CHAPTER ELEVEN
BY A DIFFERENT NAME
ADELINE
“Is this normal? Glass snakes attacking you and then breaking into pieces and burning the grass?” My pulse is still ringing in my ears. I keep expecting more such snakes to sneak up on me at any moment.
“That’s odd,” Olm says.
“You don’t say!”
“The Living Lights don’t normally break. This guardian has some strange power over this world.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Also, they don’t normally approach outsiders. They are sentient and magical and attach themselves to fictional characters.” He pauses. “You will soon find that this world isn’t safe. And its creatures may seem familiar at first, only to turn out to be something else entirely.”
“I’m starting to figure that out. But how would you know anything about a world you’ve never been to before?”
“It’s only talk. We’d better not linger,” Olm says. “The guardian has already left.”
“What? Crap.”
Ersil threw the knife, killed the snake, then resumed striding across the meadow as if nothing had happened, leaving me toscramble after him. I’m starting to get annoyed with him, which aggravates me because he probably just saved my life, but would it kill him to give me a moment to gather my wits, or at least slow down and let me catch up?
“You asked to go to the library,” Olm reminds me. “That’s probably where he’s taking you.”
“He still could walk more slowly,” I grumble.
Hadn’t I passed out not long ago? Had he offered me anything to eat or drink? Time to process everything? No. I can’t seem to be able to catch my breath and he doesn’t care.
Slowing down would also allow me a moment to observe and absorb this unknown to me world. Everything is new to me. I’ve spent my life in the capital and the house, except for the one visit to the palace, the errands Naida sent me on and my own explorations, and by that yeah, I do mean thievery and shenanigans.
I want to explore and experience this city and the land beyond it. I’d love to ask for the story behind this unlikely friendship between the library guardian, the lioness and the raven, to ask how his life has been.
If he would like to send a message to the outside world.
If there is anything he needs.
Let’s be honest, I’d love to experience this library guardian. Maybe it’s that fierce gaze, that stubborn set of his mouth, the powerful physique, the mystery of the warrior librarian.
That sense of distance and mystery he exudes.
Bad idea. Don’t let yourself be attracted to the library’s ancient guardian, I admonish myself, rushing again to catch up as we reach the first houses.You can’t steal everything you can’t have, and that includes this enigmatic and handsome warrior.
And wait, when did I decide that he’s handsome?
Anyway, you probably wouldn’t like his answers if he replied to your questions. Wouldn’t like what you found if you scratched underneath the handsome surface.
As I jog, the stitch to my side returning, I catch snatches of… a conversation?
“Sit?” a female voice is growling. “Sit?I’m not a dog. How dare you.”
He laughs, the sound low and warm. He’s walking incredibly fast, but seems to have a slight limp to his gait.
“How about calling out,Hey, stop?Halt?Hang on?”
Another chuckle.
