Chapter 70 — An Encounter At The Library

Her cloak’s hood pulled low, Ria descended the stairs into the library’s main floor, Ranger following behind, his eyes alert for threats. With over an hour before the start of classes, the library was sparsely attended. She only hesitated a moment before entering the information-counter’s queue.

Since using the scroll to confirm her suspicions, a fetid briar patch of terrifying and dark thoughts was constantly churning and bubbling up like a foul witch's brew—one that fate was expecting her to drink. Not daring to ask further questions until she was more mentally prepared, she had put the scroll away directly after finding out her mom’s dangerous parentage and gone to bed. Her sleep had come fitfully, and when further sleep had proved unlikely, she started her day early. Even mentally and physically exhausted, the sleep she had gotten was only thanks to the tisane from Tallien’s medicinal sachets making her surprisingly drowsy.

The initial results from the tisane were encouraging. The amount of energy she could circulate without pain was much improved when compared to the prior evening. Fully recovering within a week did seem doable… assuming she continued to carefully limit her magical exertions as Hulle had advised. A week’s worth of potential progress sidelined was a sobering cost for giving in to her frustration to the extent she had.

Unfortunately, even if the medicine helped her to sleep, it hadn’t helped with her dreams, dreams more terrible than those she suffered after killing so many in defense of Vorshan’s Hills during the siege.

She dreamt of the evil king looking down proudly from his throne as scheming princes and princesses were stabbing each other with poisoned daggers, laughing as their daggers became bloodier with each stab until she realized that all the princes and princesses wore her face—and with the realization, all of them turned as one to stare with accusing eyes. Gradually, the blood splattered faces twisted to become her parents and brothers, Jeni and other villagers, all judging her. While she was tearfully apologizing to everyone, the scene eventually shifted, and she saw herself cowering under the stairs in her cellar but somehow could also see the soldiers as they banged on the door—soldiers dressed as assassins.

“What did you need help with?”

Ria shook off the memory that was already fading—as dreams tended to do—and tried to give the boy wearing the now familiar book-and-bookshelf-embroidered stole a friendly enough smile as she approached the counter and asked where she could buy a copy of a certain gossip paper.

The boy’s bemused expression and business-as-usual answer was a welcome sight. She thanked him and followed behind a chattering group of second-year girls headed in the indicated direction.

A relieved breath escaped her. Somehow, being viewed as simply a ‘girl looking for the latest gossip’ felt reassuring in its normalcy, reassuring enough to help her let go a portion of the tension gripping her since passing through the academy gates that morning.

Just because she now knew the truth of her heritage, that didn’t necessarily mean the world around her had suddenly changed or suddenly become aware. Rationally, she suspected such, but an intellectual understanding and confirming it firsthand were two different things.

Whether she was silly to worry about assassins here in Crysellia… Ria wasn’t yet convinced. She was now a royal that had sworn loyalty to another country—a royal traitor.

And, looking back, there was a strong possibility that her parents had been aware of the risk of her and her mom’s existence. If her mom really was a bastard and not just a spare-in-hiding, that would certainly explain why Ria had never been introduced to her grandparents—at least on her mother’s side anyway. The choice to live in Shadewood, a village so inconsequential that it didn’t even have a priest, lent credibility to the desire to not be found.

A Crysellian swordmaster just happening to also reside in such a village was a question she still hadn’t mustered the courage to face. She would have to confront Jarrel about the truth of his involvement with her family soon, but if she lost the emotional support of their current relationship in the midst of everything else going on… coping would become more challenging than it already was.

Ah-! Second archway on the right.

Verifying the location via a plaque to the side reading: Daily Shadow—Library Branch, Ria followed the older girls through the archway.

A first-year member of Twilight Cloak received the requisite amount of coppers and handed over the lengthy paper of neatly scrawled reports to each of the eager girls.

While waiting her turn, Ria’s magic sense drew her gaze to where two second-year Twilight Cloak members were working a complex magic that pulled ink from inkwells and onto sheets of blank paper arranged in rows covering two large tables. When the last one completed, each sheet was turned over and reports were similarly copied to the back side.

Interestingly, the spell construct appeared to be created by a device with an already inked source sheet lying atop rather than being manually cast by the second-year students. The glyphs and boundings were fascinating, but Ria’s turn came too quickly to really study them for long, and drawing further attention from the Grey Tower’s Orders wasn’t something she wanted to risk.

