Chapter 2 #2
Meg hugged Viola once Beatrice finished, repeating the congratulations. “You’ll have to come for supper tonight before you return to Melyria so we can celebrate.”
“I’d like that. I need to see the nieces before we leave anyway.” Viola grinned, and she and Meg started a conversation on the girls’ latest antics.
The line moved forward quickly and soon Beatrice and her family passed the guarding swordmaidens and entered the Great Library.
The Library’s Tree dominated the center atrium, its broad branches and huge leaves reaching for the domed skylight in the ceiling.
Shelves of books wound in meandering paths away from the Tree, complete with more twigs, moss, and even the occasional flower growing from the wooden shelves or sides.
Bookwyrms, in a variety of glittering jewel colors, slithered between the shelves, hunting down any pests that might get into the Library.
Beatrice reached into her pocket as surreptitiously as she could, picked up the red bookwyrm, and set it on a shelf as she passed, whispering, “There you go, Rosso.”
The bookwyrm flicked its tongue before it disappeared into the shadows of the shelves, accompanied by the faint scratching of its scales on wood.
Librarians in their gray, green, or black coats gathered alongside fae nobles of the court and even a few swordmaidens beneath the spreading branches of the Great Tree. It was the largest crowd Beatrice had seen in the Great Library since King Theseus had announced the war with the Court of Revels.
As they neared, Beatrice’s other sister Brigid waved them over to a spot on the outskirts of the huge gathering.
The bright red dress she wore draped over her form, doing nothing to hide the large bump of her growing child.
His gaze wary as he searched the crowd, her husband Munch leaned against a bookshelf in the shadows beside her, his bow on his back and the quiver on his hip well-stocked with arrows.
He had reason to be wary, after all. Brigid was the infamous Wild Fae Primrose, although only a handful of people knew the truth.
One of that handful, Brigid’s nemesis Lord Chauvlyn, had just been returned to the Court of Revels that morning, thanks to the prisoner exchange, and who knew what he’d try next.
Given how heavily pregnant Brigid was, she wasn’t at her most spry at the moment.
Before they’d had a chance to do more than nod a greeting and let Brigid exclaim over Viola’s marriage, King Theseus stepped onto a broad root with Queen Hippolyta and Head Librarian Marco at his side.
King Theseus raised a hand, and the crowd quieted. The king’s black hair glinted in the sunlight streaming from above, a match for his black coat, both a stark contrast to the blonde tresses, white dress, and chain mail of his wife.
In the silence, the king’s voice carried, strong and sure, around the Library’s atrium.
“The past year has been a trying one for the Court of Knowledge. We have fought and survived a war with the Court of Revels. Two days ago, I reached a truce with King Oberon. Due to this truce—and the hope that it lasts—I will be reopening the Anywhere Doors to all the Courts the day after tomorrow. Now that a tentative peace has been reached, we are pleased to once again fulfill our Court’s purpose for the realm. ”
Beatrice grinned as many of the other librarians around her also smiled.
Some even laughed or hugged those standing nearest to them.
War wasn’t the natural state for those in the Court of Knowledge.
No, they’d all longed to go back to doing what they did best: being librarians and providing the Fae Realm with access to the vast knowledge contained here at the Great Library.
A trace of that same smile graced the king’s face. “As part of the truce bargain, the members of the Court of Knowledge held prisoner by the Court of Revels were returned, as their prisoners were returned to them.”
When King Theseus gestured, Beatrice glanced in that direction, finding a cluster of people. Blond hair and flashing blue eyes set above a smirking mouth caught her gaze, instantly sending her blood into a boil.
Benedict Jonlius. Her childhood nemesis.
In the past couple of years, he’d grown up from a gangly teenage boy into a man with broad shoulders and a far-too-handsome face that had no right to make Beatrice’s stomach flutter as it did.
After his months-long imprisonment, his golden-blond hair was long, nearly to his shoulders, while his face had even more angles to it, highlighting the fineness of his nose and bone structure.
