Page 1 of A Minotaur Tale

Chapter one

“Is that food? Didyou bringfoodinto my library?” Cora shrieked.1

“No, they're cookies, they …"Asterion trailed off. His bovine ears drooped, and she almost felt bad for yelling at him. Almost. Until, of course, she remembered that he broughtfoodinto herlibrary.

“Cookies. Are. Food.” Cora was quickly approaching the end of her patience with this man.

Perhaps minotaurs had especially thick skulls, because, for some reason, Asterion couldn’t seem to get it into his head that she wasn’t interested.

Well, she supposed, that wasn’tstrictlytrue. If she wasn’t who she was, she would absolutely be interested. The man was gorgeous, tall and broad with short, messy hair that made him seem debonair and boyish, despite the fact that he was a revered diplomat. From what she’d seen in books and illustrations, Cora had assumed they'd have a body covered in fur, and a more cattle-like head, but Asterion’s was more of a suggestion of a bull. He had horns that were annoyingly adorable and a flattened nose that was still distinctly bovine, but he had fairly humanoid looking lips.

Below the waist was where he truly differed from other humanoids. He had fur covering his legs that were hocked like one would expect, and a tail that hung beneath the short skirt of his chiton. After watching him walk away one day, she’d decided that the combination was dangerous on a man, between the flowing fabric, the strong legs, and the tail that swished behind him, he could melt anyone’s heart.She’d caught herself staring far more often than she’d liked. He had hooves of course, that clicked in the entrance to the library, so he always knew when he’d arrived and the second he was leaving, even though she didn’t care to know either way. So yes, given the right circumstances, she was sure she would be interested in him.

Regardless, he would surely not be interested in her—not if he knew her–and therein laid the problem. He spent entirely too much time in her library, distracting everyone with his good natured attitude and devastating looks.

“You need to leave. You need to take your cookies and get out of my library before you damage any books."

“But they're Madeleines, they —”

“I don’t care, they could be made of solid gold and you would still need to leave."

He left then, blowing air out of his nose in annoyance, and Cora felt a tiny twinge of guilt that he looked so dejected, but she'd seen this story before. Once Asterion, and his food, were gone, Cora helped a selkie and an orca-shifter find some information on bonds. After that, she spent a largely normal day in the great library of Berggeheimnis. She reshelved books and typed up late notices on her typewriter, to be sent out via messenger. The significantinflux of new residents to the city meant that Asterion wasn’t the only patron she was having to acclimate to the rules.

He’d arrived in the city amongst several hundred others, as his people’s representative to the newly formed, but as of yet unnamed, clandestine rebel opposition government. For centuries, the dwarves of Berggeheimnis had hidden in their mountain home, maintaining a decrepit village above ground to trick the elves of the Empire into thinking they were on the verge of dying out.

Instead, the city housed a massive population of dwarves within a massive cavern, watched over by a settlement of dragons on its peak.2 Its history meant it was the perfect location to begin the delicate process of unifying the disparate peoples of the Empire in hopes of freedom.

For Cora though, it was overwhelming. Her city, which had once made so much sense to her, was flooded with newcomers, and she’d spent less and less time roaming the citythan she was wont to do, simply because it was soloud.Seeing all of the different peoples was fascinating, especially as she’d read about so many of them, but they all had different mannerisms and social norms… and most days she felt she barely knew what to do in dwarven society. Even the mountain seemed fine with all of the hubub, excited even, so she was quiet alone in her bother.

But in the library? She knew the rules, shemadethe rules, so at least there, she felt safe.

When all of her pertinent tasks were done, she was grateful to find she had some time to settle with a book of her own. The library had recently acquired a new shipment of books including, to her joyous surprise, a natural history text about the marine life of the southern coast of Caihalaith. Being tied to her mountain as she was, she would never see a coast other than the rocky cliffs just outside and the cove that made up the hidden port of Berggeheimnis.

There were worse places to be trapped, she knew. In the grand scheme of being a nymph, she was lucky. Instead of a tree or flower she was tied to an entire mountain, one that housed an underground city, no less. She could roam anywhere within its borders, but she’d never be able to leave. Instead of a tree or flowerthat could die, ending her life, her mountain was old, enduring and wise, a constant source of comfort and stability. She reached out to it then, attempting to draw comfort from it's steadfast nature.

The niggling sense of unease that she'd had at Asterion's visit was difficult to shake, however. The minotaur came most days the library was open, often in the afternoons when he was done with his business on the council for the day. He read widely, not that she paid much attention to the books her patrons checked out or pulled from the reference section. At first, he'd done what appeared to be a survey of the many peoples that lived in the Empire, and therefore the many cultures now represented in the city and on the council. Then, he touched on history, including spending hours pouring over forbidden texts that couldn't leave the library and needed special dispensation to read. It had taken him months, but no matter what she said, what she offered by way of summarization, he’d been determined to read it all himself.

Cora had disliked Asterion from the start. He was loud and messy, had seemingly no idea how to compose himself in a library, and had a smile that somehow melted her indignation if she didn’t nurture it closely. He'd bow his head andblush, rub his hocked hoof over the floor in chagrin and all of her righteous fervor would drain. One minute she'd be waggling her finger, whisper-admonishing him, and the next she'd be calmly explaining the rules and trying not to giggle at his self-effacing jokes.

In short, he was the perfect kind of torture. Someone sheshouldeasily detest, yet she could never quite muster the ability. His consistent offers to help around the library, his smiles and blushes when he’d broken a rule, interfered with her ability to feel as she ought, no matter how she tried.

Unfortunately, as was often the case–despite her careful study–it took her quite some time to realize he was flirting with her. He'd asked for his usual study cubby and as much as Cora would have liked to let him go by himself, it was absolutely against the rules. Cora had staff at the library, of course, but they were mostly students who arrived after their classes were done for the day. She had them accompany Asterion whenever possible, but on that specific day no one was available.

She'd walked him from the front desk, through the tall stacks of the first floor while he babbled on behind her.

"It really is such a magical place though. All of these books, and I can't even imagine how you keep them all organized. I'd have themall over the place, or better yet, locked up tight. Andthis–"he'd gasped when they arrived at the elevator, like he'd never ridden in them before. "It's justgenius, who'd have thought of devising a system of tracks and catwalks for the second floor so you could see all the way to the roof? Not me, I wouldn't think of such a thing, I'll tell you that!"

He whipped his head around as they walked, and Cora had worried that he'd move it too quickly and those massive horns he sported would snap his neck. And where would she be then? A death in the library was just too much to even contemplate, let alone dealing with the death of a foreign diplomat! Worse yet, who would she get to help her put books on the highest shelves? She'd have to go back to using a ladder and moving it from shelf to shelf was sotedious.

"Do be careful with your horns," she'd interjected into his stream of admiration, annoyed that she even had to consider such a thing.

"Oh, of course," he'd quieted then, which was an altogether unsettling experience, looking so disappointed in himself that Cora, in turn,felt guilty.

"The library was designed by Curin Bronzebart, the famous architect, as a wedding present for his wife, based on a fanciful idea she'd had about mine carts that could be used to deliver books."

Asterion whistled in awe, eyes roaming the stacks as they ascended. He gasped then, drawing her attention, and she followed his gaze to the third floor... and her apartment.

"Did they live up there?" his voice raised, as it often did, to a wholly unacceptable-in-a-library volume. He pointed a massive arm, ofcoursewith the arm free from his draped garment, highlighting the delicate furring of his chest and the brown nipple it flagrantly displayed.