The aisle stretched off into the distance. Shelves towered above her. She removed the nearest book and it fell apart in her hands; with a grimace of disgust she flung it to the floor and wiped her hands on her pants.
The aisle soon intersected with another. At the intersection she looked left and right: an identical vista stretched out in both directions, vanishing away into the murky light. How many books were here? A million? Everyone had heard of the Brotherhood's Arcane Vault, said to house the banned objects of centuries. Had she stumbled upon it? But surely Corvus knew it was here. That was a disturbing thought though, and she forced it to the back of her mind.
She thought she heard a sliding, stealthy sound from one of the hidden aisles, and stopped to listen. The silence drew in like a cloak. The air was warm and somehow thick, muffled, and the sound was her own heart thudding in her chest seemed unusually loud in that dead quiet. She heard no other sound, so moved on.
When she reached the far wall she followed it around the perimeter of the room, assuming she would eventually come to another door. She considered going back the way she had come, but returning through those corridors, past those skulls and doorways, was unthinkable.
The books here seemed in better condition. She stopped from time to time and took one down. There was a book full of arcane diagrams and equations. One written in peculiar hieroglyphs. Another contained crude woodcuts of a woman being burned on a pyre, a pack of dogs tearing a man apart, heads mounted on stakes outside a castle. She quickly put that one back on the shelf.
There came a cough from behind her. She whirled around.
"I hope I didn't frighten you." Corvus said.
She had no idea how he had crept up on her. "I – you didn't – I mean, you did. I'm glad to see you," she blurted, but wasn't sure she meant it.
He shuffled towards her. Ludwig wasn't with him.
"I got lost," she explained.
"Perfectly understandable."
"What is this place?"
"A library."
She repeated the strange word under her breath.
"Did you find anything interesting?" he said. His eyes were searching.
"Skellingtons. What happened to them?"
"They died in the Plague. A long time ago."
"Is this the Arcane Vault?"
"No."
"How did you know I was here?"
"Ludwig alerted me. When you took longer than expected I figured you'd got lost and came to find you. I take it you've come for Grim?"
"No, I mean – I just wanted to check he was okay."
"Naturally," Corvus said, but his mouth twitched. "You'd better come upstairs. No doubt you've had enough sightseeing for one day."
When they reached Corvus's study she found Grim curled up on an armchair. She crouched down beside it, hoping he would throw himself into her arms; instead he slowly stretched, jumped down to the floor, and flicked contemptuously past her. She sent a thought to him
(I missed you)
but he ignored her.
Well, she could deal with his moods. She was just glad to see him again.
"You'll have to be careful," Corvus said.
"I know."
"If it becomes a problem he's most welcome to stay again."
"It won't," Carmen said, but she wondered.
Voting is as easy as one, two... I forget how the rest of that goes.