Kindred Souls Complete Series: Books 1-4

Chapter Eight

We waited an extrahour after Indigo and her kindreds left before Aster, Bastian, and I headed for the library. The halls were dark and silent and I could barely see in front of us, the only light cast by the thin glow from the moon streaming through the windows.

Indigo and her kindreds had stayed late as we plotted our next moves, but no one really came up with much. There wasn’t much we could do until she and Aster met with the council, but that meeting was set for the following week. Until then, we were in a holding period, waiting for the next shoe to drop. Waiting to see what the king would do about the dragons in his palace.

The library was close by the prince’s quarters, one level up. Aster pulled out a ring of keys and searched through them until he found the one to the library. Bastian and I watched the halls while he unlocked the door and pushed it open.

We slipped inside and my mouth gaped. It was glorious. The ceiling was made out of windows, the moon hanging in the sky right above the palace, shining down on the rows and rows of shelves. It would take months to go through everything in here.

“All right. You can have a couple hours and then we need to get back. The two of you feel free to explore. I’ll keep watch by the door. If you hear anything, hide.”

Bastian rubbed his hands together in either greed or glee or both, I wasn’t sure. I didn’t have a clue where to even begin there was so much here. I didn’t even know what I was looking for, what I hoped to find. Answers? Something to help us? If there was anything there to help, Aster would know about it. He would have studied all of it growing up and he had towering piles of books in his rooms.

Tonight, I’d just browse and grab anything to strike my interest. Based on Bastian’s face, this wouldn’t be our last trip here. And I could use some reading material to offset the boredom of being stuck under basically house arrest while we waited for the king’s next move and the council meeting. They wanted Bastian and I to lie low, so we’d be stuck in the rooms most of the time. We’d need things to pass the time while everyone else returned to work.

“This is amazing.” Bastian ran his fingers along the spines of the books on one of the shelves. “We don’t have nearly this many books. I could live here for weeks. Maybe even months.”

“It is definitely lovely. What are your goals for visiting here? Really?” I was done staying silent while these guys brooded around me.

He plucked a book from the shelf and flipped through the pages. “Here, as in the library or Faligrey?”

“Both?” It was a bit of a question. I wasn’t sure what exactly I was asking, but I wanted more from him.

Bastian refused to look up from the book. “I told you. I wanted to help in the quest to get Indigo on the throne and explore a friendship with you and your kindreds.”

I refused to let it go. “It seems like a strange reason to leave your home. And you haven’t exactly made very many overtures of friendship since we left the dragon lands.”

“It’s been a little busy. And crowded.” He snapped the book closed and chose another.

“I don’t think that’s likely to change anytime soon. If you want to return home, no one will begrudge you that decision.” I wanted to break through his walls until they were crumbled beneath my feet.

“As grateful as I am for that, I’m not quite ready. I plan to see this through.”

I wasn’t going to get through those walls today.