Really, he was too handsome for his own good. And for her good. Her nemesis should look more like Lord Chauvlyn, old—nearly forty—and all snotty fae arrogance.
Well, the snotty fae arrogance was certainly there. Benedict had always had that in spades. Even now, he stood with his head erect, staring down his nose at everyone before him as if he believed himself better than all he surveyed.
Everything in her wound tight. She probably shouldn’t be disappointed that he was back. He had, after all, been held prisoner. She wouldn’t wish that on anyone, even her worst enemy. But the past several months had been rather blissful, even with the ongoing war, because he wasn’t there.
“To celebrate their return, the truce, the reopening of the Library, and Midsummer, we will be hosting a ball tomorrow evening. After which, we will hold our first Library Revel.” King Theseus swept a glance over the crowd.
“For the past several years, I’ve been working with the Great Library and the laws of our Court to create a Library Revel to replace the Revel held in the Tanglewood during Midsummer.
Even with the truce, it will still be safer for those wishing to find a mate in this manner to do so within the confines of our beloved Library, trusting the Library to guide them, instead of joining the Revel held in the Tanglewood. ”
Beatrice glanced at Basil and Meg. They’d fallen in love during a Midsummer Night eight years ago and helped protect the Library from a particularly bad monster attack.
Their friends Lysander, Hermia, Demetrius, and Helena had all been properly matched up in the Tanglewood Revel, despite interference by Puck and King Oberon.
The first Library Revel. Beatrice couldn’t help but bounce on her toes at the thrill that coursed through her.
At eighteen, she could finally join a Revel.
Not that she planned to find her mate on this first Revel.
But it was one more way she could step away from her sister and brother-in-law’s care and begin asserting herself.
She shot a glare across the room. Surely he wouldn’t join the Revel. He wouldn’t dare ruin that for her.
As if sensing her gaze, Benedict’s bright blue eyes swung toward her. Their gazes locked, and his too-perfect mouth curved into an even more pouty smirk.
Ugh. Beatrice yanked her gaze away, her blood scorching. He could be so infuriating, even from across the room.
“What you might not know is that this will be a rare double Midsummer, with a second Midsummer Day occurring a month from tomorrow.” King Theseus clasped his wife’s hand, sharing a look with her.
A second Midsummer? That meant the magic was extraordinarily high in the Summer Courts right now, signaling momentous happenings.
Here in the Fae Realm, things like Midsummer and Winter Solstice didn’t occur annually the way they did in the Human Realm.
After all, the Courts didn’t have changing seasons.
Each Court, such as the Court of Knowledge or the Court of Stone, was a part of a particular seasonal region, and whenever the magic was high, they experienced their season’s most magical day and night.
For Winter Courts, that was the Winter Solstice.
For Summer Courts, it was Midsummer. Because it was based on the vagaries of magic, such things could happen years apart or within a single week.
It had been years and years since the Summer Courts had two Midsummers this close together. Beatrice had never experienced such a thing in the eight years she’d been living here.
“Due to the high magic that we will experience for the next month, the Faerie Market will be traveling through the Summer Courts and has decided to set up in the Court of Knowledge for one week of that time.” King Theseus swept another sharp glance over the crowd.
“It will likely be one of the largest Faerie Markets we’ve seen.
As always, I urge everyone to exercise caution when visiting the Faerie Market.
As it is technically neutral, anything that happens within its bounds will be outside of this Court’s protections. ”
Beatrice shifted, thinking of her glass dog and her first Faerie Market. Back then, she hadn’t understood enough about the Fae Realm to comprehend the risk, especially as a human.
Head Librarian Marco stepped forward. His white beard lay long down his chest all the way to his waist while his fringe of white hair was a contrast to the black coat with gold embroidery that marked him as the head librarian.
“As part of the festivities of the Market, I would like to arrange a rotation of librarians to put on readings in the Market’s square.
The Market might be neutral, but it will still be within the Court of Knowledge.
It’s appropriate to ensure that those attending the Market get a taste of what our Court stands for. ”