With her first task of the day completed, Ria’s next task was researching the royal family of Revant—her family. The royal archives in the hidden room below would have probably been the best place to start, and starting there had been her initial plan and intended method to arrive at the academy that morning, but the plan to sneak into the archive from the King’s tunnel had gone awry almost from the start.

Of course, simply disappearing without telling anyone would have caused trouble, so she had left a note for Ana saying that she left for school early. The actual sneaking-through-the-faintly-moonlit-manor part had been a bit fun, feeling like a scene from a mystery or adventure story—right up to the part where she closed the garden door behind herself and Ranger and glanced around to confirm the way was clear… only to find Jarrel mid-stretch, looking at her with an inquiring raised eyebrow.

So, embarrassing…

And freezing in place like a spooked deer hadn’t made her look any less guilty of being up to something. She couldn’t blame Ranger though. Why would he think to warn her about Jarrel?

In her haste to cover for sneaking about, she made up an excuse of wanting to get some things done early at school to make up for the time she would be spending with Lady Asara in the afternoon and didn’t want to impose on the others.

It was a stupid, unforced blunder. Not only did the half-truth earn her a deserved scolding for going out alone, but it was the one response that would lead to him offering to walk with her ‘since he was going past the academy anyway.’

Even in hindsight, Ria still couldn’t help groaning aloud as she wandered in the direction of the stairway to the lower level archives.

All she had to do was tell Jarrel she wanted to meditate in the garden! After he left like usual, she could’ve snuck into the tunnel without any fuss! So stupid! Argh!

At least, by walking together with Jarrel, she got to spend some time with him. Jarrel had seemed to feel the same, choosing to walk at a leisurely pace and letting the comfortable silence give her room to initiate the topic for conversation. Though it was an opportunity, she couldn’t work up the courage to ask the troublesome questions she had and, instead, spent the time chattering on about her friends at the academy and how hard everyone was working on their own projects—things she thought a father might want to hear.

Ria let out a frustrated sigh. Talking with Jarrel had eased her tangled anxiety some, and the occasions to spend time alone with him had become rare of late, so she couldn’t say that she regretted it.

The time spent also wasn’t without risk. He had noticed her mood change and, at the end as they were approaching the academy’s gate, gently prodded her about it. Thankfully, her adoptive swordmaster father-figure reluctantly yielded when she thanked him for being there for her and told him that there were a lot of things they would need to talk about after her debut. Maybe he yielded because he thought she was worried about having to deal with suitors and marriage arrangements?

On the subject of marriage arrangements, she still needed to find out from Lady Asara whether Jarrel should be introduced as her adoptive father at the debut. Would he even be involved in her marriage arrangements, or would all of that be handled by Lord Vorshan and Lady Asara?

Of course, that might be a presumptuous worry, since she would have to attract a suitable candidate first, and unless she revealed her royal heritage, she was just an orphan commoner girl—and so many of the noble girls here were wealthier, prettier, and more refined than her.

Stopping as she spotted the sought after set of stairs tucked behind a section of tall bookcases, Ria wondered if she should ask Atresia for help with researching the Revant royal family.

She raised her gaze to a section of glass dome visible between the bookcases. The golden rays of dawn were already giving way to the full light of the morning sun… and the attunement measuring rooms were on the other side of the library—not that she could even be sure Atresia would be there.

Ranger sent a wuff of warning across the bond along with the sight of a face she’d rather not encounter so early in the day—and certainly not without any of her friends around.

“And what have we here?” Tensley rhetorically asked, before following up his own question with a sneering, “I’m surprised to see you in a library, witch? Can you even read?”

Huffingly, her cheeks puffed up by instinct. Why were nobles always surprised that she could read?

His eyes went to the paper almost forgotten in her hands. “Ah. The gossip sheets. That does seem about your speed.”

Deep breaths. Even though she was descended from royalty, that didn’t mean anything here. She put on an insincere smile. “I’d ask the young lord to help me with the big words, but for you to be at the library so early in the morning, you must have struggles of your own to tend to.”

It was her first attempt at trying one of the advanced techniques from her etiquette lessons with Sir Guthrie—turning an insult against an opponent by mockingly accepting the absurd premise—and she was a bit proud at having pulled it off together with the covering-her-mouth-like-she-was-hiding-secret-laughter technique.

