Page 32 of The Wishless Ones
“Oh, the bird won’t be apprenticing,” Jafar said, and nearly flung Iago off when he tensed up, prepared to protest Jafar’s calling him a bird.
All the guard ever did was laugh uneasily.
“I’m aware,” the guard said, “but pets aren’t allowed because they’re animals, not—”
“Mypetis pertinent to my work,” Jafar said tersely.
The guard looked from Jafar to Rohan to Iago and back, his brow and mustache furrowing in tandem. Jafar recognized the pause, the way his lip twisted, just barely. He saw the unrefined village in them, the destitution from whence they’d come.
And then, the guard laughed yet again.
“What am I thinking?” he asked. “You of all people understand the importance of keeping history safe. I know you’ll keep an eye on her. She is a beauty, by the way.”
Iago straightened. “I’m a—”
Jafar squeezed his beak shut, hiding the move with a quick stroke down his head and neck and a flitted smile. Iago shuddered.
“Thank you,” Jafar said, holding back a shudder of his own.
And then, at last, the guard led them inside.
Jafar’s pulse pounded in his ears, thrummed in the palms of his hands. Excitement ramped up with each step, the guard an amplifier. The hall opened to a wide foyer with a table in its center, ebony dark and rich, carved by a careful hand.
Beyond it was a sight to behold. The floor was a map of the known world, routes twisting like fissures in the earth, painted in bronze upon tiles of earthy, glossy stone. Shelves fanned out, reaching into the shadowed ceiling, made to look as if they rose up forever, a reminder that what the written word promised was just as limitless. He saw towers of scrolls and plaques of bronze. He tried not to gape at the countless artifacts housed in cases, each one displayed on a stone plinth. He even caught a glimpse of the famed laboratory.
“I find it funny, however,” the guard said, slicing into Jafar’s awe. “I recall a messenger picked up your scholarship about three weeks ago. We expected you a lot sooner.”
There were far too many emotions rolling through him. To know that he could have been here, witnessing this magnificence and not sitting idle in the shadows of the broom closet, made his anger thrash anew.
“Our village is a long ways from here, remember?” Rohan said. Jafar glanced at him. Not a word all this time, but when it came to defending Baba, Rohan leaped at the chance.
Again, Iago gave Jafar a look that saidI told you so.
“Indeed,” the guard said, pausing in the foyer. “The head librarian has not arrived yet, but I will send for him immediately. He’ll proceed with initiation and give you a tour of the library and your lodgings at the back of the building. In the meantime, stay here. Soon you’ll be free to peruse the collections that are now yours.”
With that, he turned and left.
“That’s it?” Jafar asked, aghast, but the guard was gone, the doors groaning behind him.
“What’s it?” Rohan asked tightly. He was a completely different boy from this morning, or even yesterday atop the roof.
“He left us here unattended,” Jafar said. “No escort, no safety measures. We can do as we wish.”
“First of all, the guy was clearly a fan,” Iago said, hopping off his shoulder to poke around. “And second of all, who wants to steal books?”
“Third of all, he told you to stay put until the head librarian arrives,” Rohan pointed out.
Jafar supposed they were right. The guard trusted him. But as quickly as the concern had come, it left. Jafar was here,here!Standing in the House of Wisdom. Soft murmurs trickled from the stacks, scritching pens in the hands of scribes. There were pockets built into the walls where cushions were arranged with slates to prop on a lap and use as a desk. He even smelled fresh coffee.
The atmosphere was hushed, the walls enveloping a space of perpetual awe. He ignored the guard’s instructions and made his way past the front desk to the shelves. Along with the ones that disappeared into the shadowed ceiling, there were short bookcases, too, round tables stacked with resources waiting to be cataloged, and scrolls that had no place as yet.
Jafar didn’t know where to begin.
Yes, you do.The House of Wisdom might have recognized his worth, but his goal was still more important: he needed to secure those rubies. Then he would take a look through the laboratory and proceed with his dive into alchemy. And then—
“Where do you think we’ll find what we need for the golden scarab?” Rohan asked, not at all fazed by the wonder around them.
Jafar held back his sigh and studied the markers hammered into every few shelves. “Lore, perhaps. It could also be under Artifacts over there.” Which was conveniently located beside the section titled Al-Kimiya.Alchemy. “We can split up—I want to check out the laboratory later, but I’ll head to Artifacts.”
