Chapter 9 #2
“Just doing our part to help restore the city’s historic works of art to their original states,” Marcus said seriously, and I nodded again.
“Indeed,” I said. “Please keep up the good work and let me know if I can help in any way.”
Their task had originally seemed comical, but hearing it described as a restoration effort changed my mind, and I was sincere about helping.
My seeker magic tugged on my chest then as if to remind me why I was here even as Phaedrus spoke up again.
“Lady Cyra, we should go. It will become harder to resist the magic of this room the longer we’re here.”
Whether Phaedrus’s warning was more for my own sake or for his, I wasn’t sure, but he was right. I felt my arousal rising, and we turned to leave after bidding Velania and Marcus goodbye and good luck with their genitalia-matching efforts.
I walked swiftly back toward the door. Between the magic of the room, the stone cocks, and imagining what Velania and Marcus had been doing, I was starting to feel the urgency to leave before I did something I’d regret.
Now that I’d noticed Phaedrus was a man, and an attractive, albeit older one, I was all-too-aware of him hurrying behind me.
We reached the exit, and I yanked the door open to throw myself through it before I inhaled a deep, cleansing breath as the lighter air of the main library hit me.
I hadn’t realized just how thick the air in the erotica room had been, how it had seemed to swirl over and caress my skin like a lover’s touch.
The tension between my thighs was already easing, and I turned to Phaedrus when the door clicked shut behind him.
One look at his face told me he was just as relieved as I was to be out of there.
“That was certainly…intense,” I said, giving Phaedrus a weak smile.
He returned my smile, his own equally weak, and I noticed he was trying to take calming breaths.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I didn’t mean to get us into an uncomfortable situation.”
He shook his head. “Not at all. I should have warned you about some of the things that go on in there and about the effects of staying inside too long.”
I held up the copy of Teachings on Desire still in my hand. “Is this safe to read? It isn’t infused with any of that magic, is it?” I asked.
Phaedrus gave a soft chuckle. “No, it’s just a normal book. You should be fine. There are copies of it all over Callanus.”
I looked at him in surprise. “Really? It’s not…controlled?”
Phaedrus shook his head again. “No, of course not. The Priory isn’t in the habit of keeping people from reading about such things, and neither is the Triumvirate. Sales of the book actually increase in the weeks leading up to the Harmilan.”
I started walking again as the tug in my chest urged me to get moving, and Phaedrus followed.
“I’m not sure I understand,” I said. “You have to be from the Priory to get into the library, don’t you? This place is well-hidden.”
“Yes, but that’s mainly to protect the books from outside threats.
There are various ways for anyone to access them,” he said as he fell into step beside me.
“The Priory holds the originals of many old books, and our primary focus is to help preserve them. When books are of general interest to the public – as many of the books in that room are – we have scribes work to translate or copy them. Book merchants then pay for the right to print their own and sell them.”
“What about the authors of the books?” I asked. I turned left automatically as my magic pulled me in that direction.
“The authors of any books we sell to merchants are long-dead,” Phaedrus said. “Allowing merchants to print and distribute such books is our way of ensuring that the knowledge and those stories live on.”
“And what about the magical books?”
“If someone wants to read something we can’t reproduce, they submit a request with the Priory, and then they’re given an appointment to come read the book here.
The only time we might deny a request is if there’s a real threat that reading it might cause physical harm to either the reader or someone else, but there are very few books in the library that are restricted in that way. ”
“What about the book you’re translating?” I asked him.
I sensed Phaedrus’s unease at the question, and indeed, it was several seconds before he answered.
“Lord Bressen believes the information in that book puts you in danger,” he said carefully. “As such, there’s an argument for restricting access to it…for now.”
“For now?” I prompted.
He hesitated before going on. “There’s also an argument to be made that the information in that book is of importance to people all over the continent.
It’s part of our history, and it contains information that’s particularly relevant to the Trinity and its doctrine.
That isn’t information the Priory can ethically withhold forever.
Eventually, we’ll need to make a translation of the book available to the public. ”
I was quiet a moment as we walked. “And if Bressen objects?”
Phaedrus sighed. “As much as I respect Lord Bressen, and – admittedly, fear him when your safety is concerned – he won’t be able to stop the Priory from releasing the book.
But as much as I know he wants to protect you, your husband is a reasonable man...
usually. I don’t believe he’ll stand in the way of us releasing the book when it’s time.
To be clear, though, that won’t be anytime soon.
We still need to do more research into the book’s origin and its authors.
I also still have a lot of translating to do, and even when I’m finished, my translation will need to be reviewed and corroborated by the few others around the continent who can read this particular dialect of ancient Arystrian.
It will be a long while before there needs to be discussion of making it generally available. ”
I considered this before nodding. “When it’s time, I’ll help you convince Bressen to release the book,” I said. “You’re right. We have no right to restrict the information.”
Phaedrus relaxed a bit next to me. “Thank you,” he said.
I stopped suddenly as the tug in my chest jerked me toward a huge iron door we were just about to pass.
“Here,” I said, turning to the door. “My magic says what I’m looking for is in here.” I looked over the door, then turned to Phaedrus.
“That’s the vault,” he said.
“I need to get into it,” I said when he didn’t move.
Phaedrus opened his mouth, then closed it again and nodded. He held his hand up to place it on the door but paused and lowered it again. “You try,” he said. “I’m curious to see if you have access to the vault as a Hand of the Gods. Put your palm against that center panel.”
I did as Phaedrus asked, and the spot around my hand glowed green as it had before.
The door clicked, and I pushed it open. Phaedrus nodded for me to enter, then followed me into a small room with several tables and chairs where people could sit and read.
Across the room was another glass wall and door.
Behind it were several rows of bookshelves, but there were also locked boxes sitting on tables and locked cabinet doors built into the far wall.
“There’s only minimal air in the vault room for preservation purposes and to inhibit fire,” Phaedrus said. “Normally I’d need to call one of our air elementals to come and refill the space so we can open the door, but since we have you…”
I stepped toward the door and sent my magic into the vault room. Indeed, I felt how little air was inside and began to refill it.
“It should be filled enough,” I said, and Phaedrus opened the door.
A puff of air rushed out and fluttered the hair at my temples as he opened it, and I stepped through, letting my seeker magic lead me.
I went straight toward the back of the vault until a tug pulled me to the right and all the way to a part of the wall with small doors built into it.
I raised my hand and hovered it over the doors until I felt the sensation that told me I’d found what I was looking for.
“This one,” I said, turning to face Phaedrus. “What’s in this one?”
Phaedrus didn’t speak for a moment, and I frowned at the wary expression on his face.
“My lady,” he said, “that’s the lockbox that contains the text I’m translating. The one that told us you were a Hand of the Gods.”