Dance of the Damned (Completed)

23

"Is this it," she chimed.

Kallen didn't even look.
"No, I have told you, you cannot find it. The book has one rule, no one currently at court has been able to find it because of it..." he went back to checking the last small tower of books.

"Oh for heavens sake, would you just look! I'm pretty sure it could fall apart if I keep touching it," she taunted him.

Kallen's head whipped up, and the hand he had put on a book to remove it moved so fast, they all came tumbling down, the spines bouncing on the floor. Ariadne gasped, as pages littered the floor like shattered limbs. Covers lay askew like torn clothes. Ariadne gently placed the book in her hand down on the table and stifled her gasp of horror with her other hand.

Kallen bent to the floor and tried to put the pages back into their respective books, but the damage was done.

Seshat appeared from nowhere, and her face was a mask of raging fury, aimed at Kallen. Kallen struggled to stand up and bow deeply. Seshat waggled a fist at him, her anger barely contained.

"How. Dare. You!" Spit flew from her snarling lips.

Her voice was guttural, instead of the soft lilting tone Ariadne had become accustomed to. Seshat's hair whipped behind her, in a furious wind, while strands fell from the intricate braid. Her eyes blazed with cold fury, and Kallen began backing up, into a book case.

Ariadne froze. She watched in abject misery as Kallen knocked more books off the bookcases behind him.

Kallen stiffened, and his eyes pleaded with Seshat. She ignored him.

In a burst of practiced elegance and anger, her hands danced in a series of complicated moves. Books flew back onto the shelves, pages fixed themselves back into their books, and in a great sweeping wave of air, Kallen was pushed into a chair that had appeared when Seshat snapped her fingers.

Seshat's face calmed to a venomous smile, as she clicked her fingers and restraints snapped over the arms of Kallen's chair, locking his wrists to the arms. Another wave of air pushed the chair into an adjacent clear space, likewise occupied by another table. The books that had fallen on the floor and their pages were neatly laid out upon the table top.

Kallen didn't fight back, but Ariadne had expected him to, he probably knew better.

Seshat walked over to Kallen's table and forcibly pointed at the pages, then several open books.

"You will fix these, by hand!" She commanded.

Kallen went to click his fingers, going to use magic and Seshat growled. Kallen's fingers stilled.

"You will not use magic. This is your punishment for breaking my books. This should teach you patience and appreciation. If I find out you have so much as thought about using magic to fix them, more pages will fall out. Do you understand?"

"Seshat, come now. We do not have time for this," Kallen drawled, his voice was velvet.

"Your parlor tricks shall not sway me, do not try them again!" Seshat turned on her heel, and left Kallen alone to begin the laborious task of binding the pages back into the books.

Seshat approached Ariadne, and she backed up slowly. Seshat smiled warmly at her and Ariadne stilled.

"You, dear child do not need to fear me, you respect books, he does not," she nodded back towards Kallen.