Page 44 of Mage of the Dragon Prince
He still hid behind the bookshelf. “Yes.”
Auslin gave him a friendly smile. “I’m so glad I finally get to meet you!”
“You are?” Kisano revealed a little more of himself. He had cream-colored hair that was pulled back in a braid. It was surprising to see he was shorter than Auslin. He wore a simple black tunic with pants that lacked the fancy accoutrements thatAuslin had grown accustomed to from Kitaro’s flashier wardrobe.
Whereas every other member of Kitaro’s family Auslin had met so far had striking markings on their skin, Kisano had only the faintest wisps of pale amber lines that might as well not have been there at all.
“I am,” Auslin assured him. “I love reading, so I’ve really been looking forward to meeting you. I’d enjoy exploring your library, but only if you’re comfortable with it.”
Curiosity replaced Kisano’s fear. “You are not a warrior?”
“No, I hate fighting.” Auslin wrinkled his nose in disgust. “Your father is insisting that I train, but I’d be much happier reading in here.”
That finally drew Kisano from behind the shelves, but he kept some distance between them. “What do you like to read?”
“I’ve always enjoyed fiction and fantasy, but I read pretty much anything,” Auslin replied. “My younger brother is a voracious reader, so I would always try to read whatever he did so we could talk about it.”
“You would read to talk to your brother?” Kisano asked in surprise.
Auslin felt melancholy take hold of him as he remembered Sephen. “All the time. I was supposed to meet with my brother after my walk to talk about a new book from our favorite author, but I ended up here instead.”
“I am sorry.” Kisano’s expression turned sorrowful. “May I ask who your favorite author is?”
“Reskin.”
Kisano’s eyes widened in surprise. “Your favorite author is a shifter?”
“Do you know him?” Auslin asked, some excitement coming into his tone. “My brother and I have read everything of his that we have in our temple.”
“Very well.” Kisano tilted his head with a curious expression. “What kind of temple has books by a shifter author in their library?”
Auslin grinned at the comment. “Our temple is very open-minded about shifter and human interactions, so we have an extensive selection of shifter texts in our library. I’ve read most of them, but I’m sure my brother has read all of them at least three times. If it’s a work by Reskin, then he’s read every one of them at least ten times over.”
“How unexpected.”
“Actually, it’s not just my brother and I who love Reskin,” Auslin said. “He’s popular with everyone in the temple. My younger brother is just the most fanatical of them all.”
Kisano shook his head in amazement. “I would not have expected a shifter author to be so popular with human mages. Come, I have an entire section dedicated to him.”
Auslin followed him. He breathed in awe at thesight of so many volumes of Reskin’s work. He reached out for one before stopping to ask, “May I?”
Kisano gestured it was okay for Auslin to help himself.
Auslin reached forSanctuary. He ran his hand over the beautiful black cover that had the title written in gold leaf. “This is probably both of our favorites.” He carefully opened the book, although it was weird that it felt new and not ancient, like the temple copy. “Wow, this is a first edition? My brother would besoenvious of me right now if he knew I was looking at this. He only has one first edition of another Reskin book, which is his most treasured possession.”
“Why is this one your favorite?” Kisano asked.
“Because we both identified with Reskin’s need for a sanctuary. For my brother, the library has always been his sanctuary, much like it is for Reskin. The library was usually too full of other mages to be much of a sanctuary for me, so I always sought refuge in reading alone outside whenever I could.” Auslin looked up at Kisano. “You probably really identified with Reskin and his thoughts on libraries being a haven, right?”
The shifter blushed. “Indeed.”
“I’m pretty sure my brother could quote this entire book by memory,” Auslin said with a sad smile. “You’d really like him. He also loves anything by Liros.”
“I also share a fondness for the Knowledge Power’s work. You are free to explore my collection of him ifyou wish. But it is heartening to hear that your brother sounds like someone I could talk to. It is not something I can say about many people.”
“My brother is pretty shy, but if he knew you liked Reskin and Liros, he would happily talk your ear off about him.” Auslin laughed, but he felt a pang of hurt over being separated from Sephen.
Kisano’s expression was sympathetic. “You must really miss him.”
