Page 105 of Daughter Of The Ninth Line
Beury nodded quickly. “Of course, Librarian.” He moved away, and I stepped hesitantly toward her.
“Can I help you, ma’am?”
She scoffed. “You can start by not calling me ‘ma’am.’ Do I look like I’m a hundred years old?”
Out in the light, away from the shadows of the library, she did look a lot younger than my original estimation, though I still wouldn’t put a number on it out loud. I liked my balls attached.
“I need to see you, Miss Halhed, and Mr. Vylan as soon as possible in the library. It would be… beneficial if you came post-haste.”
She didn’t want to be called old, but she still used terms like post-haste. “Of course, ma—Librarian. I’ll find them and bring them to you as soon as I can.”
Librarian Enora looked worried, gnawing at her lower lip, but she nodded firmly. “I will see you as soon as possible, Heir Taeme.”
With that, she turned on soft silk slippers that were not made for the training ring and hurried back inside the heavy stone buildings of Boellium. Her midnight-blue skirts flared behind her, barely touching the sand.
I wondered what Line the Librarian was from; much like the instructors here at Boellium, Librarians gave up their allegiance to their Line, to devote themselves to the libraries and knowledge. But they maintained their powers, and given the way the bottoms of her skirt seemed to stay a mere breath above the sand, my money was that Librarian Enora was from the First Line.
Interesting.
I looked over at Beury. “Raincheck? I have to run an errand for the Librarian.”
He nodded and bowed lightly. I bowed back. It was a gesture of respect at the end of any battle.
“Of course. Between two soldiers, that woman scares the shit out of me.”
Laughing, I slapped him on the back and went in search of Avalon. Then I’d have to find Lucio, who’d have to find Shay, who’d need to get a message to Vox. I hated the need for subterfuge.
I kind of missed the surly fucker, now we couldn’t be seen together. But every night, we still climbed onto the roof of theatrium so Vox and Avalon could do their star charts and I could nap. Well, napped until we snuck inside the Dome, then fucked under a cone of silence until the sun lit the horizon.
I was sleep deprived, but I wouldn’t change a single moment.
Avalon was training with her friends from the Twelfth Line, and it was cute. She sucked. She was never going to be a swordsman, but she had pretty good aim, so I thought I might buy her a crossbow. Long-range weapons might be a better fit.
I didn’t interrupt as they worked through the remainder of the battle, Avalon eventually yielding. Viana was a good swordsman, but even better with daggers. She’d nearly taken out Ephily’s eye when she was badmouthing one of her friends a few weeks ago, and I doubted that Viana had missed accidentally. It had been a warning, and Ephily had kept her mouth shut since.
Viana said something to my girl, and Avalon looked over at me, her face lighting up. My heart squeezed in my chest at the joy in her expression. I wouldn’t ever get tired of her looking at me like that. Like I was the best thing she’d seen all day.
She bounded over to me, and I wrapped her up in my arms. I didn’t care who saw; the more people who knew she was mine, the better.
“Well, well. If it isn’t Avalon Halhed, the one and only love of my life.” I kissed her loudly as I spun her around. “Your sword skills are getting so much better,” I said into the curve between her shoulder and neck.
“Liar,” she admonished, but her tone was light and happy.
If I did nothing else but make her this level of happy for the rest of my life, then I’d go into the Great Beyond satisfied. I pressed closer, and she tapped my shoulder.
“Careful, I’m still holding my sword. Though I have to admit, it’s a novelty that I’m pokingyouwith something long and hard for once.”
My laughter echoed around the training ring, though no one really even looked anymore. Sure, there were still some expressions of disbelief, some of outright disgust, and more than a little jealousy, but it was becoming the norm now.
“The Librarian wants to see us. She says it’s of extreme importance. I have to go find Lucio to tell Shay that the other one has been requested also,” I whispered in her ear.
“I think I saw Lucio flirting wi—” She was cut off by Quarry cawing loudly overhead, sending me notes of alarm. I tensed, my mind connecting instantly with my raven.
Boats.
Guns.
Soldiers.
