Chapter 25
Magic Edictum
They woke up the next morning before sunrise.
For the first time since they had arrived, the streets were empty and quiet.
The only people who seemed to have already started duty were the guards who wandered around town.
Lucky for them, the uniform Desi had given had a handkerchief to tie around their faces; they knew the purpose of the curator’s uniform would be to protect the airways from the dust on the bookshelves and to protect the books’ integrity, but it sure was helpful for them as they walked the streets unnoticed.
The Library of All Things occupied an entire city block, the building so high that Alissa wondered how such a level of architecture was possible.
The white stone that made up its entire facade was engraved with gold inscriptions of classic literary verses, a work of such mastery that it could have been accomplished only with magic.
A giant bronze sculpture of a book, mounted above the entry archway, bore the words “Unlock Wisdom Within,” welcoming anyone who dared to discover the magic of the books. Alissa was mesmerized.
Reaching the back entrance, Mrs. Linard was already waiting for them with a look of annoyance, her arms at her waist. She stomped her feet where two guards stood at the building’s entrance.
“Good morning, gentlemen. My crew and I were called to complete the restoration of all books from section 4068 to 9732. We will need a clear entrance for a total of a month.” Mrs. Linard’s steady voice and confident posture matched in no way that of a liar.
“What’s your name?” The guard asked.
“Josi Linard.”
“Identification, please.”
“Do you not remember me, my dear?” Josi asked, her voice was pitchy. She seemed ready to pull the man by the ear. The tall man shrugged and glanced at his colleague, a perplexed expression on his face.
“I’ve been working here for over thirty years.
I know every person in Golheim, including your mother, and she would not be pleased to know you don’t remember me, especially because I helped her with her labor the night you were born.
” Josi’s outburst was so unexpected that the man took a step back.
She started rummaging through her enormous satchel, pretending to be looking for identification as she whispered curses to the wind.
“Mrs. Linard, of course! I’m sorry, my memory really isn’t that good,” the man spoke, his cheeks turning red.
He stepped aside to let her in, and as she walked past him, he stopped Freyah to ask for her identification.
Josi squeezed his ear with all the might of her wrinkled fingers and shot him a warning glance. “They are my assistants. Where I go, they go!”
And that was how a group of wanted criminals of the Kingdom of Heldraine entered one of the most protected buildings of the realm.
“Have you really known that guard since he was a baby?” Freyah asked. “That’s impressive!”
“No, I’ve never seen him before.” The old lady shrugged as if it hadn’t been an act worthy of an award.
If the facade of the library made Alissa and Freyah’s jaws drop, the interior of the place made them want to cry.
The center of the building was covered with tiles that formed a huge mosaic depicting the lineage of Heldraine’s royal family.
A long spiral staircase covered in red velvet went up about twenty floors above.
All of them were surrounded by shelves crowded with books and encyclopedias farther than their eyes could see.
Her eyes landed on the librarian, quietly organizing books at a distant corner.
The vision of the red threads encircling the woman made Alissa stumble—this was the second person in Golheim she had seen enveloped by glowing threads.
Knowing no one else could see them, Alissa made a mental note to investigate this further later. She cleared her throat and slid her finger along the side of several books on the closest shelf. “How many books are cataloged here?”
“About three hundred thousand.”
Alissa didn’t even know this number of books existed in the entirety of this world, let alone inside one single building. It was completely overwhelming. How would they know where to find their answers among thousands of books?
“We’d better get to work then,” Eldric said, taking Alissa’s hand in his to climb to the first floor of the library.
106 DAYS UNTIL DHALIA’S DEATH DATE.
Their stay at Breno’s place had been uneventful.
His wife, Olga, was scary both inside and out, but she loved her husband so much that she never questioned his decision to host them.
After a week since their arrival, they had only been able to exchange time together at the dinner table, spending the entirety of their days inside the library.
Diving into books wasn’t helpful in getting to know their hosts better, but Alissa had the impression Breno preferred it that way.
