Page 5 of Her Shadow so Dark and Lovely
“Scribe,” the Librarian calls and with the way she says it, I know she can only mean me. She could at least have learned my name. I ignore her and a moment later, stumble over the air at my feet. Sybri catches me before I can test out whether my teeth will win against stone.
“Are you alright?” she asks. Trefor looks over her shoulder, concerned.
I’m fine, just tripping on my own feet.
The Librarian’s shadow falls over us, blocking the light from her office. The flow of scribes continues around her, each of them trying desperately to avoid.
“Scribe Sybri, Scribe Trefor, do you not have somewhere to be? Or do you intend to be tardy?” Both of them pale a little, though Sybri still seems unwilling to release me. We both know she doesn’t have a choice. Neither of them are willing to learn what punishment a Librarian like her will give for being late. Sybri gives my arm a squeeze and then Trefor is pulling her on with an apologetic look. I don’t blame them in the least. It’s hardly their fault that I’ve come to a Librarian’s attention.
Librarian.
I press myself back against the wall. Her lovely face is set in a frown and fear that I have disappointed her wars with the desire for her to forget I exist. I must be losing my mind.
“Scribe. Are you well?” she asks. I want to hide my shaking hands behind my back, but I need to reply. Curse this fucking curse.
I’m fine. I need to get to my desk.
“You do not look fine,” she says. Which is rude. I looked perfectly fine when I left this morning. If I am not fine now then it can only be her fault.
How am I supposed to look?Even the hand signs feel snappy and frustrated. Turns out I can control my hands about as well as I can control my tongue.
The Librarian laughs, a soft thing that is far sweeter than it ought to be. “As if you have taken your morning meal would be a start.”No. She can’t possiblyknowthat. “Though there is little to be done about it now, nor about your sleep schedule.” She reaches out, her fingers hovering a breath away from my cheek and the dark shadows under my eyes.
I should get to my desk.
“Hmm. If it is too much scribe, you need not push yourself,” she says. For a moment I think she might be exhibiting genuine concern, and then I remember that she is a Librarian and their only code is that the scribes are theirs to torment.
I’ll be late. I have as little desire to find out the penalty for being late as Sybri and Trefor do. Though of course, it would not be my doing.
The Librarian holds my gaze for a moment more, and then her hand is withdrawing. She steps back, the flow of scribes now a trickle of late comers.
“Very well, then,” she says. And then her head whips around, her hand striking out to catch a running scribe by the collar of their surcoat. The scribe tumbles to the ground at the Librarian’s feet.
“We are not so uncouth as torunin the scriptorium, Scribe Maxim,” she says.
I do not stay around to see what happens next. I do not know Maxim, but I offer up a silent thanks to him for giving me the chance to slip away. A desolate wail follows me, and I wince. If it is between me or him, well, sorry Maxim.
I make it to my desk before I let myself crumple into my seat, hiding my head in my hands and willing the tremors to stop. Fear of a Librarian is normal, but this kind of response that causes my heart to race and the blood to rush to my ears? It must be the only sensible response my body can muster as it tries to tell me to run and keep running.
I jump at a hand on my shoulder, but it’s only Elris, his face a beautiful picture of distress.
Are you alright?
He crouches next to me at the desk, rolled paper tucked under his arm.
I’m fine. Just tell me what you need done.
Colour washes again.
He unrolls the pages and slides them onto my desk. The shock of that neutralises the surging fear that had been running through my veins.
Again?
Elris grimaces as he signs back. I fetched the Librarian yesterday. I hadn’t realised Librarian Sila had started watching the scriptorium with such enthusiasm.
I blink at him. I skip over the fact he’s trying to make up for his blunder with a task he knows I enjoy, because I realise then that I hadn’t knownhername.
Her name is Sila?
