Trial by Sorcery by Richard Fierce

Author:Richard Fierce
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Dragonfire Press

12

The library was located at the far north end of the Citadel. Maren had given me directions during breakfast and I only got turned around twice before reaching the wooden doors that marked the entrance.

I stepped inside and was surprised to find that the place was immaculate. Hundreds, if not thousands, of bookstands were lined in orderly rows. There were several tables and chairs near the windows, where natural light slanted in through the glass panes. A few students were sitting at some of the tables, large tomes opened in front of them. The most notable thing about the library was the silence.

A robed woman sat behind a large desk. She was slowly flipping pages of a book as I walked up. She paused and looked up at me. I remembered her from my first day.

“Surrel,” I said, smiling at her.

“Son of Matthias,” she replied. “How are you finding the school so far?”

“It’s different from what I’m used to, but in a good way.”

“That’s good to hear. I’ve been a student for almost a year and I can’t say I’ve had a bad experience yet. How about your testing?”

“I’m not sure,” I admitted. “I think I did well with Compassion, but we haven’t heard our results yet.”

“No news is good news, as they say,” Surrel said. “Normally, the tests are done over three straight days. I’ve heard there have been some complications, and the testing has been pushed back?”

I nodded. “Yes, our next test will be tomorrow.”

“Well, I wish you luck. Have you been to the library yet?”

“No,” I said.

“I think you’ll like it. We’ve got the largest collection of books in the entire kingdom,” Surrel said proudly. “If you are looking for books on a specific topic, you can search the index for book locations. Here, let me show you.”

Surrel stood and walked around the desk. I followed her to a cabinet with hundreds of small drawers. Each drawer was labeled with a metal plaque inscribed with letters.

“Everything is arranged in alphabetical order. So, if you are looking for a book on felines, you will open the drawer that has ‘FE’ on it. Then you’ll flip through the parchments until you find the word you are looking for. Don’t remove it from the order it’s in. If you do, the Librarian will have a fit.”

To show what she meant, Surrel found the parchment labeled feline and lifted it, but not completely out of the drawer.

“Listed on the parchment will be the locations of any book that covers the topic.” She pointed to the writing. “R Six-C Three-S Two is the location of a book.”

“Am I supposed to memorize that since I can’t take the parchment out?”

Surrel giggled. “No, of course not. We have blank parchments, quills, and ink wells available for use. You’ll just write down the locations, then take your parchment with you to find the books.”

“I can take books from the shelf?” I asked.

“Yes, so long as they are not chained to the shelf. If they are chained, you’ll have to read the book there.

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