Page 51 of Ties of Legacy

“You know who I am?” she asked.

Matilda snorted. “Naturally. I wouldn’t be a very good family record keeper if I couldn’t even keep track of the current family members! Besides, you look exactly like you did when you were younger. I couldn’t possibly mistake you.”

Her face darkened. “Allow me to offer my condolences. Losing your parents was a great misfortune for the whole family, but for you…”

“Thank you,” Avery said, trying to remember if Matilda had always been so direct.

Matilda peered over Avery’s shoulder, her eyebrows rising. “Now that is a face I don’t know.” She looked back at Avery. “Should I know him? Has he joined the family? Is that what you’re here to report?”

“What? Oh, no, we haven’t—That is to say, we’re not—” Avery stumbled over her words, blushing furiously.

“Well it wouldn’t be a crime if you had,” Matilda said with a chuckle. “About time you stopped traveling alone if you ask me.”

“I don’t think she did ask you,” Elliot said coolly from behind her, and a different type of warmth diffused through Avery.

She didn’t feel alone when she traveled—she was always meeting new people, and she felt connected to the network of roving merchants scattered across the kingdoms. But it had been a long time since she had felt like part of a team. She had forgotten what it was like to have someone who was specifically hers and who would have her back, even with her family.

She only hoped Matilda wasn’t offended. Avery appreciated Elliot’s instinct to stand up for her, but since they’d come to ask Matilda for a favor, it didn’t seem like a good idea to start by putting her back up.

But Matilda nodded at Elliot approvingly. “That she didn’t,” she said. “If there’s one trait our family shares—other than our love for travel—it’s our instinct to meddle. Well said.” She turned to Avery. “It’s good to pick one who can stand up for you within the family. I could do with that myself now and then.” She barked a laugh. “Although can you imagine someone blunter than me?”

“Actually,” Avery said quickly, before Matilda could make any more insinuating comments. “Elliot and I are just temporary traveling companions because—well, actually it’s a bit of a longstory to tell out here on the doorstep.” She glanced up and down the street. “Could we come inside?”

Matilda stood back, clearing the way. “It’s a bit unusual to allow someone who isn’t a member of the family into our hall of records. If any of the family elders were here, I would be taken to task for even considering it.”

“Do you need me to wait outside?” Elliot asked in a tone of obvious reluctance. “I could stay with Nutmeg…” His eyes met Avery’s, clearly pleading with her to find the answers they needed for both their sakes.

“Oh goodness, no!” Matilda said. “I’m far too curious for that. I’ve barely gotten a proper look at you yet. Plus, I strongly suspect that whatever is going on here will soon be a new record on my shelves.” She rubbed her hands together in apparent anticipation. “Just put Nutmeg into the shed around the back before you come in.”

Chapter 18

Avery

Avery and Elliot were soon following the record keeper through a long hall and into a spacious room at the back of the house. It was far larger than an ordinary sitting room, and most of the space had been turned into a library with rows of shelving running down the middle of the room.

The ordinary city home wasn’t the sort of house that would usually include a library, but the record keeper’s residence had been owned by the roving merchants for generations. Some distant ancestor had transformed the inside of the building, turning most of the bottom floor into a record room.

“Wow!” Elliot’s eyes widened as he took in the volume of books. “Are all of these roving merchant records?”

“Not all,” Matilda said with a pleased smile, “but a good portion. I have an extensive collection of other relevant texts as well. Plus some just for fun, of course.”

“I wasn’t expecting anything half as impressive,” Elliot admitted.

Matilda looked pleased. “They originally chose to set up the record keeper’s hall here in Glandore because the Glandore Legacy loves libraries. Sometimes new volumes appear on the shelves despite my never having acquired them.”

“That’s funny because it looks smaller than I remember,” Avery said with a grin, knowing full well that it was she who had grown bigger.

“Thank you for allowing me to see it, Matilda,” Elliot said gravely, running his hand along a row of books.

“Please, call me Mattie.” She gestured for them to gather in a section of the room that had been equipped with the sort of furniture usually found in a sitting room.

“As well as providing new books, the library is very resilient,” Mattie said as they both sat down. “I once knocked a candle over onto a pile of parchments. I thought the whole place was going to go up in flames. But it went out without even a puff.”

“That is a very handy feature,” Elliot said. “Well worth putting the library in Glandore just for that.”

“The Legacy can be wonderfully protective if your circumstances are right,” Mattie said.

Avery shifted uncomfortably. Her cousin’s words were true, but that aspect of the Legacy sometimes went awry.

---