Chapter Six
That evening, Elara received a summons by raven.
It landed, to her fright, upon the balcony and cawed as she lay in bed, turning the vial with the hypnom petals over in her hand.
She was alone, Merissa eating with Leo downstairs.
A note was rolled up and tied to the raven’s foot, and Elara eased it gingerly off the bird before shooing it away.
Madame Miramere’s Dens at midnight. Enter through the Great Library in the Pollux Quarter. Give the librarian the code: SNAKESTONE. Bring a weapon. Wear a glamour. Don’t be late.
When she dressed, Elara felt a little more like herself than she had in a while.
The dress she wore—black again—was one Merissa had tailored before they’d left Helios.
Close to the skin with a high neck and slits down both sides of the skirt, it allowed for better movement and easy access to the dagger upon her thigh.
She added a belt with holsters for two curved knives she had filched from Leo, and soft yet supple leather boots graced her feet.
She reached for a black cloak, donning it as she inspected Merissa’s glamour.
Tonight she looked like the average Castorian—her skin a little pinker than its usual porcelain, eyes shrewd and grey rather than silver. Her hair was a mousy brown.
‘One step closer,’ she reminded herself. Whatever awaited her in Madame Miramere’s Dens, she’d have to see. But she knew she was not leaving them without the snakestone.
She arrived at the Great Library with Merissa and Leo in tow and peered up at the impressive structure before them.
The most renowned hub of knowledge in the entirety of Celestia, it stretched into the sky.
Symbols and languages of all kinds were scrawled into marble walls the colour of parchment, and its fat turrets seemed to burst with the books contained within.
‘You know, it’s said the Nevercrow of Castor lives within the library,’ Merissa whispered.
‘Really?’ Leo asked. ‘Then how come no one has ever seen him?’
Merissa shrugged.
‘In The Mythas of Celestia, he’s imprisoned within a book,’ Elara mused. ‘The maiden from “The Nightwolf and the Silver” freed him from between the pages.’
‘But that’s just a story,’ Leo scoffed.
They reached the library entrance. ‘Fairy tales are coming alive around us, Leo. Perhaps this one will, too.’
On either side of the main doors—thrown wide open—was a serpent, an ode to Gem and Eli, flames within their mouths illuminating the square. Elara set her resolve as she passed through, adjusting her hood.
Instantly, the scent of paper, ink and dust filled her nose. It had once been such a comfort, but now all Elara saw was an impossible and unknown task ahead.
The three of them found themselves in a grand atrium. A giant, ornate desk stood in the centre with a sumptuous green velvet-backed chair behind it, a green glass reading lamp casting emerald shadows throughout the dim and cavernous room.
Elara glimpsed scribes stationed at desks along the perimeter, quills scratching feverishly.
It was one of the Three of the Kingdom—to scribe.
Able to record details that would be preserved in the Great Library, scribes possessed incredible memories.
Some could touch a person or visit a place just once and write its entire history.
But it was not the scribes that she was interested in. It was a librarian she had to find. She marched right over to the desk and rang the small bell.
‘Ooh!’ came a squeak. A wizened old lady, with glasses so thick they made her eyes look like orbs, appeared, climbing on to the chair.
Her skin was as lined as old paper, and every part of it was inked with symbols and scrawlings similar to what was written on the building outside.
Her hair was as blue-black as the ink, her eyes swimming, never resting in one spot. ‘Can I help?’
‘Snakestone,’ Merissa uttered smoothly, her face warm and inviting. The woman blinked at her before a sort of glow came upon her face, along with a knowing smile.
‘Right you are.’ The librarian looked at all three of them—Leo with every weapon imaginable strapped upon his person, Merissa cloaked but every bit of her radiant and enticing, and Elara, who didn’t care to look friendly.
‘Follow me.’ Her eyes sparkled as she tottered off her seat and began to walk through the bookcases.
‘You’re in for a show tonight. This snakestone is one of only a handful ever made in Celestia. I can only imagine the bloodshed there will be to win it.’
Elara followed her through the shelves, trying desperately to keep track of the twists and turns as they delved deeper into the labyrinth. The light grew dimmer, the sounds of the scribes drifting away.
‘Bloodshed?’ she asked distractedly.
‘Oh yes. The fighting dens are always well stocked, but for such a prize…My, I think over ten fighters have already signed up for the match.’
Elara gave a worried look at Leo, who remained impassive, strolling through the darkness.
‘And this is…normal.’
‘Madame Miramere is a procurer of the rare and charmed objects, ones that neither money nor power can buy. Only blood. And in a kingdom of knowledge, well…sometimes we Castorians need something a little more visceral. Plus, tonight, Star Eli visits to watch. His first public outing since that darkwitch killed our Lady Gem.’ She spat out the slur. ‘The dens are already packed.’
Elara nearly backhanded the old bag then and there, but she instead crossed her arms, though Leo and Merissa shifted closer to her.
The librarian finally stopped at a set of shelves.
It was lined with the great classics on conflict: The Art of War, Defensive Strategy, The Twelve Rules to Conquer, and so on.
Elara could hear something beyond the books, a drumming, a roar.
The librarian’s face broke into a sly smile as she stroked the spine of a book entitled Combat and Power.
A circular door, previously concealed, swung open, taking half of the bookshelf with it. Beyond lay a yawning tunnel, one that Elara could see slanted downwards, into the underbelly of the city.
‘Good luck,’ the librarian said, grinning. ‘I hope you make it back alive.’