Chapter 2

A knock on the door startled Danel out of his sleep. Despite his exclamations that he would rise with the dawn, his head hit the pillow, a real pillow, and he fell asleep immediately. Stirring in the sheets, he managed to croak out an incomprehensible set of syllables.

The door opened. A young woman dressed is a coarse white, natural cotton dress that looked like a robe stepped into his room. “Good morning, good sir,” she said with a smile in her voice. “I have come to present you with your new robe this morning.”

“G-Good,” Danel managed to stutter as he sat up in bed, rubbing his eyes. “Robe?”

“Librarian’s robe; you wear it over your regular clothes” she said, holding it up on a hanger for him to see. “I suppose you are a little confused, waking up for the first time in the Library of Ibados.”

“Quite,” Danel admitted as he took a deep breath, squinting at the dark blue robe with the yellow cord dangling at the waist. He was about to leap out of bed to finger the material when he realized he had an excellent case of morning wood; it felt good, stretching hard. Trying to navigate the awkwardness, he asked, “Have we met?”

“No, I am Satya, acolyte of the Goddess Neftali,” she said with a curtsy. “I am your assigned docent, guiding you through your first day as a Librarian. It is a great honor to be appointed a docent to a Librarian.”

“Well, glad to have you,” Danel said, deciding he needed to tackle the issue head on. “I need to address the immediate needs of the day. Where might I find the toilet?”

She looked down at his crotch. “Someone is already up and ready to bless the goddess this morning.” She hung the robe on a hook nailed into the wall. Bending over, she whisked the sheet off the bed, leaving Danel naked on the mattress. With a grin, she leaned over the bed between his legs and slurped his erection into her mouth like a dancer gesturing to the audience.

He sucked in his stomach as his breath caught in his throat. The sensation was sudden and astonishing. He held himself up with his hands out to the side propping himself up. After caressing the head with an incessant swirling of her tongue, she applied a suction that had him bending forward. She gave him a wicked grin before she grasped him by the root and stroked him. Blindsided, he cried out as he erupted into her gulping throat.

“O goddess,” he gasped as she sucked him dry one last time.

“Truly, the goddess has blessed us,” Satya said, rising from the bed. “Now, we must hurry a bit.” She escorted him to the ablutions room, pointing out the important parts, confirming he was trained in the convolutions of indoor plumbing. When he was done, she escorted him back to the room, where he found his meager clothes washed and folded. A new pair of socks was dangling on the edge of the bed. “They were unrecoverable,” Satya said.

Dressed for the day and draped in his new robe, Satya walked with him down the short hallway, explaining what was to be found where, such as the linen closet. They went down a short three stairs to a larger hallway, which led to one of the long corridors. To the right was the dining room.

Stepping into the common dining room, Danel cataloged first, the men and women in blue robes with cords of different colors and then some other women only, in the coarse natural cotton robes, again with cords of different colors. He counted eight round tables. Recognizing one of the younger faces from yesterday, he made his way over to her table where several others were already eating. All of them had the same color cords around their waist.

“May I join you?” he asked with a hand on the back of the chair.

“Of course,” the familiar woman said. “You’re Danel, correct? I’m Frage.”

“The philosopher,” he replied. “I remember.”

“Sit, Librarian,” Satya said. “I will bring you some breakfast. Two or three eggs?” He gave her his order and she disappeared through a doorway in the corner.

“You passed,” he said to Frage.

“Aye,” she said. “The interview was obvious, don’t you think. “Either you had what they were looking for from the start or you didn’t.”

“Yes,” Danel said, reviewing his memory. “My interviewer basically told me right then and there without making the formal ask. I didn’t want to come off as the cocky fool in the interview, but I sure felt like one by the time the conversation ended. Humble was not the path to take.”

“What I don’t understand is where we fit in the hierarchy of this place,” Frage said. “Acolytes of the Goddess Neftali as servants, even for our elders.” She gestured towards the other tables. “I come from a merchant’s house, and I’ve heard of but never seen such a grand presentation.” She dropped her voice. “It reminds me of royalty.”

“My acolyte spoke my title with reverence,” Danel said. “Strange to be sure.”

“Did she bow down before you?” Frage asked with a raised eyebrow and a smirk.

Danel could not hide the blush. “She took me quite by surprise.” Deciding that he needed to change the subject, “What happened to the other candidates who came with us? What happened to those hundreds and hundreds of others who also came through the front doors?”

“I don’t know,” she said, frowning. “I cannot imagine showing up at the library less than thoroughly prepared. Yet, they did not give us any exams or test our abilities. Explain that one.”

A plate of eggs with meats, bread, and a pile of pureed potato appeared in front of Danel. He wanted to dig into the plate like the famished peasant he was, but his docent stopped him. She placed a fork in his hand. When he went to dig in, she grasped his fist and repositioned the fork between his thumb and fingers, explaining that librarians were expected to dine with the best of manners. She released his newly configured hand and dropped a cloth napkin in his lap, telling him that gravy drips and food stains would not be tolerated. Finally, she placed the knife in his right hand, showing him how to cut the meat into bite size pieces instead of shoveling whole chunks in his mouth. Danel ate an embarrassing, slow breakfast.

“Chopsticks are easier,” he muttered to Frage when he thought Satya was not listening.

After breakfast, the bowls were swept from the tables, but everyone remained seated. A woman with gray hair and glasses on a necklace around her neck stood, calling for everyone’s attention. Her cord was dark blue like her robe. She announced a series of assignments that made no sense to Danel although he tried to follow what she was saying. Assaying the Drohgos Collection and pinning pockets to the volumes was the big announcement followed by hoots and hollas from the other side of the room. Danel looked at his newest companion and shrugged.

“Today,” the woman began, “we welcome our newest Librarians to the fold. They received their yellow cords this morning and will begin their orientation immediately following dismissal from breakfast. If you have a yellow cord,” she said in her clipped tone, “you are to remain seated while everyone else makes their way to their assignment. Remember, Head will be joining us for dinner this evening and your companions are expected to join us. Dress, ladies and gentlemen, will be appropriate and there will be no exceptions. Dismissed.”

Danel looked at his worn clothes underneath his robe, wondering what sort of appropriate the woman was pointing out. Looking around, everyone else was dressed far better than he was. He guessed he would cross that bridge when he came to it. When he looked up from his musing, Danel realized that the room had emptied and only seven dark blue robes remained, including the gray-haired woman.

“Only six?” he pointed out to Frage.

“There is so much we don’t understand that we don’t even know what to ask and where to look,” she said softly. The woman was approaching their table, ordering the two others at a different table to join them where Danel and Frage were sitting. Danel sat up straight.

“Greetings, Librarians,” she said when everyone was seated. “I am Kathedra and I am Second to the Head Librarian. My official title is Second Librarian, but everyone calls me Second. You are joining a rare breed and there are few who can do the job we are tasked to do.”