friend.
“Why do you think that?” I sidled closer.
“Oh, everyone knows he’s in love with her,” Margaret said, and my stomach dropped to the floor. “She doesn’t want a relationship, and he’s always been a playboy. Well, until he became high prince, but they’re not fooling me. I see the way they look at each other. Or I did.” She gasped. “Are they already married?” She frowned. “Are they dead? I don’t actually know how long I’ve been trapped?—”
“No one’s dead,” I assured her. “And no one is married either.”
“Oh.” Margaret straightened. “Well, that’s good to know.” She leaned forward, squinting. “My goodness, this library is a mess.”
I was more than happy to turn the conversation—and my thoughts—away from Prince Cillian. “It looks more like a jungle than a library,” I murmured as I wandered around the space.
I swiped my finger along the arm of a chair, the seam broken open and stuffing spilling out.
“Oh, that was good,” Morton said, now on his back, his stomach distended. “I’ve been surviving on little scraps I’ve found around the castle.”
He regurgitated all the papers, and they flew in pieces back to the books where they belonged, the air a sudden flurry of white and cream. I ducked as a paper barreled toward my head, waiting until the commotion died down and the books were all back together.
Margaret appeared in another painting, standing in front of a stack of books. “If you vomit all the books, then how do you ever get full?”
Morton slithered up the chair. “It’s not the pages I’m eating, it’s the stories.” His voice sounded wistful.
Margaret wrinkled her nose. “Do some ever taste disgusting? Or give you food poisoning?”
I turned to Morton, my curiosity sparking. I’d never thought about asking him that before, but it was fascinating to think about.
“Oh yes.” Morton nodded. “Some books are ghastly. Mainly the ones that are badly written.” A shudder ran through his body.
I glanced at the windows. They were covered in so much grime, I could barely see out them. “This place is a mess. I don’t know how it can even function as a library.”
“It can’t,” Morton said. “Not like this.”
“It’s such a shame.” I walked toward the large stained-glass windows, where any light shone through. Rectangular windows lined either side of the large stained-glass ones, stretching across the back wall. I reached out and rubbed some of the grime away with the sleeve of my dress, letting in a ray of sunshine and revealing some of the gorgeous detailing—books carved into the colorful glass panels.
“Maybe you two can clean it,” Margaret said. “Oh! And I’ll be here to cheer you on!”
“Perfect,” Morton mumbled.
“Well, I have nothing better to do,” I said. “Although I am supposed to be getting to know the castle so it’ll accept me.” But I would much rather be spending my days among the books.
