Page 139 of The Freedom You Seek
Still, I needed to concentrate on the task at hand as well. My eyes roamed over the rows of books, and I found myself confronted with yet another problem. All the colorful spines displayed the same flowery script some of the tomes in the secret library in Kalcas had been written in. It wasn’t hard to conclude the books were written in the fae’s tongue—Galantian, as Dion had called his language.
An angry sound escaped my lips, my temper rising once more at being forced to stand back and do nothing while the bastard named Dion strutted around all smug because he was able to interpret weird, stupid twirls and swirls.
While I was sulking, a book at my eye level right next to me shifted, and the script on the spine slowly transformed. I gaped at it open-mouthed, wondering if I was going crazy at last.
Or maybe it was the same magic the entire Mystic Library used for our convenience? Perhaps the enchantment understood precisely which book I required, using the same weird librarian power that hand-picked theentire collection in this chamber. Silently, I apologized to whomever I’d cursed during my angry fit.
Carefully, I took the tome into my hands. “The Fall of Amalach—A Catalyst for Ruin?”
I wasn’t sure if the book would contain any useful information, but since it was the only one I could read, I considered taking my reading to the armchair I saw. However, the thought that it might be occupied by Dion and I possibly would end up on his lap with no chance of getting away settled it—I’d read standing up, no problem at all.
Suppressing a frustrated groan when I realized that the first pages were written in Galantian as well, and so I flicked through the book faster, almost tearing at the paper in my anger. I shook the tome as if to rearrange the script and glowered at the item in my hands.
Frustration burned hot in my veins, and I was about to give up in disappointment. I pictured throwing the book into the fireplace to my right when I finally spotted a readable passage. I groaned. Instead of mocking me, the magic of the library had chosen to spare me the information I didn’t need. At least, that was what I told myself.
Taking a calming breath, I directed my attention to the text.
“The losses during the Great Ivreian-Galantan War accumulated to great heights. Whereas the fae soldiers were superior to their human counterparts, the sheer number of Ivreian fighters compared to the Galantan forces kept the scales balanced. So, the High King Galrach of Galanta resorted to deception to turn the war in his favor, and he plotted to commit an unthinkablecrime. His plans involved sacrificing the City of Air, Amalach, and all her citizens while blaming its destruction on the Ivreian King Amarion. Shortly before the start of the war, Galrach had united a divided Galanta under his rule by force, and he was certain that the High Fae would support his wish to divide the worlds more eagerly when being presented with the massive threat the humans obviously posed. As a side effect, this would also cement his rule as High King of a united Galanta and his proclamation as Emperor of the Eternal Throne of Alaiann.
Galrach knew he couldn’t destroy Amalach himself without his plans being discovered too soon, nor could he send his army. But he had the means, tried and proven from when he’d waged war on his own gentry, peerage, and nobility to unite Galanta under his rule. It came in the form of a sentient weapon of mass destruction, so powerful and feared that the mere mention of one of the tool’s names* was enough to make the populace tremble. The weapon was accompanied by only a handful of Galrach’s most loyal soldiers, and Amalach was leveled within hours while the High King hosted a celebration in his castle. Most inhabitants of Amalach died, and only a few made it through the portals back to Galanta. The destroyers of Amalach slaughtered anyone who tried to escape.”
I’d heard this story before, when Larithia had mentioned most of it. The following paragraphs spoke of the aftermath, how Ivreia and Galanta separated, and the demise of Queen Theandra. It also explained how the destruction of Amalach resulted in the manipulation of historyin Ivreia. I came to the end of the readable text, gaining no useful information, only to remember the small asterisk indicating a footnote in the second readable paragraph.
I flipped a few pages back and leaned my face closer to the book to decipher the small print at the bottom of the paper. As I read, I didn’t realize how my face lost all color, and my blood froze. My hands shook, my whole body soon followed. In a strange hope I’d misread, I studied the footnote once more.
