The Library

   Two weeks later, I was finally walking on my own two feet. Cel and Kirn showed me around the castle, The Doyenne a no show yet again. Too busy to show her own prisoner around.

   Above all the other buildings, stood a palace. Everything in Entropy looked large to him, but this was by far the biggest. Several stories high with towers on either side. Windows lined it front to back in neat rows. Colorful like the houses, with domed roofs too. Beautiful, architecturally speaking.

   Once inside, Cel explained, “This is the palace. Home to Queen Elizabetha. You will also be staying here; The Doyenne prepared you a room.”

   “Not a cell, then?”

   “No, but if you cause enough trouble, you’ll be thrown in one.”

   Noted.

   It was baffling to me that I was being given any freedom at all. I was a prisoner; wasn’t anyone worried I’d try to escape? Maybe even hurt someone to do it? I wouldn’t, but the people here didn’t know that. I was a stranger to this place. The seers that wandered around seemed entirely unconcerned with the possibility. Maybe it just came with the title to have idiotic levels of confidence and ignorance. Arrogance radiated off of them like heat in the summer, even if Cel and Kirn’s appeared less forefront.

   “There are rules. You will not be loud or boisterous. Criminal acts will be treated like an attack on the Queen herself,” Cel said.

   “You don’t want to make her mad,” Kirn said in a low tone.

   The entryway of the palace was just as grandiose as the front. Foreboding in size. The walls were white stone layered intricately over each other. A chandelier hung from above; large icicles pointed to the ground; sharp.

   The foyer broke off into half a dozen different paths. Cel and Kirn led me down one of the Eastern ones; I tried to take note. It wasn’t hard to imagine getting lost in this place.

   “I don’t suppose I can send mail?”

   Kirn laughed. I rolled my eyes; this man was the special type of infuriating that made me wish I could throw a brick at his head. Cel shook her head in response to my question.

   A long hallway spanned forward. Walking down it felt like walking into a prison; the smell was different. Our feet echoed less, and the walls turned to an ashy grey before going straight to charcoal as they came to its end. We walked through a tall door with skulls.

   “This is The Doyenne’s quarters,”

   Through the door was something like an apartment. A lounge with a fireplace, and across from that a kitchen. The furniture was all just as dark as the walls; highlighted with a dark red, like the rose pattern on the couch. Connected to the living space was a long hall; a corridor. Several doors, all locked and needed a key. Maybe I would be staying in a prison cell after all. Walking down this felt like stepping into hell itself. Cel and Kirn brought him to the very end of the hallway and opened the door.

   “This will be your room.”

   It was small, especially in comparison to everything here. Just about the same size as the one I had back home. A bed was tucked into the corner along with a bookshelf in the wall. Next to that was a desk. Shockingly, I got a window. It looked over town, and past that, I could see a stone wall. Did it surround the whole city? That might complicate escaping…

   Cel and Kirn led me outside. Colourful houses lined each other closely beside the cobblestone road. People walked by dressed in long, heavy coats. Snowy mountains tops could be seen to the North, snow that did not reach the city, for some reason or another. The city was flat. Wide roads that allowed for carriages; drawn by a variety of animals, including horses, huskies, and large cats as well.

   “Do we have to show him around?” Kirn asked, and not for the first time either. “I feel like he could figure out his own way.”

   “Stop complaining before you get us both in trouble.” Cel said.

   After visiting the market and a few other places, we walked towards a large, free-standing building with stained glass windows. Grander than any other place by far, rivaled in size and scale only by the palace beyond. Cel said, “This is the library. You will work and study here; The Doyenne is hoping you’ll familiarize yourself with the wildlife of the Chancy and Coille Regions.”

   I crossed my arms. “She thinks I’m going to work for her?”

   “Do whatever you want with your limited freedom. It doesn’t make a difference to us,” Kirn said. “We’re just delivering the message.”

   I went quiet. I hated to admit it, but I might need to study the area in order to escape, given that I might have to travel through it.

   The library was just as big and grand on the inside as it was on the outside. Layers upon layers of books period shelves could take out a large field. Three stories of knowledge. I wondered how it could have so much —I’d never imagined a library this big in my life. It couldn’t all be Entropy texts, could it?

