Chapter 5

“How many times did you get lost yesterday,” Bello asked Danel as he entered the little room off the formal dining room. The high kitchen was closed presently, which made the room and the hallway an ideal place to sit and cram. They could leave the door open, and no one would pass by or disturb them.

“Twice by accident and once by design,” Danel said. “Now that I understand that the staircase north of Fauntel’s reading room rotates each time after you take it, I run up to the top landing and step out, then I run back down and I’m one corridor east. It’s a crazy system but it works.”

“Gives me a headache,” Bello said. “I wandered for twenty minutes yesterday and had to ask a Wycoxyl acolyte for directions. I was mortified.”

“You got where you needed to go?”

“No, I took her home with me and we wrestled in the sheets until early morn. I’m way behind putting in the study hours these last few days.” Bello grimaced as he waved at the two texts on the table. “I’ve never been a lady’s man before but some of these acolytes see my robe and, and, I can’t stop myself.”

“O mortal man, given to the weaknesses of flesh and blood, who wilt then rise to the heights of noble vision when the urges are earthly bound and unquenched?”

“Someone got laid last night?” Frage said, dropping her books on the table.

“Our good man here found yet another willing acolyte and well, you know the rest of the sordid tale,” Danel said.

“I should say so,” Frage said. “After another chapter on cataloging diary entries, I marched over to the night kitchen, and I dragged that Chuppa-Nukari hunk that I’ve had my eye on for a week to my bed. Strong, virile, and able to go the distance I must say. Yes, I can pick the winners.”

Both Bello and Frage looked at Danel who blushed a deep crimson.

“Cough it up, Librarian. You did something last night,” Frage said with one eye squinting.

“You know that Kumme priestess that arrived a couple of days ago with questions. Second had to do the intake because she was that important?”

“You nailed a priestess?” Bello said. “I bow before your humble presence.”

Danel shook his head. “She swore her god led her through the hallways to me. Folks, I don’t think she was looking for ecstasy; I think she was hunting a sperm donor. She came, we did our thing, and she left. I feel kind of dirty today.”

“Well, we all had an opportunity to get some tension released,” Frage said. “Let us thank the gods for the opportunities they send us and then pound the books. I’m feeling the power tonight and metaphysics is one big ole’ bundle of boredom to conquer.”

They studied and quizzed each other for three hours. “I’ve reached my limit,” Frage declared. “Who’s up for a handful of those fried noodles dusted with the hot chili spice?” They all agreed, slipping their books into their messenger bags, and stretching their cramped muscles.

Danel had no problem guiding them down to the First Floor, second corridor at the twenty-second hallway. Of the six yellow-cord librarians, he was the first and best at navigating the ways of the Library of Ibados. He found the passages a great game and a puzzle while his classmates took to the task as if everyone must learn to scrub the water closets.

The night kitchen had a special drink only their staff knew how to make. They were able to force bubbles into the water with a special device that was a cylinder with a rod that went in and out of it. One could flavor the sparkling water with the juice of any fruit that was available. Danel sat down with a glass of dragon fruit water and a plate of fried dumplings, darkly tan and layered with red dust.

As he quietly munched on his nighttime treat, he felt a presence at his right shoulder. Looking up, he smiled and said, “Hello, stranger. I haven’t seen you for a while.”

Satya smiled in return. “I have missed seeing you as well, Danel.”

“What brings you here?” he asked. He glimpsed his two study partners watching the exchange with naked curiosity.

“My mistress, the Priestess Aungsul, wishes to have a word with you. Now, if possible.”

The smile slipped from Danel’s face. “Do you know what the priestess wants?”

“She did not say,” Satya replied, staring at her toes.

Knowing that acolytes did not violate orders from their superiors, Danel could tell she had been ordered to say nothing more than his presence was requested. Even if he tried to bargain with “the only reason I would come now is...”, she would not be able to respond in kind. Furthermore, he surmised that if he did not answer the summons, Satya would be punished for her failure to bring him. Some of the orders were free with the whip and other chastisements.

He popped one last fried dumpling in his mouth and washed it down with the last of his sparkling water. Standing, he bid his study partners a good night and with a hand gesture, ordered Satya to lead the way. In his short time in the building, he had not traveled to any of the enclaves of the Orders dedicated to one of the gods. Up until this moment, his life had been study, sleep, and some occasional sex thrown in to remind him there was more to life. Even his drinking was curtailed to the sixth night because there were no classes on Seventh day. He was committed to passing his exams and there was no excuse that would suffice to derail him as far as he was concerned.

Now, he was summoned. Second had cautioned them during one of her long dissertations that the priesthoods were volatile and competitive among one another. As he dragged that memory up, he first recalled her warning not to become involved in their internecine conflicts. Librarians were to stand above all that drama. If the drama escalated, the Librarian could quench it in one swoop by demanding an oracle be solicited from the god. Of course, the consequence was having to deal directly with a god, which no one ever wants.

He placed his hand in Satya’s as they walked. “Tell me,” Danel began, “would you have been punished if I had refused to come?”

She refused to make eye contact but nodded her head.

“Satya, your god desires obedience but they do not wish abdication of the mind. Your priestess violates the spirit of the law even if she is within the letter of the law. I came, not because of your priestess or her request, I came because I cannot abide you being punished for something entirely not your fault. Do you understand?”