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“Yes please.” She managed a rough breath and stepped over the threshold, only to find herself pinned by the sharp glare of a pair of round eyes.
“Welcome Lady Theryn,” said the penguin. “I am Gerald. I have the honour of being Lord Cyrus’s tickerkin. It’s mostly an honour, I should say. But at times like this when he completely forgets about my presence, it can be rather irritating.”
She recovered herself. “I can well believe it. But I’m sure Lord Cyrus is fully aware of your invaluable presence, Gerald. Even if he doesn’t always make that clear.”
“Hmph.” The tickerkin stared at her for a moment. Then nodded. “It looks like Lord Cyrus has done something right for once. I’ll fetch tea.”
And with that pithy comment, he made a stately turn and headed for the back of the hall, leaving Cyrus and Maelin staring after him.
“Well,” sighed Cyrus. “That was indeed Gerald.”
“And he’s probably quite devoted to you. I have a tickerkin. Her name is Inky.”
He took her arm and walked her through the hall. “Let me guess.” He was silent for a moment, then grinned. “An octopus?”
“Indeed yes. And not unlike your Gerald in plain-speaking. She is, actually, down to seven tentacles—the result of an unfortunate attempt to juggle with the serving ware.”
“Ouch.” Cyrus winced as he led Maelin to a couch.
“Ouch indeed. But she works miracles with what she has left, so nobody mentions it anymore.” She sighed and settled back as he sat next to her and took her hand. “This is nice. Just a few moments of peace before we talk of other matters.”
To her surprise, he raised her hand to his lips, turned it over and found her forefinger with his tongue. When he sucked it between his lips, Mae’s body reacted strongly, and she squirmed.
“Cyrus,” she whispered, her eyes meeting his. “I...I...”
He released her finger and blew on it, making her shiver.
“The things you do do me,” she murmured.
“I can’t help it. I love watching the way you react...” His smile was part wicked, part simple pleasure. Then he sighed. “Much as I’d love to do this and more for the rest of the day...and all night...we have other matters to tend to first.”
“We do.” She sighed and straightened. “I found something in my Uncle’s library, Cyrus.”
He stood, stretched a little, then offered her his hand. “I did and didn’t find anything,” he replied. “Let’s go into my library and I can show you what I mean, while you tell me your news.”
“All right.”
She sighed with pleasure as he opened the library door and stood aside, waiting for her to enter. “This is really nice, Cyrus. Really nice.”
Yes, there were books, just like other libraries. But there was an air about his, the chairs slightly worn, the footstools showing signs of where boot heels would have rested.
It was warm, welcoming, and obviously its owner’s favourite place.
Before she could drift to the shelves, Cyrus turned her towards his desk. “This is what I found this morning.” He opened the book to the relevant pages.
Maelin took a quick glance at the endpapers. “This updates, yes?”
“Yes. It did so when I opened it earlier. Which, if you read this...” he found the page he wanted, “you’ll see the article on the Hallions, Arnold and Geoffrey.”
Maelin sat in his chair as he leaned over her shoulder, watching as she skimmed the relevant passages.
“This is fairly close to what I remember, Cyrus.” She glanced up at him;
“Good. However...” He moved his finger to the top of the page, where the search box sat, waiting for a command. “Enter Hallion in there.”
“All right...” She did as he’d suggested, and waited. Once the search was complete, the book would then reopen to the information requested.
It lay silently on the desk.
