The Traitor's Heir

Chapter Twelve

Almost immediately Quara realized that the library wasn't actually as dark as it had seemed when they first stepped through the door. The contrast from the blinding white of the marble outside had made it feel that way for a moment, but almost immediately her eyes began to adjust to the dim lighting, and as Quara gazed around she had an immediate appreciation for the design that had created this paradise of books.

"I've never seen a room this beautiful in my entire life." Quara breathed the words as she stared around, overwhelmed not only by the seemingly endless rows of books that stretched on for as far as she could see, but by the architecture of the building itself.

The entrance to the library was actually rather small compared to the room that it opened into. There were double doors, so that patrons might walk in going one direction and out in the other at the same time on a busy day, but other than the gold flecked dragon carvings that Quara's finger tips had grazed as she trailed behind her sister, they were rather ordinary when compared to the room she was standing in now, and seemed much too small for such a grand entryway.

The outer door of the Palace Library had brought them into a massive room. The contrast between the world outside the library and the one inside its walls, was dramatic. Quara had half expected that inside it would be much the same outside. Instead every surface was covered in a dark wood paneling that had been polished to shine every bit as brightly as the world of marble that stood outside the doors. Many of the panels were smooth but others were ornately carved and told stories that were already ancient when they were carved into the flat wooden surfaces when the City was at its height. Quara glanced at them knowing that in the present age they had long since been forgotten in all but the dimmest of legends. Dragons larger than mountains slept with snow upon their backs and smaller members of the dragon family fought a war against a fierce looking fleet of griffins in a tree filled scene.

Quara's eyes continued to be drawn upward and she gasped, frozen in place when her eyes found the top of the wooden panels. The ceiling was not a ceiling at all. It was a massive stained glass arch that ran away from where they were standing, as far as the eye could see. The colors were as dazzling as any jewel that she had ever seen and for a moment she stood and stared, her eyes tracing the outlines of the shapes that danced across the glass.

There was a dragon and a griffin and a centaur. A mermaid sat on a large stone, combing her hair, and an enormous serpent made the waters around it boil as if the cobalt sea that it swam through was enraged. And then there were creatures that she had no name for, and her eyes must have registered a question, for Lina, who up until that moment had been watching her sister silently, gauging her reaction, decided to speak. "These are some of the Za'Reekan creatures, who live in the far north, but really this isn't the most spectacular part of the library at all. You see the library wasn't built to be used by the people of the city at all. It was built by a book loving king many years ago. He spent many hours here and his collection grew and grew. Over time his heirs continued to add to the library, even those who hardly turned the page of a book outside of their lessons, because having the largest library in the world had become yet another sign of the kingdom's wealth and success."

"The original entry way, the Grand Entry as it was called, faces one of the largest of the palace's many courtyards. That is the entry way that visiting nobility and heads of state would use. And of course it's the entry way that the royal family would use, if they didn't use the connecting passage that goes directly to the king's quarters in a private portion of the library."

"The level that we're on right now is one of the smallest of the library's twenty two floors, and is also one of the highest. There are a few towers, which were never made available to the public, closer to the body of the palace itself. The largest floors, however, are far down under our feet, deep within the mountain. Some go on and never seem to end. The deepest of the levels if far below us, and is at least two miles long. I haven't explored the entire thing yet."