   “That concludes the tour,” Cel said.

   “Don’t cause trouble,” Kirn added as they turned to leave. He turned back and said, “Do me one favor.”

   "What?”

   “Let me know how far you make it when you try to escape.”

   He smiled and chuckled to himself as he left. Really funny, I thought dryly. I really did need to find a way out of here. This place might drive me mad if I didn’t.

   In the name of that goal, I decided to look around. I’d need a map at the very least if I wanted to be able to leave. I walked up to the help desk, but no one was there. “Hello?” I asked. My voice echoed through the large space, louder than he meant. Still, no one came.

   I gave up waiting and looked around on my own. Might take me a while to comb through it on my own, though. As I passed by the shelves scanning for signage, a girl standing in the aisle looked up. Long brown hair with bear ears, and she wore a pink dress with puffy white sleeves and a coat. If she didn’t look like a doll before, she most certainly did now.

   “Ah! Evern!”

   She wasn't in the nurse’s dress, but still recognizable all the same. “Irina. What a coincidence.”

   “I’m glad to see you’re okay. How’s the leg?”

   “It’s fine now.”

   “Good to hear.”

   I hadn't seen her since Ivy, or The Doyenne, visited me. A different nurse took care of me after that— less friendly by a lot. I asked her, “What happened to you?”

   “The Doyenne dismissed my work there. I’ve been back to school since.”

   “That’s good.” My eyes travelled to the stack of books in her hands and I asked, “What are you studying?”

   “Ah, well these aren’t for school.”

   She showed me the books one by one. Studies of nature and animals, many of them specific to the continent of Midst (where I was from.) One featured small towns; would mine be included? If so, it was outdated.

   “I was really curious since I talked to you, so I figured I’d do some research.”

   I was impressed. Not everyone would choose to spend their free time studying. I myself had been just like that growing up— always researching something on my hikes around the forest or standing guard at the guard posts.

   “What are you doing here?” she asked.

   “I’m looking for a map.”

   “You’ll want the second floor. That’s where the Atlas’s are.”

   “Thank you.”

   “No problem. I was just heading there myself to try to find a map of Midst.”

   I looked to the already monstrous pile of books in her hand, and offered, “Let me help you.”

   I took half her pile from her hands. She thanked me as we headed upstairs Even with my help, it was quite heavy. And she was planning to add more to it. She couldn't possibly think she was going to be able to read all this? Not today. Several weeks at the least.

   We set the books down on one of the long tables and then proceeded towards the shelves. “Right here,” she said while starting to look down the section herself. She picked out one book and handed it to him. A relatively large book, appropriately titled ‘Maps and Geography of the Continent of Gelid.’

   “Thank you again.”

   She smiled and then went right back to scanning the shelf herself. It didn’t take long for her to find it —she must come here a lot. I commented, “You must be studying to be a librarian.”

   “Ah! No. I just really like to read.” I could tell. “Actually,” her voice went quiet at the word, but she also seemed excited. She asked, “Can I tell you a secret?”

   What sort of secret? Not that it mattered much. I didn’t have anyone to tell even if it was bad. “What is it?”

   She came closer. Not necessary with my hearing, but she didn’t know that. She whispered, “I don’t want to be a teacher.”

   “You don’t?”

   She shook her head and said, “I want to be an adventurer.”

   Was that a secret? I supposed it was something she was keeping from her parents. If they wanted her to be a doctor and make a lot of mora, they'd probably be against it. Adventuring could be lucrative, but it wasn't the standard, and it was more known for its dangers. Similar to the role of hunter, except with more travelling.

   “You’re secret’s safe with me.”

   She smiled brightly; like she’d been hoping to tell someone that for years. She said, “Ask me if you need any more help. I’ll be over there.”

   She left to sit at the long table, planting herself with the books they’d left before. She grabbed one from the pile and started reading. She took out a small pocketbook from her back and started writing too — she was a notetaker.

   I went to sit in an armchair by the stairs as I mulled over my own chosen text. It was big. This might take a while.