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I had visited many libraries over the years, from ultra-modern university ones to old monastic libraries that took your breath away with ceiling frescoes or Rococo architecture. And yet, none of those could compare to the Gargoyles’ library I found myself in.

The place was like a tower, with shelves upon shelves of scrolls along the rounded blue walls, all the way up to the domed ceiling.

And up there, when I craned my neck, I saw clouds.

Right under the ceiling, small puffs the color of cotton candy were coming in through one wall and exiting through another.

“Holy crap, my Queen?”

I laughed, still feeling like my eyes were playing tricks on me. “You’ve got that right. There are clouds in your library! I know this whole building is basically a cloud, but what if it starts raining inside?”

“These clouds are of a special variety. Their movement is limited to the library’s top level for the purpose of maintaining stable temperature and humidity. This prolongs the life of our collection.”

“Amazing.”

I walked to the single round table in the center of the library. There were four chairs around it, all made of the same dark-red wood I’d seen around the palace. With the bright light coming in from above and the clouds drifting lazily, the space felt cozy. I could spend a whole day here.

“What will my Queen like to read first?” Samuin asked from his position by the door.

I looked around. This library had clearly been designed with winged readers in mind. There wasn’t a ladder in sight, so apart from the scrolls on the lowest shelves, I couldn’t reach anything. “I was thinking about a read on the history of your kind? Then something on your culture?”

I was mostly hoping to learn more about the creatures the Gargoyles had fought or worked with before. If there was such a thing as supernatural politics, I needed to be in on it.

“Our history spans centuries. Would you like to see the most recent scrolls telling the history of this particular homecloud? Those have been drawn and written in English by my liege’s mother. The other works on history and culture are in Gargoylish, I’m afraid.”

“Oh.” With everyone here speaking to me in English, I hadn’t considered their own language. “Can you bring me everything that’s written in English or in the form of drawings?”

“It would be my honor.”

He flew up and started gathering scroll after scroll from various shelves. I was starting to worry that the literature I had requested wasn’t as limited as he’d suggested, when he landed by the table with only five scrolls in hand.

“Is this everything?”

“There are two more works–the most important ones, if you would allow me the recommendation.” Samuin walked to a shelf behind me and pulled out two worn-out scrolls. “It is humans who read them the most, hence the easy access. Please return them to the same shelf once you are done.”

I accepted the two bestsellers carefully. I didn’t want to damage them, so I was relieved to discover they weren’t made of paper but fabric that felt like silk. “What are these about?”

“One is the Mate Bond Scroll , the English version. It was translated and adapted to the female point of view by my liege’s grandmother on his father’s side.”

“Huh.” Was there no escape from the mate stuff?

“The other scroll contains drawings by my liege’s mother again.

I was told she was a talented painter of…

” A pensive expression crossed his face, and his tail swished.

“Ah! Co-mics . She drew co-mics, my Queen. She took it upon herself to leave detailed information for all humans yet to arrive here with their newfound mates.”

“Information about what?” I asked, already unrolling the scroll.

A naked gargoyle stared back at me. Little arrows pointed from various body parts to long descriptions under the heading A Gargoyle’s Erogenous Zones .

Another heading below the very generously endowed gargoyle read, Gargoyle Claiming Positions: For Experienced and Flexible Users Only! Illustrations followed.

I closed the scroll at lightning speed, my face undoubtedly tomato-worthy. Samuin had handed me a Kama Sutra for Gargoyles. Hand-drawn by Xaniban’s mom.

I shot a look at my winged librarian. He appeared as serious as usual, but I didn’t miss the twinkle in his eye.

“I will leave my Queen to her useful reading,” he told me with a light bow.

“If you need anything, pull this right here, and I will be with you shortly.” He pointed at a rope by the table that I hadn’t noticed before, probably because I didn’t expect to see a rope sticking out of the floor, ramrod straight.