After so many hours of reading every day, she could swear her eyes were about to detach from her face, and her mind would melt at any moment.
As for nighttime, when the library was closed, they had resumed sword practice, using Breno’s basement as their training ground.
Now that her leg was healed and her physical strength was restored, Alissa was ready to dive back into training, despite the exhaustion that had become a constant companion.
Daily activities in the library had been organized rather efficiently; they had divided themselves to cover the sections of the library that seemed most promising.
Saying Alissa hadn’t learned anything from all that reading would be a lie.
She learned that the capital was the center of an earthquake before the Battle of the Mundane, which culminated in its complete destruction, obliging the Crown to rebuild the whole town.
She had learned that besides the neighboring realm of Trent, there were three other kingdoms across the seas, but no foreign visitors were allowed in as part of Heldraine’s council legislation.
They had learned a lot, but unfortunately, nothing relevant to their efforts to save Dhalia.
No mention of Senectus Subita was found.
In the same proportion that mentions of Senectus were missing, they had found the story Eldric had recited to them about the Battle of the Mundane and Prince Thayan’s victory in complete abundance.
It was odd to find the same story in dozens of books.
A story that was told in the exact same way, with the same exact words in each one of them.
It was as if someone had memorized the tale and reproduced it in several books at once.
Like they wanted to sell a story, convince people it was real, rather than actually teaching about the history of Heldraine.
Alissa skimmed a book about rare diseases with Eldric and Freyah when a sound came from the back. A familiar face came from behind the shelves with a mug in hand.
“Desi! We weren’t expecting you here.” Freyah leaped from her chair to meet the healer with a hug.
“My mother forgot her medication back home, so I came by to drop it off.”
“Spending enough time with your family?” Alissa asked, a pitch of envy in her voice.
“Yes.” Desi’s voice broke, her gaze fixed at a distant point, lost in her own mind.
“I just didn’t expect it would be so hard, you know?
To see their lives have moved on without me.
” She cleared her throat, and Alissa had to fight back the knot in her stomach, wondering if that was what awaited her back in Bryniard.
“Should you be drinking that here?” Freyah asked, double-taking at the hot mug in her hands, trying to shift the mood of the conversation.
“No. Please don’t tell my mother.” She smiled. “How are you enjoying the library so far?”
“It’s beautiful.” Alissa sighed. “But also exhausting!”
Desi raised her eyebrows. “Is there a particular book you are looking for? Maybe I can help you find it. I was practically raised among these shelves.”
Alissa didn’t know exactly where to look.
She thought the information on Senectus Subita would be found in healing practice books, but she had been unsuccessful with that approach.
She remembered the story of the Battle of the Mundane and the extinction of magic and wondered whether her daughter’s ailment, or even the walls of Bryniard, might be in any way related to the magic that once existed in Heldraine.
“I would like to read more about magic. Do you know where I can find something on that?”
Desi’s eyes sparked, and a slow grin embraced her full lips. “I see you are an enthusiast of magic, like myself. I know exactly what you are looking for.” Without another word, she disappeared into the countless bookcases that filled the fifth floor of the library.
When she returned, her breath was slightly ragged from the effort of climbing so many flights of stairs.
Panting, Desi grabbed a stool sitting across from them.
Only then did she take the time to observe that the desk they were using was already piled high with dozens of books.
She wondered whether all these volumes had been read in a single day or were still to be explored.
Desi placed a book on the desk; its brown leather cover was cracked and worn from centuries of use.
The edges of the pages were yellowed and delicate, with some corners turned and frayed.
The spine was slightly bent, and the gold-embossed title had dulled with age, but Alissa could still read its name: Fundamentals of Magic.
She skimmed the content quickly, motivated to devour the information hidden in the molded pages, hoping they would prove themselves useful in the future. There were so many words she didn’t recognize.
“What does it say?”
“Only theory, really, would be useful for someone who could actually wield magic, not us. You will like it if you love all magic-related subjects like me.”