Page 14 of Once Written in Gilded Blood

I’m sure he is. And I hope he tells me the answer.

Nikolai sarcastically frowns at me and narrows his eyes with frustration. “Alira, I will happily tell you anything you need to know that a civilian of Devicit is permitted to know. Anything army related is strictly prohibited, I’m afraid.” He quickly looks away and guides me down the corridor with the arched windows.

I grunt at his finality and reluctantly follow.

The birds aren’t singing today, and it’s cloudy out, making everything seem grayer than it should be.

I walk at a gradual pace behind him. I’m not entirely certain how far his gift to read minds extends, but it can’t be more than several feet. Otherwise, he’d be in constant misery with everyone’s minds chatting too often.

What if this has all been a lie? A farce? I’ve been so passive and weary from the time loops that I haven’t been thinking like a knight. I’m not a maiden; I’m a warrior.

I need a distraction, then, and to take some steps to protect myself.

I need to spend the day learning and figuring out how to unbind the sacred oath, just in case the worst-case scenario comes to fruition. The muscles in my jaw twitch at the thought of Kalel betraying me. Would I fight him again? Our blood being spilt by one another is an image I never thought I’d have to see again. A cold shiver spreads down my spine, but if he won’t tell me what’s really going on, then there’s not much I can do other than prepare for the worst.

What’s the point in the oath now if it only serves him…

The house mother at the orphanage only taught lessons learned from others’ misery, and her main directive was to never fully trust anyone. No one is coming to save you. Always save yourself. She would drill into our minds.

I’m no stranger to saving myself. In fact, I’ve never been saved by anyone other than myself.

“Can you take me to the library today? I’d love to see the demon archives and learn more about your history, and that of the gods too.”

Nikolai glances over his shoulder and gives me a curious look. “Kalel’s library has all the books you could ever want to read.”

I lift a shoulder and let it drop. “I heard that the public one has a restricted area.” I float the idea as innocently as I can. It’s not like I should know anything about a restricted area in their libraries, but I overheard a few lords discussing their findings there as they were picking up their wives from one of our daily tea parties. Of course, I’ve found many things in Kalel’s apothecary books and his personal library, but I’m hoping to find more on curses and lore of the old gods.

This time, Nikolai stops and turns to face me, a gruff expression tugging at his features. “What are you trying to read in the restricted area? Oh gods, who told you about it? One of the maids?”

“I overheard the lords speaking about it in the palace, if you must know. And King Borlin destroyed all the demigods’ oldest tomes in Alzhor. I’m guessing the librarians here in Devicit would keep the oldest books in a restricted area for safety, yes?” I offer him an innocent smile.

He lifts a brow at me. “Yes, I suppose they would,” he says slowly.

“Then let’s go.” I nudge him.

Nikolai rolls his eyes before chuckling. “All right, but be warned that the librarians in our public libraries are quite cruel.”

Nikolai wasn’t kidding about them being cruel.

They put gloves on my hands with disapproving frowns pulling at their lips and sprayed me down with a sparkly powder they call Pagedust. It’s a dry potion that keeps any of our natural oils from infusing with the air in the restricted area. I’m shocked at the lengths they’ll go to in order to keep their books safe. They’d be appalled if they knew Alzhor burned most of their libraries to the ground.

I don’t have half a mind to dwell on the Pagedust, though. Not when the architecture of this library is beyond anything I ever could’ve imagined.

The entire building is one gigantic arch. Much like the gothic cathedral, except the library walls are a dark wood color that matches the shelves and bookcases, more sunlight than any plant would need to grow spills in from the wall of glass practically making up the entire back side of the building. Wrought iron weaves intricate patterns throughout the glass, keeping the panes set in a unique design and sturdy the entire way up. From up close, you can’t make out any design in the glass, but when stepped away from, it’s clear that the entire wall creates one image. The pattern in the iron sketches out a massive likeness of hundreds of clocks and gears that one would find inside.

“It’s fantastic, isn’t it?” Nikolai says cheekily.

I nod without really hearing what he said, unable to look away as we ascend the stairs to the fourth floor. Somehow, the view is only more impressive from up here. A wooden balcony overlooks the lower levels. It’s like the open-concept libraries I’ve heard the humans create to store their historic tomes. I count eight floors in total from my view of the other side of the building.

Rows upon rows of shelves and tables are strewn out below us on the first level. It’s interesting that the floors are hollow in the center, with only shelves around the walls, keeping the entire library open. The soft whispers of studying minds carry through the space.

“I’ve never seen anything like this,” I admit as we finally come to a corner and a door.

The librarians stop before the door and bring out an old key encased in rust. “I can’t believe they are allowing that filthy demigod to roam around like this,” one of them says. For gods’ sake I’m standing right behind them; they don’t care at all. I flinch at his sharp words but hold my tongue. Any outrage or slip of emotion I let out will only prove them right in their own eyes. I have to be better than them, even if I don’t want to be.

One steadying breath and a slight frown from Nikolai grounds me a bit.

“Especially to bring her here?” says another.