Page 131 of The Keeper of the Kingdoms

The great doors were open to all during the day, and we walked right in. I almost fell to my knees at the sight beyond them. Staircases ascended from all around a vast entrance hall, up into floor after floor of books and scrolls.

Down on the main floor were fae at tables and milling around. There was a central area where robed fae worked. They were the archivists, and dressed not unlike healers, and were easy to spot.

“It’s all organized by subject.” Faolan led me across the space, past statues dotted between staircases. “Over here is the archival index,” he said pointedly. “This is where you can search through the catalogue yourself and find the floor and aisle number for what you seek.”

He acted like I didn’t know how a library worked, and I was bemused until I saw his head tilt towards a glass display case.

Then I saw what was inside—the Amber Vessel.

“And what’s this?” I asked, moving over to get a closer look. I took it in from as close as I dared get, but it was near enough to see without doubt that it was the other half of the container I took from the forest.

“Oh, that?” he said with casual disinterest. “That’s the Amber Vessel.” He shrugged. “It’s some kind of sacred artifact. They call it ‘the Key to the Kingdoms’ or something, I dunno. It looks like an ugly pot to me. Anyway, over there is the wing you’ll be most interested in.” He pointed across the main hall, turning his back on the vessel. “Healing and whatnot. If you’re going to be helping Dad, I’m sure you’ll become a regular there. Let me show you.”

And just like that, he walked away, leaving me scrambling to catch up and fascinated by his ability to seem so disinterested while chasing his target. I was not cut out for theft, but Faolan looked like he could do it in his sleep.

We took stairs up to the healing section and had a look around. It was a considerable collection, much like our own archive. I itched to search the shelves for texts I’d never seen before, but that was not our purpose. Faolan kept his tour light and let me linger where I was most interested.

Then he suggested lunch.

“Thank you for bringing me here today,” I said genuinely. I knew the visit had a purpose, but it was still my idea of a good day out.

“My pleasure,” he said doing one of his silly bows. “Did you see anything of interest?”

“I did. I can see myself being content to spend a great deal of my time there.”

“So you might say it was exactly what you were looking for?”

I caught his meaning. “Yes, it’s exactly what I was looking for, thank you.”

“Excellent. You must tell Jaxus that you have found your spiritual home. He will be so pleased to know you are settling in.”

He raised a brow expectantly, and I nodded.

“Good. Now about this lunch…”

We strolled through the streets in quiet companionship so that I could reach out to Jaxus through our bond. It was the first time we had attempted it over any kind of distance, so I was unsure if it would work.

“Jaxus?”

“Yes, Firefly. Is everything okay?”He sounded concerned.

“Everything is fine. Can you speak?”

“I can. What’s happened?”

“Nothing. Faolan and I just took a tour around the Great Library, and he thought I should let you know that the Amber Vessel is definitely what we are looking for.”

“Thank the Goddess,”he breathed.“How many guards?”

I turned to Faolan. “I was surprised it’s just open to the public like that. Is the archive not protected?”

“You didn’t see the guards?” he chuckled.

“No. Honestly, I was too mesmerized by the books to notice.”

“Two on the doors, four in the main hall, two on each floor, and—” He turned around to face me and made a show of trying to decide where to have lunch. “Two on the roof,” he muttered, confirming it was a ruse to scope out the guard situation.

I got goosebumps from all the cloak-and-dagger excitement.