Chapter 20

“You look a little peaked this morning, Danel,” Second said. She leaned back in her chair behind her desk. Her demeanor was remote, but her eyes were raven bright. Drumming a quick beat on the arm of her chair, she paused, waiting for a response.

“The priestess Bahya,” Danel said, hoping that dropping the name was enough to answer the question and close off the avenue. He wrapped his fingers around his other fingers to stop himself from rubbing his eyes. He was still squinting though.

“We’ve had a discussion after we had a lecture on the proper protocol when dealing with priests and priestesses, correct?”

“Your memory is correct, Second. In my defense, she did not voluntarily come to me, nor did I pursue her. Her goddess, Raua, sent her and laid instructions upon her. The goddess has taken an interest in my explorations.”

“Having sex with Raua’s priestess is part of the goddess helping you? I find that excuse a little thin, Danel.”

Danel held up his hands as they rested in his lap, as if he was gesturing a half-surrender. He had no reason to give quarter, but he was aware that he could also make a powerful enemy if the topic was not handled well.

“The Daughters of Raua are not well known in the Library of Ibados. Raua, among her many attributes, is the goddess of intimacy. Her priestesses are trained in the art of intimacy. I made the mistake of assuming they were using a polite term for sex, and I was humiliated when I acted on that assumption. It was one of the worst nights of my life. Yesterday morning, Priestess Bahya became an oracle for her goddess, speaking the oracle and receiving the goddess’s direct instructions as well. Last night, she returned to my bed with a new determination of what she was supposed to do. I experienced a long night of instruction in the art of intimacy although, I have no idea how this knowledge is supposed to help me find the depths. As she promised though, I learned new knowledge.”

“These priestesses are courtesans is what you are saying,” Second said, not happy at all.

“Maybe, they’re not courtesans in the usual sense. They’re masters of the art and teachers,” Danel said. “Kings and nobles pay them to teach the art for a week or a month. The fee is a significant revenue stream for their temple. Their goddess sanctions these teachings and encourages them. They may be viewed as akin to courtesans, but please do not make the mistake of categorizing them as prostitutes.”

“If what you say is true, then I can approach them as well?”

“They don’t particularly like Librarians, Second. They don’t like their sister and brother Orders either. Bahya is most comfortable among the common folk such as the members of my Explorers’ Cadre.”

“Very well, I will lay this topic to rest, but I’m not satisfied with your answers. I will be having a discussion with Head over your extracurricular activities.”

“He already knows, Second. He interviewed Bahya extensively last evening when he learned she had been touched by an oracle. His questioning was not gentle on either of us.”

She stared at him silently for a moment. “What have you learned from your assignment to the cadre?”

“I learned that a good deal of information concerning the Library of Ibados has been forgotten, hidden, and possibly suppressed. I learned that the builders and their gods put many safeguards in place to lock down the lowest floors of the building. There are ample reasons why good and reasonable people avoid the basements for the most part. Why spend days if not weeks wandering down empty hallways and chancing upon remote rooms holding some unknown danger.”

“Are you saying that we or our predecessors made mistakes?”

“Nothing of the sort, Second. We are charged with providing the information to answer questions. Yet, I believe we’ve also been charged with overseeing information that the gods have determined must be stored for them alone. The entire structure of how we operate as Librarians is predicated on that second premise.”

“Do you really think our task is to hide information?” Second asked with an icy tone.

“Hide is the wrong word,” Danel said, trying to back up from whatever was irritating her. “We are tasked with keeping safe what the gods have directed us to keep. The balance between the two must be maddeningly difficult.”

Two twirled her necklace between her fingers. “It is, Librarian Danel, it is.” She paused. “The fact that you figured out part of our work without the benefit of reaching the higher cord levels tells me that you are an interesting Librarian.”

She leaned forward, cupping a hand over her fist with her elbows on the desktop. “You are up to your eyeballs in the chaos the gods have bestowed upon us. I don’t like priests and priestesses in our precincts. When they’re here, things like not getting enough sleep happen, only worse. They are harbingers of disruption because their gods use them for purposes they fail to reveal to us. They make our jobs that much more difficult.”

“Her goddess assigned her to help us in the explorers’ cadre,” Danel whined. “Head confirmed it. The goddess gave us instructions that helped us yesterday too. What would you have me do?”

“Not spend all night fucking her would be a good start,” Second said. “You’ll be practically useless today.”

“I cannot afford to slow down. We have a minor collection up at the eighty-second hallway on the First Corridor dedicated to machines. I need to get there today. I’ll pour myself another cup of tea.”

“No, Danel. You’re going back to your room for an hour’s nap. You will then report to Head, who by that point will have had a conversation with me. The direction you’re going is not healthy or productive on many levels, and I’m concerned. I realize you report to Head, but he can be far too narrowly focused and not paying attention to the needs of everyone under him.”

She stood up with a frown on her face. “The gods are active again in the Library of Ibados and all of us need to be wary. I will send someone to wake you in an hour and you had best be in your room.”

Danel bowed and departed.

He struggled to awaken as someone shook his shoulder. He creaked open one eye, espying his favorite security person in the entire Library of Ibados. He slipped an arm closer and then grabbed her by the elbow, pulling her down to his bed.

“We don’t have time, Danel,” Ka’an said. “I’m on duty. We’ve had this conversation before.”

“Nothing dirty or nefarious, Ka’an. I just want to say ‘hi’ and tell you I miss you. You are special in my life and every time I see you, the world is a little brighter.” He let go. “I’m up. Your duty is fulfilled and now, you are free to chase the evil scientist through the hallways before he makes it outside with the Tome of Doom from the Fullah PooPoo collection.”

She sat up, cuffing him on the shoulder. “Fullah PooPoo? My, you have gone over the falls at the edge of the world.”

“I’m trying to clean up my language when I’m with people like you,” Danel said, stretching his arms and legs.

“Like me?”

“People I respect and appreciate; people I want to spend time with just because of who they are; because I like you.”

“Did someone knock you on the head? You’ve never talked to me like this before? You’re like bang! boom! and fuck’em all, let’s do this.”