“May I help you find something, Your Highness?” he asks after a beat. He sweeps over Ceridwen and Lekan,decides they’re not nearly as fascinating as I am, and focuses back on me.
I squint at him. “Who are you?”
The man folds into an elaborate bow. “Rares, the librarian in residence. You seem lost, dear heart—can I help?”
“You’rethe librarian in residence.”
“Yes.”
“And the carriage driver?”
Rares’s smile doesn’t even flicker. “I offered to accompany you to visit the queen—you’re quite the specimen here in Putnam. A teenager who single-handedly freed her kingdom! I couldn’t resist the opportunity to see you for myself.”
“I’m glad I could provide some entertainment for you.”
“And I can provide some assistance foryou,” Rares says. “What brings you to the great Library of Evangeline the Second?”
Ceridwen leans forward at that, just as eager to hear, while Lekan falls back to being uninterested, scoping the library like a guard.
I wanted help, didn’t I? And now I have it from two sources. Neither of them could do any harm, unless I tell them straight out that the magic chasm entrance has been discovered—or they know about the Order of the Lustrate, which is a risk I’ll have to take; neither of them will shatter at any information we find about Angra or the Decay.
What do I have left to lose?
I turn to Rares. “What information do you have on something called the Order of the Lustrate?”
Ceridwen frowns. “The what? Lustrate?”
“They’re the ones I need help from. I just have no idea where to search for them.” I pause, watching both her reaction and Rares. If either of them knows what the Order is, they’ll know now what I’m after.
Ceridwen’s face doesn’t change, her eyes drifting as she thinks. But Rares needs no time to absorb my question—his smile widens in delighted curiosity and he heads down the row, beckoning us to follow him. “Nothing in Evangeline the Second comes to mind, but this library is rather dull, and something like the ‘Order of the Lustrate’ sounds right mystical. The Library of Clarisse is just down from here, and that might be more suited to your research.”
Neither of them knows what the Order is.
I hurry after Rares and tilt my head when he glances back at me. “What books are in this library?”
“Books of law and edict.”
I roll my eyes. The servant took me to thelawlibrary? What about me says I want to spend time perusing books about rules?
Rares reads the annoyance on my face and laughs. “I do apologize, dear heart. Not what you were expecting?”
“No.” I keep pace beside him as we duck down another row of books, angling toward the back wall. “You aren’t what I was expecting either. Are you Yakimian?”
“No, dear heart. From outside Yakim, actually.”
“Ventralli?” Ceridwen asks, her eyes analyzing his features. “You don’t look Ventrallan.”
He bobs his head in something like a nod. “You’re familiar with Ventrallans, yes? It’s odd that I’d be here, butsomeoneshould care for these books. Because, honestly, this is shameful. So I’m mending what I can, providing fodder for a kingdom that rightadoresstudying unusual folks.” He winks at me. “No manners, Yakimians. I’m afraid I’ve picked up a plethora of unseemly behaviors from them. Ah, here we are—the Library of Clarisse, home to books of history and records.”
Rares pushes open a door at the back of the law library, revealing another room that stretches just as large beyond. An identical layout too, with balconies and chairs and orbs of light, the same mirrors marking each row with numbers. This library is far less crowded; the only other person here is a servant sweeping a carpet to our left.
Rares saunters in as if he knows exactly where he’s going, stopping only to yank a book from a shelf and plop it into my arms. “A census record, but just for Yakim, and only through the last proper spring. The rest are in this row and around. They list people, businesses, even the occasional horse—if anything named the ‘Order of the Lustrate’ exists in Yakim, it’ll pop up here.” He turns to a row behind him. “And this row starts census records for Ventralli, that one for Cordell. They tried to do censuses in the Seasons, butyou know how their relationship with you lot goes. Over here are a few for Paisly—old ones, and mostly inaccurate. Journey up there is a nightmare, I hear—even more treacherous mountains than your Klaryns.”
Rares whisks off to the next row, tugging me along. I throw a questioning look at Ceridwen, who stifles a laugh and shrugs as if to say,You asked for it.
“Now, this is good—Bisset’sAnalysis of Secret Societies.” Rares whips a book out of a shelf and stacks it in my arms. “It’ll chill you to your veins! Though I’d imagine chilling isn’t as uncomfortable for you as for the rest of us. Ah, now, this one should help—A Study of the Unknown.Oh, and you must haveForgotten Worlds—Richelieu clearly adored the sound of his pen scratching on paper, but every few dozen pages he provides good information. Oh, and—”
By the time Rares is done, Ceridwen, Lekan, and I all have our arms stacked with books and more recommendations waiting on shelves. I gawk at Rares, my arms threatening to buckle just so I can spend time cleaning up the loose pages instead of reading all this.
