Faerie's Champion by M. H. Johnson

Author:M. H. Johnson [Johnson, M. H.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-04-13T18:30:00+00:00

33

Jess's escort did not slow her rapid pace until they had arrived at a winding staircase of stout oak, all but hidden in the back of the library. The proctor looked surprised by how quickly Jess loped up the staircase, choosing instead to carefully hold the banister. The steps did look rather narrow, Jess noted, when gazing down upon them from above. One could only wonder how they ever managed to carry books up and down the perilous stairs without tragic mishap.

“It is up here, my lady,” the breathless proctor assured, woefully out of shape despite her youth, as far as Jess was concerned, walking down a final narrow corridor, an area obviously used for little more than storage, shabby and poorly kept. They stopped at last before a well secured door, unlocked with a great brass key by hands now trembling, the proctor favoring Jess with the strangest stare before entering the chamber.

Jess felt her body tingling with excitement, flexing her gloved hands, enjoying the comforting texture of metal rings lining her gloves, gloves that had neatly caught steel blades swung with intent to kill in the past, now ready for whatever lay in the room ahead. Nearly bouncing on her feet, Jess entered, prepared for anything. Yet there was nothing inside more terrible than a single lonely looking reading room, albeit one that underneath the dust and grime of long disuse had the singular virtue of a fine stained glass window that, once cleaned, Jess had no doubt would fill the room with the glow and sparkle of a thousand rays of fractured light. Even now, under the grime, the room had an almost magical multihued glow.

Jess imagined it would be like reading under a great rainbow.

Coughing slightly, the proctor moved to unlatch the shutters to the smaller window set distant from the grand display of glass panes, letting in some much-needed air.

“This could be a beautiful reading room if it were properly cared for,” Jess said softly, almost a sigh.

The proctor gave her a curious look. "Careful now, Delver. One wouldn't want to be mistaken for a scholar." She quirked a smile, seeming a bit friendlier, now that Jess had confessed to an appreciation for the reading room's virtues. "Once upon a time, visiting scholars made sufficient use of the library to justify continued maintenance of our gallery reading rooms. Alas, patrons and funds are not what they once were, leaving us in our current state of…storage," she sighed, gazing tiredly at the many piles of books carefully stacked within the room, yet so crowded it nonetheless had the look of clutter, for all that such a collection of tomes was no doubt priceless.

Jess nodded sympathetically. “For all that we do our best to put a brave face on it, the undeclared war of attrition we’ve had with Velheim for so many years has taken its toll on trade, scholarship, and revenue.”

The proctor sighed and nodded. "Truer words, rarely spoken. A decisive victory against our foes, now that would be best for all, I think.

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