Page 176 of As Above, So Below

Fenryn turns on his heel, leaving us alone in the hall once again.

“Eloric is a truthteller,” Ryc says quietly. “He wants to ask you a series of questions.”

Nodding, I breathe deeply through my nose.

Offering me his arm, Ryc leads me into the room, a large study it seems. It would have been a beautiful space, had it not been recently rendered into a state of disarray. Broken chairs, shattered glass, papers, pens, books, all scattered across the floor.

“Ah, the reason Alaryc is more temperamental than usual,” muses a white-haired male across the room. He sits on the windowsill, arms folded across his chest. “Welcome,” he deigns with a slight nod.

“Liran Firemeadow. Sovereign King of Gersand,” Ryc says quietly beside me.

“Thank you,” I offer softly with a close-lipped smile.

I’m not going to bother remembering their names.

After today, I’ll never see them again.

“Now that Alaryc has destroyed his own office, should we congregate where there’s ample seating for everyone?” Rowen asks, crossing the room.

Ryc releases a deep sigh. “The library is down the hall.”

“Are you sure you want to put that at risk?” Darin teases, his eyes gleaming.

Ryc smirks. “Keep your mouth shut and it won’t be a concern.”

Fenryn and a few of the other kings chuckle, suppressing their laughter as we all file into the hall. We retrace my steps, headed toward the stairs, but instead of taking the staircase on the right, we move in the opposite direction, and Ryc opens the first set of doors on the left.

Revealing amassivelibrary.

It’s at least twice the size of the one in the hells, but I would wager it houses five times as many books.

Slipping past him, I wander into the space, my eyes immediately drawn heavenward to the brightly lit stained glass windows in the ceiling. They rain down beams of red, yellow, blue, green, and even violet. The designs depict various flowers and ivy.

I’d thought the library in the hells was impressive, then the library in the Moon Temple, but this…

Nothing will ever compare to this.

Ryc and the entourage of kings behind me fall away from the universe as I’m drawn forward, my fingers trailing along the ends of the countless dark wood bookshelves lining the room. They tower up to the ceiling, easily twenty—no perhaps thirty—feet.

It would take me centuries to read through everything in this library.

Thiswould be my favorite place in all of Ollora.

Breathing deep, the scent of old pages, dried ink, leather, and dust greets me, soothing the very essence of me. In the far corner of the room sits a black marble fireplace, empty currently, butsurrounded by furniture that begs to be curled into with a book.

Whirling, I find Ryc trailing in my wake, behind him, the Sovereign Kings seated at a long rectangular table near the library entrance. My eyes dart to Ryc’s and he offers me a small smile.

“You like to read?” he asks, his voice low.

“Yes.” I return his smile with one of my own. “Very much.”

He takes my hands in his, lifting them to his lips. “I look forward to learning all these things about you, little death.”

He places a gentle kiss, his eyes never leaving mine.

My heart tears itself in half.

This fae has me in a chokehold.