The Curator of the Library was a middle-aged woman named Bella Roshan. Kiri remembered Gavin saying she was Wynn’s aunt. As she approached the Curator’s desk on the main floor of the Library, Kiri summoned all the interpersonal skills she learned in her youth, hoping she wouldn’t be questioned too much.
Bella looked up from the documents on the desk in front of her as Kiri approached. Kiri saw both welcome and curiosity in the Curator’s expression.
“Yes, child? How may I help you?”
Kiri mentally squared her shoulders and said, “My master, Gavin Cross, has sent me to see what records exist on the creation of the slave brands.”
Bella remained silent, and Kiri felt like the woman’s eyes were boring straight into her soul. She fought the urge to fidget and returned the elder woman’s gaze with a carefully maintained non-expression of her own.
A smile so slight it could’ve been a smirk curled the left corner of Bella’s mouth before she said, “Yes, my dear; I’m sure he did. The library does indeed possess those records, and they are secured in the Restricted Section. Access to the Restricted Section is normally limited to Magisters and the Conclave of the Great Houses.”
“Normally?” Kiri asked, exerting effort to keep her voice level.
“My dear girl, we both know you’re no wizard, but you’re here on House Kirloth business…are you not? I see no reason to say Gavin himself must request you be allowed access. Follow me.”
Kiri wanted nothing more than to breathe a heavy sigh of relief as Bella stood and led her to a spiral staircase leading up to the second level, but she forced herself to hold it in as Bella led her up the stairs and along the landing to a wooden door that was directly above the circulation desk.
The wooden door was a massive construct, secured to the wall by steel hinges larger than most swords. Runes were carved into the door’s surface around every edge, matching runes chiseled into the stone doorway and floor. Each rune emanated a soft glow its own shade.
Bella produced a key from a pocket, and it had its own rune engraved on its shaft. Bella inserted the key into the lock and turned it all the way to the right. The glow faded.
“What would have happened if I had touched the door before you unlocked it?” Kiri asked.
Bella gripped the handle with both hands and planted her right foot against the wall near where it met the floor, while keeping her left foot angled back behind her to maintain balance. She leaned back just a bit and heaved with all her might on the door. Kiri heard a slight grunt as Bella exerted herself. The door began to swing open.
Bella stopped with the door at a 45° angle and looked at Kiri in silence for a moment before she shrugged, saying, “We might have found all your pieces…eventually.”
“Oh.”
Bella finished pushing the door open, and Kiri gaped as she saw the door was at least eight inches thick.
“You must keep those hinges well-oiled,” Kiri said as she walked around Bella to enter the Restricted Section.
Bella smiled. “Of course not, dear.” She pointed to one of the runes chiseled into the stone. It looked like a backwards F with the curly part of a question mark attached to the right side. “That rune holds an Illusion effect that silences the hinges. There’s another that holds a Transmutation effect to prevent the hinges from degrading with time. I just wish whoever made this would’ve thought to include an effect that reduced the door’s apparent weight; it’s a chore to move. There’s a cabinet on the far side with parchment, ink, and styluses.”
Kiri stepped through the door and spun when Bella started pushing the door shut.
“Wait! How will I leave if you bring the protections back up?”
“They only affect the outside of the door. Anyone inside can leave whenever they choose. The records you seek occupy the middle three shelves of the bookcase against the right wall.”
Kiri forced herself to remain impassive as Bella closed the door, but the heavy thud of the door stopping against the doorjamb felt all too much like the closing of a tomb. Kiri took a couple deep breaths and turned to survey her surroundings.
The entrance to the Restricted Section was several feet off-center, and an impressive, oaken table with chairs dominated the center of the room. The rest of the room was a maze of bookshelves, and everywhere Kiri looked, she saw full shelves.
Kiri turned to approach the bookcase Bella had indicated when another sight caught her attention. Against the wall opposite the door, there was a book stand that held a single volume. Kiri walked over to it and saw “Arcanists’ Code, Volume II,” embossed on the cover in silver lettering. “Arcanists’ Code II” was embossed on the spine.
Kiri lifted the cover and read the first page, “‘Volume II of the Arcanists’ Code, containing Articles 35 through 50.’”
Kiri wanted to flip through the pages, but she didn’t know how long it would be before Bella ‘discovered’ her subterfuge. Kiri closed the cover with care and walked to the indicated bookcase.
The first volume in the section was as thick as Kiri’s index finger was long, and it weighed every bit as much as Kiri suspected. She carried it over to the table and-once seated-opened the front cover, reading, “‘Constructing the Slave Brands: A Prйcis and Expanded Overview.’”
Kiri leaned back in her chair, staring at the tome. “This is just the introduction?” Her thoughts drifted back to the three shelves holding books, some of which twice as thick as this one or more. “This may take longer than I thought.”
The growling of Kiri’s stomach pulled her attention away from the current book on the table in front of her. It was the fifth book she’d studied, and it described in detail how the slave brands and the magic they held were constructed. The sad part of it was, Kiri didn’t understand a third of what she was reading. The words written in the common tongue were easy enough, but the diagrams detailing how the slave brand effect itself was created might as well have been obscure works of art for all Kiri was getting from them.
Kiri leaned back in the chair and stared at the book, saying, “I’m going to need some help.”
Kiri stood before a door down the hall from the suite she and Gavin shared and knocked, and she didn’t wait very long before the door swung open.
“Kiri!” Lillian stepped close and pulled Kiri into a friendly hug. “I wasn’t expecting you until our usual dinner appointment tomorrow evening.”
“I know. I’m hoping you might be able to help me,” Kiri said as they broke the embrace.
“Whatever you need. Do you want to talk about it inside?”
“Mind coming to the library with me? I’m researching something, and I’ve reached the limit of my understanding.”
Lillian stepped fully into the hallway and pulled the door shut, saying, “Let’s go.”
A brief time later, Kiri approached Bella’s desk again, this time with Lillian at her side. When Bella looked up from her work, her eyes narrowed in shrewd appraisal at seeing Lillian.
“Good afternoon, Lady Mivar,” Bella said.
“Hello, ma’am.”
Bella transferred her gaze to Kiri. “Back again, are we?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Kiri said.
“And Gavin asked you to show Lady Mivar what you’ve found, I’m sure.”
She knows! surged through Kiri’s mind as she fought to keep her breathing and expression normal.
“No, ma’am. I asked Lillian to help me understand what I’ve found, before I take it to Gavin.”