Her success was rewarded by an eyebrow twitch from the overproud boy before his mouth twitched up again and he swaggered closer. “It was rather embarrassing to see your frontier-bred attempt to seduce Rone. Have you already given up? Been reduced to skulking around the library for easier targets?”

Ranger let out a low growl and interposed himself to prevent the boy from getting closer, causing Tensley to look down with an amused expression that turned less-amused when his eyes noted her familiar’s fiery gleam, stone-like muscles, and improved aura.

“I do admit that I was impressed by Rone’s physique and demeanor, but I already have an escort for the event I’m attending this week at Lord Jevaran’s estate,” Ria pointed out and sent Ranger a feeling of appreciation for his quick thinking. Whatever Tensley had intended by getting close to her would’ve surely been annoying at best.

Her overly casual assertion about Rone and already having an escort further aggravated the curly-haired boy’s sensibilities for some reason, but before he could think up a reply Ria caught sight of a welcome figure approaching.

“Blessed morning, Harold,” Ria pleasantly greeted the second-year member of the Library Guild.

Tensley spun around in surprise, but had a confused expression. Was he expecting someone else?

Harold seemed to recognize her though and gave a nice smile. “Blessed morning. Did the map of the city prove useful?”

“It did! Thank you for your help the other day,” Ria happily told him. The second-year boy had come at just the right time to assist her with her current encounter and maybe with her research as well. “Say, Harold, have you met Tensley of House…”

“Exter,” the boy provided, when she trailed off and looked in his direction. His expression had returned to being annoyed—er, more annoyed.

“Ah, no. I’m not familiar with this year’s new students,” Harold admitted, making an embarrassed gesture. “Nice to meet you, Tensley of House Exter. Perusing the library in the early mornings is a good way to beat the normal daytime crush of students. Are you two working on research together? Maybe I could help you find what you’re looking for after I finish my current task?”

Tensley’s face turned red. “D-do you even know who she is?! To suggest…” Wisps of smoke began to leak around the boy as he visibly struggled to get his emotions under control. After several deep breaths, he schooled his features and was once again sneering in her direction. “Now that the Silver Lions are involved, your plans of cheating a victory in the next Newcomer Tournament will be in vain, witch!”

With that sudden declaration, the first-year boy left down the stairs.

A stunned moment of silence passed where Ria and Harold exchanged raised eyebrows. She tilted her head. That was the second time Tensley had mentioned the tournament to her as a parting shot. Were the Silver Lions actually undertaking an effort to thwart her from winning?

If Tensley actually intended to compete, facing him in the tournament would provide an opportunity to enjoyably return the favor of his rudeness… though having him go through so much effort only for her to not show up due to prior commitments might also be enjoyable in its own way.

For all his bravado, Ria couldn’t shake the impression that Tensley had been nervous about something. Maybe he was also at the academy early because something was causing him to have trouble sleeping? Or maybe he was intentionally trying to provoke her?

Ria considered asking Harold to assist her in finding books about her family, but with Tensley having gone to the lower levels, her desire to do the research before her morning classes waned with the thought of risking further interaction and possibly an event that would lead to more fees and expensive apologies. The cost of damage to irreplaceable books was something she didn’t even want to contemplate.

“Thanks again for your timely assistance,” Ria offered to the older boy.

“Sure. Who knew rescuing damsels would be part of the job of assisting at the library?” Harold chuckled to himself and, with a wink, asked, “So, are you really someone I should be worried about being associated with?”

“Who knows… maybe?” Ria answered a bit playfully in return, a wry smile gracing her lips.

He laughed again, and started down the stairs, gilded old books carefully tucked under an arm.

Best and safest to ask Atresia during lunch, Ria decided.

Not having anything else to do of particular urgency, Ria started wandering back toward the library’s exit, Ranger at her side, and let her eyes fall to the issue of the Daily Shadow in her hand. With all the troubles of late, she had decided to make more of an effort to stay abreast of current events and rumors—especially ones involving her. She lazily skimmed the report titles until one caught her eye and made her heart seize with worry:

Second-year Elf Student Hailed as a Future Grand Games Star Found with Emergency Stasis Activated

Ria quickly scanned over the report’s details. According to an anonymous friend, the student hadn’t been feeling well after Grand Games training.

Orlisi!