Page 41 of The Book That Wouldn't Burn

“How would anyone know?” Livira slumped against the shelves. Her legs were tired, her throat was dry, and they hadn’t moved more than two yards from the place where Meelan had pulled out the first index.

“They would ask an assistant,” Arpix said. “Assistants are rarely helpful, but they will confirm the existence of a book if asked.”

Livira tilted her head, intrigued. “An assistant? Where would we find one and why wouldn’t they just tell us where our book is? And how do they know anyway?” She knew her memory was much better than most people’s, but to memorize the title of every book in the library was surely impossible.

“You find them wandering,” Jella answered her first question.

“Not often,” Carlotte said. “It’s a big place and there aren’t many.”

“How do they know?” Meelan repeated Livira’s question, looking up from his book. He’d seated himself on the ground and had a sheaf of paper beside him, the top sheet covered in untidy notes. “Assistants know everything because they’re part of the library. The master index may or may not be out there somewhere but it’s definitely in their heads.”

“The assistants aren’t the only thing wandering out there,” Carlotte said. “There are helpers that were built by librarians long ago. But most of them are broken.”

“They’re not safe to use even when they’re not broken.” Arpix shot Carlotte a warning look. “If you use the wrong index the worst thing that can happen is that you won’t find the book you’re after. Use the wrong helper and you might not survive the experience.”

Meelan nodded his dark head. “The library business was cutthroat back in the old days. There were guardians too, made by librarians from way way back, though the last of those were dealt with a century ago. A bloody business, by all accounts.”

“Some were huge!” Carlotte raised both hands above her head. “It took hundreds of soldiers to drive them off or break them. They say they were hunting something. Maybe just people or perhaps for someone in particular. Other, smaller ones, like the Black Knight, were set to guard particular aisles or doors. But most were guides to help you find things. There was one like an owl that the previous head librarian had. But that stopped working—”

“I vote we go and find one of these assistants.” Livira had enjoyed learning to read and loved using the skill to unlock the contents of books. On the other hand, this whole business of indexes and categorisations and hunting through ancient lists to find a particular book in a system designed specifically to be opaque... well, that could go drown itself in a hole.

Arpix shook his head. “Absolutely not.”

“Not the helper things city people made—the proper ones, the assistants.” Livira looked at the others for support but all three seemed suddenly very interested in their books.

“We need to spend our time wisely,” Arpix insisted. “The chances are you wouldn’t find one in two days, and they almost certainly wouldn’t help you even if you did. Don’t be misled by the name. They rarely assist. You’d probably just get lost. Without instruction people can get lost and die of thirst in the aisles. We stay here and do this the proper way.” He folded his arms across his chest, regarding her from his height.

“Maybe I’ll go and have a little look.” Livira pushed away from the shelf she was leaning on and stretched her stiff legs. It seemed that the grand punishment for not being able to dig through this tedious mess was to not be allowed to do it anymore. Apart from natural stubbornness making her want to thwart Lord Algar, she wasn’t sure she wouldn’t enjoy life outside the library more than life inside. Especially now she could read, more or less.

“We need you here,” Arpix said. “You’re not to go wandering.”

Livira frowned. “Do you though? Need me? I mean, I only speak one language. I’m the slowest reader here. I’ve only ever seen one index before in my life. What use am I?”

“You’ll get lost.” Jella looked worried.

“You should listen to Arpix,” Carlotte said, while making shooing gestures with her hands where Arpix couldn’t see them.

“You wouldn’t be the first trainee to get lost out there and die of thirst,” Meelan said.

Arpix nodded. “Senior librarians come back with bones sometimes. Along with their books.”

“You’re just trying to scare me.” It did sound to Livira like the sort of thing they’d make up to keep her in line.

“You’re staying here. I promised Master Logaris I’d keep an eye on you.” Arpix took a tiny bottle of ink and a quill from inside his robe and handed them to her. “You can help Meelan with his map.” He walked off with the index he was studying and positioned himself at the end of the aisle to block her escape.

—

Livira escaped an hour later. The irrepressible nature for which she had been named, called rebellion by some, irresponsibility and recklessness by others, had been stomped further down than ever before by the tragedy at the settlement and the total upheaval of her existence. Quiet weeks of study had, however, watered the ground and the hardy strands of her disobedience had begun to re-emerge.

She spent an hour searching out information for Meelan to add to his maps and lists, all the while edging closer to the ladder. As she set her hand to the rungs Carlotte started talking.

“If Lord Algar truly has engineered this to get rid of you, then the real question is how badly he wants you gone. I mean, he could have made it impossible. Hidden it in the wrong place.”

Arpix shook his head. “Only librarians and trainees are allowed in the library proper.”

“He could have paid a librarian to do it,” Carlotte muttered.

Arpix looked scandalised at the idea.

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