King of Death and Desire by M.L. Devereaux

Author:M.L. Devereaux [M.L. Devereaux]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: M.L. Devereaux
Published: 2023-09-10T00:00:00+00:00

“I’m looking for a book,” the king said once they reached the tall, narrow shaft that formed the library.

“Then you’ve come to the right place,” Kat replied before she knew it. Realizing her mistake, she bowed slightly. “Your Majesty.”

Through her eyelashes, she saw the king’s eyes narrow. Kat swallowed. She should have just kept her mouth shut.

“Forgive me, your Majesty,” she said. “It was out before I knew it.”

“You are forgiven. For this one time.” He made a wide gesture to all the books. “This is a wealth of information, but I can’t find anything in it. There is no system, no order. I want you to do something about that. And while you’re doing that, if you find any books on alchemy, I want you to put them at the very bottom, near the entrance.”

Alchemy?

“I didn’t know you were interested in alchemy?” she asked.

“It’s a hobby that has grown over the years,” he said.

“Is it for the curse? Do you think you can break it using alchemy?”

Again, the king’s gaze weighed heavily on Kat. This time, she didn’t look away.

“I want to help you,” she said. “If you told me more about the curse, I might be able to help you.”

“Oh, but you can certainly help me,” the king said deftly.

“I can?” Kat asked.

“Yes.”

Kat grinned. Finally, she would learn more about the curse. About Tobias, and how he had become the Bone King.

“You can find all the books on alchemy and put them at the bottom, as instructed.”

Kat’s grin melted away like butter in a hot pan.

The king opened the door.

“Aren’t you staying?” Kat asked.

He froze.

“I’ve got work to do,” he said after a momentary pause. “I’ll expect an update by suppertime.” Then the door slammed shut.

Work? Or was he going back to the lake? To stare at the reflection of a man he no longer was? The urge to follow him was strong. But not as great as the punishment would be if she didn’t start her job. She looked around. There were thousands of books here. She had already read quite a few of them, but even if she read one book every day, she wouldn’t get through this collection in this lifetime. And she hadn’t come across any books on alchemy yet. She decided to start at the top. That’s where she had been the least of all. The chances of finding the books the king wanted up there were more likely.

She started at once. Kat worked uninterrupted, dragging stacks of books from the shelves at the top of the winding iron stairs all the way down, then flicking through them one by one to make sure they didn’t contain any alchemic spells. She discovered books about the history of the area, family chronicles—unfortunately, none mentioned the Ghorter family, which she knew because she had looked for them—, recipe books, a dusty collection of poems, a folder with building plans that looked to be of the castle itself. The library boasted all kinds of books, but none that discussed alchemy.

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