Her hand reached the side of her head, patting her hair softly before dropping back at her side. Why did she always do that? A nervous habit?
“Thank you. I-I’ll drink it while I unpack.”
I nodded. She didn’t want to be here. She didn’t want to be with me. Who could blame her? I’ve been nothing but an absolute ass since she showed up.
I blamed the now silent voices for hissing and yelling at me in my head. I didn’t seem to find her that repulsive now that they were quiet…
Her usual fire had dimmed, and for some reason, it didn’t sit well with me.
The Archives were quiet. The little mess Lola left behind was now nowhere to be seen, every book and sheet of paper arranged in neat piles on her desk.
Leaving her alone at the house was the safest option. Those pheromones were playing tricks on my mind and I didn’t want to act on those damn sinful thoughts.
I stopped in the middle of the large room, fingers drumming on the edge of the lone desk, eyes wandering on the rows of shelves. I was out of reading material, and somehow, when I checked the place where all strange books had appeared, I couldn’t find anything related to the Astrals. Was the ghost actually hiding them, deciding to make them spawn at whim?
“Maggie?” My voice echoed in the space. “Are you there?” Stupid question. Of course she was, it seemed the Archives were her damn house. And yet, she didn’t acknowledge me.Yet. “I read all the books you gave me,” I lied.
I was still going through Tedregon’s journal. Turns out, even though I could speak and understand every language, it still took time for my brain to process one I didn’t use on a daily basis.
So far, I learned that the one who wrote that journal was an absolute monster, as were probably all Astrals. He’d kept his Maiden locked up for years, going to her first every night to try and breed her with his heir, and when it became obvious they had trouble conceiving, he started going two to three times each day. She wasn’t allowed to go out or even see the light of day. It took her almost twenty years of what appeared to have basically been repeated rape by Tedregon to finally get pregnant and give birth to his heir, who she named Amyntas.
According to the other books I read and what Aymeric had told me, it should have stopped there for her. The Maiden was sacred, and she was only to give birth to the heir and then tasked with raising the lone offspring while the Astral went to his other wives, getting moreweakerchildren. But it wasn’t what Tedregon had decided to do. Instead, she becamebreeding stockfor his soldiers.
I had needed a break in my reading right after she birthed her fifth child. Turns out, the other Dragons had no issues in getting her pregnant…
No wonder Lola had fled if that’s what her fate had looked like. The very few information the other books gave about the Maiden made it look like an honor, a coveted role. Seemed like the reality was far from it.
“Maggie?” I tried again after the room remained silent for long minutes. “I-I know we don’t get along, but I’m just trying to understand. These books…I know it has something to do with Lola, but what? She—I mean, she told us about the Maiden thing. Granted, I wouldn’t have figured out what it meant if it wasn’t for the books, but—”
My head snapped to the sound of the door locking. Okay, I got her attention…Now what? More books? Was thereeven moreto learn about all this?
“Wha-what am I supposed to do with all this? I mean, you know I love to read about legends and forgotten knowledge, but why were the bookshidden? Why are you showing themnow? If Astrals were ever real, they’re obviously—”
The computer turned on next to me, and the words got stuck in my throat.Damn, this creeps me out.
It took a few seconds for the screen to light up and the keyboard to start typing. On its own. A shiver of unease went up my spine.
I leaned my head to the side to look at the word appearing on the screen. “Liar.”
“What?” I hissed. “Are you callingmea liar?”
It typed again. How could she do that? Why didn’t she do that before? “Finish journal.”
I held back a curse. “Oh, come on! How do youknowI didn’t completely finish the damn thing? Are you following me outside and looking over my shoulder while I read? I thought you couldn’t leave the Archives!”
The keyboard sounded again, the letters appearing slowly on the screen. “Can’t leave but know. You didn’t ask right question.”
Was there even a right question? How could someone have only one question after everything these books said?
“I read all the others, can’t I at least ask about these? Or get more books going deeper into the fucking Maiden thing?”
“No. Finish journal. Ask right question after,” the words on the screen said before it turned off, dismissing me.
How could I even know what the right question was? So many of them fought in my mind to be asked first. What happened to the Dragons and the other Astrals? Were Divines and Hellrisers truly responsible for their downfall or was Lola—the Maiden,to blame?
Night had fallen when I made it back home. Maggie had unlocked the door right as she turned the computer off, but I wasn’t ready to head back to the house yet. I spent the rest of the day catching up on Arc’s paperwork and finishing our August accounting. All the wages had been sent, and invoices for our imported goods were settled. Boring tasks that gave me my monthly headache, but at least I was free to focus on other things tomorrow.
The house was dark and silent, except for the light coming out of the kitchen and soft sounds of the fridge opening and closing.