“*During the destruction of Amalach, the weapon was given a new name and became fittingly dubbed Teachtaire Ollscriosta (trans. The Bringer of Destruction). It was formerly and later known as Crann taca an bhais (trans. The Right Hand of Death), Drochthuar granna an leirscriosta (trans. The Vile Omen of Annihilation), or simply Dia Dorcha (trans. The Dark God). Despite being called a sentient weapon, it was never an inanimate object, and the identity of the source of the High King’s triumph was never a secret. It is widely known that Galrach forged his grandson and heir to the Eternal Throne of Alaiann into his deadly blade, the Crown Prince of the High Fae—”
Still shaking, I fought against my knees that threatened to give out. I wasn’t able to finish reading the footnote a second time. My shoulder crashed against the shelf to my right as I stumbled slightly, the sound like an explosion in the quiet room, but I didn’t care. Instead, I forced my feet to move, trying very hard not to fall apart completely.
I stopped when I found Dion, who canted his head when he spotted me. He was actually smiling until he noticed me shaking—and my barely contained fury. How could he dare smile at me after everything? Either my voice would fail me, or it’d be too loud—I wasn’t sure yet which.
I shoved the book in his face. “Whenever I think it can’t get any worse, another one of your lies comes out! And it wasn’t even you who told me! Why did I have to learnthisfrom a damn book that a fucking library offered me so I could find this knowledge instead of hearing it from the fucking source?” I yelled at him as he grabbed the tome from me and read the text until he visibly paled. Shortly after, his face turned to ice once more.
His expression became downright cruel. “Naya, you have to listen to me.”
“Fuck you, Dion.Youdestroyed Amalach.This is your doing!” What had I done? This was worse than any nightmare I’d ever had in my whole life.
“Nayana, fucking listen to me,” Dion growled, dropping the book to the floor as if it were on fire and approaching me with his lethal grace. Moving as if he wanted to pin me somewhere with his body as he always did, he closed in.
But I wouldn’t have it. Not this time. I had to get away. This was the absolute deal breaker. I couldn’t give such a despicable male any more power. He reached out, but I ducked. Without the element of surprise helping me to push Dion’s arm away, I’d never been able to dodge another attempt by him to get a hold of me.
“I’ll never listen to anything coming out of your fucking lying mouth ever again until the day I die! As if I’d allow someone as vile as you to become even more powerful! You and I are fucking done. Do you hear me?Done!” I screamed the last word as loud as I could before turning around and storming out of the library. Yes, I promised I wouldn’t run away again without giving Dion a chance to explain, but this time, his lies were beyond catastrophic, and I couldn’t bring myself to care about old promises or being reasonable. Blind with tears, barely able to breathe, and shivering all over, I almost stumbled and fell, but pure determination drove me on.
“I told you to wait!”
I ran, ignoring Dion, who yelled after me.
But I didn’t. I hated his commands in general, and there was no chance I’d obey them now. Rational thought escaped me, a million voices screamed at me from all angles, and the chaos in my brain pumped indescribable panic into my system. I had to get away—I had to escape before he could find me. Moving my feet as fast as I could, I ran blindly until I lost Dion.
Fuck Fuck Fuck. Why had the book shown herthat?Not that I wouldn’t have told her, but I had wanted moretime. Time to figure out how I could possibly explain all this to her without scaring her away. How do you ease someone into seeing the depths of someone’s rotten soul? Any attempt to have this conversation without her fleeing from me would have been doomed from the beginning, which reality had just proven—Nayana was running away.
“Naya, fucking wait.” Had my voice ever sounded so desperate? I couldn’t care less. It took me all I had not to fall apart. This was perhaps the first time I’d regretted the role that I played in Amalach’s destruction, not for the lives that had been lost that day, but because it was driving a giant wedge between my Naya and me.
Stuffing the book I’d wanted to read before shit had gone down into my bag, I hurried to catch up with her.
She was fast, but I was faster, and I had to get to her before everything could take an even worse turn. I needed a chance to explain. I’d told her time and time again I wasn’t a good person. Had she already forgotten?
A roar came from behind me as I hurried past the exit to the plaza in front of the Mystic Library, and before I could even comprehend what was happening, I was surrounded by three creatures straight out of my worst nightmares. I’d never seen anything like these beasts before, but it quickly dawned on me that it had been a mistake to bring a book outside. I’d read once that theft would trigger the appearance of the Guardians of the Library. Beings with large leathery wings and a dragon-like physique. Sharp claws protruded from their feet, and their bodies were covered in armored scales. Everything about them was designedto be lethal. Fae beasts were always troublesome, but the Guardians were giving them all a run for their money.