Chapter 9

How Danel made it down the stairs he had no idea. His sight was blurry, his ears were ringing, and his limbs felt detached from the rest of his body. Someone caught him as he tripped off the last stair. Two strong bodies took him under his shoulders and carefully led or more accurately, dragged him to a room with a comfortable couch, where they left him.

A glass was thrust into his hand. He took a whiff of the contents and the strong brew of fermented honey with brandy awakened his sense of smell. He took a small sip. The taste overcame the feel of gray dust that coated his mouth and gullet. He took another sip, and the gentle burn of the liquid began to travel down his throat, reinvigorating his innards. Finally, he looked up and the world resolved into focus.

He was sitting on a couch of rich blue velvet festooned with red pillows of various shades. Across the low table were two chairs, both filled with people. After another sip and a counting of heartbeats, the figures of the Head Librarian and another man near his age came into focus. “How long?” Danel croaked.

“About three hours,” Head said. “How long did it seem to you?”

“Less than an hour to be sure, but the most terrifying hour of my life. To be in the presence of the god, Yudi, is ... I have no words. Everything the priest, prophet or oracle said about their god was the merest smidgen of the possibility of being the truth. They say that philosophers can split hairs, but the gods can split the world into an infinite number of impossibly thin slices.” He held up his glass. “He offered me tea and I tasted paradise. Not the treacly visions of the death cults, but true essence I smelled, and I tasted. Why did the god do that?”

He took a large drink of the glass, enjoying the affirmation that his body was beginning to function in the manner it was supposed to work.

“You lived to tell the tale,” Head said, taking a sip of his own drink. “What tale do you have to tell?”

Danel looked at the stranger in the other chair and asked him his name. He introduced himself as Bergel and he was the Head Librarian’s partner. Danel looked around the warmly appointed room, trying to figure out where he was. “I’m in your private apartment?” he asked.

“Yes,” Head said. “Considering the nature of your meeting this afternoon, I thought it best to keep your whereabouts restricted from the rest and of course, I trust my partner with the most important secrets. Speak freely and with confidence in this room. The questions of what the god wanted with you and what are the repercussions will determine what the next steps will be, who shall be told what, and what actions should be considered. We haven’t had a Librarian speak with a god in eighty or ninety years, certainly before my time.”

“With good reason,” Danel said, putting down the empty glass. “How a god discombobulates the human form could be a dissertation in and of itself. There is what is said and then there is what is unsaid, over and above all of that are the messages given as subtle hints, wrapped in the enigma of whether I am a reliable witness. Were my perceptions accurate? Did I drink the tea or was it an illusion?”

Bergel held up his hand. “Tell us your tale and we will do our best to help you sort those good questions. I may not be a Librarian, but I listen well.”

As asked, Danel recounted his visit with the god Yudi, from the moment he stepped over the threshold to the final moment he stumbled back onto the landing of the stairs. He described what he saw and experienced with his senses as he quoted to the best of his memory what one said to the other. As he spun his story, his limbs settled down and his organs regained their usual positions. He described the dismissal and his final bow of subservience, which was confirmed by his stomach growling with hunger.

Bergel left for a moment and returned with a warm loaf of bread and a ramekin of bright red jam. Danel helped himself to the food while the other two discussed the ramifications of his story. He had finished his second slice of the coarse black bread when Head cleared his throat.

Head began, “If I heard you correctly, your godly-ordained task is to seek out the foundation floor of the Library of Ibados and explore them. I cannot believe that I was under any divine influence when I assigned you to the Explorers Cadre, yet I am forced to reconsider. How small and fragile the human form is when the gods are present.”

“I think that is the circumstances as they want it, having us believe we are fragile and lesser,” Danel said. “I see a contradiction, Head Librarian, and I saw it in the tearoom. If Yudi was there at the founding of the edifice and he knew every stone and joint, why does he need me to seek? Is there some danger that the god fears, for which he is willing to send a mere mortal? What happens when I find this danger?”

“I see your point and the possible danger,” Head said, pulling at his lip. “However, we are the Librarians, and we’re responsible for the entirety of this edifice. We should know every last stone, every hallway and collection. Our records should be full and complete.”

“Yes, but, most of your fellow Librarians are not quite so adventurous, Vernat,” Bergel said. “This young man is the first in two decades who comes prepared to poke his nose in strange places or raise his fist to defend himself and his fellows. Even in our younger days, you were alone among your cord mates seeking out the unusual collections in the dusty hallways.”

“Yes, yes, Bergie,” Head said. “We thought we were so daring and courageous. In hindsight, my dear man, we were children playing swords and shields with shadows. Where we went and what we did was not so dangerous after all. Danel is being sent to the places I know are dangerous; places I’ve read about and never saw the need to seek out.”

“On the bright side, perhaps this charge gets me out of sorting duty in the mornings,” Danel said with a hint of a question in his words.

“There will come a time when you shall leap at the chance to be assigned sorting duty,” Head said as he rotated his glass in his hand. “Yet, I suspect the god demanding an audience at the first available moment makes the opposite point.” He stroked his beard for a few moments. “Second will call you out for sorting duty tomorrow. Follow the instructions. We shall investigate the god Yudi’s command tomorrow, Danel, but we shall do so following our protocols.”

“Do I need to make pre-arrangements with the medics again?” Bergel inquired with a slight edge.

“Not as of yet, dear,” Head said. “Planning takes time and probably a few practice runs.” Head turned to Danel, “We are probably raising curiosity and suspicions right now with your fellow cords. They are likely celebrating their elevation and their new apartments in the typical course of wine, women, and song. At this point, I think it best we say nothing.

“You didn’t mention it, but did the god give you anything? A talisman or a charm, perhaps?” Danel shook his head in denial. “The usual course is they bestow a gift. If not a physical object, I suspect you will find a new talent or ability emerging. Don’t let it catch you off guard.

“As for now, I will have security escort you to your new apartment,” Head said, placing his empty glass on the tray. “Your fellows will find it odd that you have not explored your new home yet; think of some plausible excuse. While you were having tea, my assistant arranged to have your belongings transferred from your yellow cord room, which solves one issue. I suggest you visit your rooms first, then ask security to locate your friends. This is an evening for celebration, and you might as well take advantage of it because these evenings will begin to disappear as your responsibilities grow.”