“Please be informed that only water is allowed in the library,” he added. “No drinks or food. Your lunch will be served in the dining garden, to which I will personally escort you.”

Dining garden? That sounded promising. “Thank you, Samuin.”

One wing flap later for a polite goodbye, I was left alone with what I hoped would be useful reads.

I dug into the history scrolls first. It turned out the late Queen Mother had been talented as well as gifted with a great sense of humor.

The huge gargoyle warriors in the middle of what was described as the first war among their kind had a crying emoji for a face.

Decades later, a ripped warrior with a broadsword was staring at a woman in a crinoline dress, his eyes two big stars.

In the next drawing, these two were standing together in regal clothing, expressions dopey and tiny hearts floating around their heads.

I burst into giggles. The Queen Mother had been a genius. Why translate tedious historical texts when you could simply turn the key moments into comics and make most of them hilarious? I hadn’t laughed like this in a long time.

Around an hour later, I rolled up the last history scroll feeling lighter but not much better informed.

I now knew that Gargoyles had battled lots of creatures–including dragons and what looked like Bigfoot–but the drawings and the occasional short descriptions didn’t tell me why those conflicts had occurred in the first place.

Why did the different kinds of intelligent monsters do what they did?

Zombie 007 and the vampires following him wanted world domination, but what about the werewolves, Elves, and whatever else was out there?

All in all, Gargoyles’ history wasn’t much different than ours.

There had been kings and queens, conflicts with neighboring homeclouds and with creatures threatening lives on the ground, days of prosperity, days of hunger that no regeneration could save Gargoyles from, years with high mortality among humans and children on the homecloud…

All the babies were born with slightly extended human lifespans, wings, and tails. The gargoyle genes prevailed over the human ones.

I placed a hand on my belly. What if my one night with Xaniban had gotten me pregnant? What if I was carrying his child, and he didn’t come back?

I tried to distract myself from that dreadful thought with the scrolls on culture, but it was no use. Then my eyes drifted to one of the scrolls Samuin had recommended. It wouldn’t hurt to take a quick peek inside, would it?

By the time Samuin came to pick me up for lunch, I had examined the erogenous zones scroll extensively enough to write a scientific report on it. Though, I wasn’t sure some of the positions depicted in the Kama Sutra section were physically possible. I mean… wow .

As I followed Samuin to the dining garden downstairs, he informed me that there was no news of Xaniban, but that it was still early for the warriors to return. I could only hope the Chamberlain’s reassurance wasn’t just that–reassurance.

The dining garden turned out to be a room transitioning into a garden; all the pieces of furniture in here had plants growing on them.

Think chair legs covered in vines, table legs wrapped in delicate stems with red blossoms here and there, and grapes hanging from the vine on the high ceiling.

Light was seeping through it, bright enough to give me the outdoor feel. Stunning.

A plate overflowing with rabbit meat and roasted potatoes awaited me.

There was a bowl of salad, a selection of cheeses, and dessert as well.

I asked Samuin to have lunch with me, but he had already eaten so he just kept me company.

Instead of inundating him with questions this time, I told him what he wanted to know about the ground.

Mostly about wooing a woman, to “ensure my studies are up to date, my Queen.”

“Will you return to your reading?” Samuin asked while I was inhaling the cake with sweet lemons and oranges.

“I’m not sure.” I didn’t have much left to read in the culture scrolls, but I also didn’t feel like a touristy stroll through this museum-worthy palace would distract me from my worry over Xaniban. What could I do to occupy my mind?

“If I go back to the library, will you let me know as soon as the scouts see the king returning?”

“Immediately. Your presence outside upon my liege’s return will be much needed by both of you.”

There it was again, the same thing Xaniban had hinted at before leaving. Everyone except me seemed to know how I would react if– when he came back.

I heaved a sigh. Enough avoiding the Mate Bond Scroll. It was time I found some answers and dispelled any doubts I had about the mate bond being just lore.