"You got Seshat to help you?" Kallen's mouth was open, bemused.
Ariadne nodded and took a book off the top of one of the many stacks now on the table. She opened the book, spine in one palm, while she gently thumbed through the pages with the other. Tiny, weird writing filled most of the pages end to end, while some pages were filled with intricate illustrations framed with gold paint.
Ariadne gently closed the book and set it out on the table, and turned to Kallen.
"Does she not help anyone out?"
"Very rarely, she must like you," Kallen took a walk round the table, as he bent and checked the titles on the spines.
Ariadne leaned gently on the table, her back turned to Kallen, and blew out a breath. Everything around her was spinning out of her control. Faster than she had hoped.
"Where is it! It is not here!" Kallen exclaimed.
Ariadne turned and saw Kallen lifting up stacks of books, and placing them back down with a harsh thump.
"Hey... Calm down, I don't think Seshat would appreciate you breaking her books," Ariadne joked.
The way he was manhandling those books though, it could become a reality. Kallen looked up from reading a spine with strange runes on it, and glared at her.
"It is the one book I know for sure we need, and it is not here. Do NOT tell me to calm down," he moved onto another tower of books and checked them too.
"What does the book look like?" Ariadne asked.
Kallen sighed, paused what he was doing and looked at her.
"You will not find it," he dismissed her with a wave.
"Why not?" Ariadne scanned the table full of towers of books.
They rose and fell in small mountains, some taller than others. Every single one of them either had a cover of brown leather, suede or multicolored hardbacked covers, some looked ancient, with cracked spines, while others were covered in a layer of dust. One particular book stood out to her.
It had no spine covering at all, or cover. It sat in its own pile, with a bundle of scrolls tied next to it. The only thing holding the pages together were thick stitches sewn through each page, and criss crossed over where the spine should be.
The pages themselves were thicker than paper, more like heavy parchment, and they were deeply yellowed with age. Ariadne picked up the book reverently, and held it up.
"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.
"I heard that!"
"You were meant to, you foolish child! Now get back to work." She yelled.
Ariadne picked up the book she had put down earlier and held it out to Seshat.
"Was Kallen looking for this?" Ariadne asked softly.
Seshat barely glanced at it.
"Yes, but you should not have been able to find it, only those of the oldest Fae bloodline can find it."
"So that's what he meant," Ariadne threw a glare in Kallen's direction.
"If looks could kill..." Kallen mocked.
"You would be dead right now," Seshat added and they both heard Kallen cough before knuckling back down to the task set out before him.
Seshat looked at Ariadne softly, and she clicked her fingers. Every book vanished except for the scrolls and the one book Ariadne held in her hands. The table had been cleared, while a parchment slowly rolled out and lumps of iron moved to the four corners of it, and trapped them. It covered the entirety of the five foot table.
Ariadne peered at it out of the corner of her eye. She turned slowly when the vague outline of mountains, valleys and rivers caught her gaze. Seshat gently took the book from Ariadne and laid it on the table. Without touching it, the pages turned until they stopped three quarters of the way through. They were blank, but Ariadne watched in astonishment as the page began to fill with a vivid red ink, and small, flowing script.
"This book is older then me," Seshat's voice was low, reverent.
"How old are you?" Ariadne asked.
Silence reigned for a while, before Seshat answered.
"By Fae standards of time, I am one thousand five hundred years old," Seshat trailed a finger over the map.
"You don't look it. How old does that make the book?"Ariadne complimented her.
For it was true, Seshat did not look her age at all, she looked to be the same age as Kallen. Seshat shuffled on her feet, as she stared at the book and the map unfurled between them.
"The book? It is twice my age and more," Seshat fell quiet.
"It goes back to the beginning of the Fae?" Ariadne was astounded.
"Yes, and no. It predates the creation of us by several hundred years. It goes back all the way to the downfall of the Saraphine." Seshat perused the map and pointed to a small dot on it.
Ariadne looked at it, Taheath Valor it claimed; surrounding it were cave upon cave, as far as the eye could see in either direction. Until it reached the borders either side of it. Trapped between Datora, and Altoria.
"If king Nikolai were to have been captured by the creators or held for any period of time, it would be here," Seshat tapped the name.
"Why?" Ariadne shuddered, as she looked at the name.
"Because Taheath Valor is the fourth realm, in order to get there, you have to pass through the mirror realm and no one who has entered has ever returned." Seshat's voice was filled with pain.
"No, I mean why would the creators capture and keep my father there?" Ariadne realised what she had said too late.
Seshat looked at her, a slow smile crept onto her lips.
"The rumours are true then, his daughter has returned to Altoria." Seshat almost sang the words.
Ariadne should have kept quiet, but she was tired. So tired. She hadn't had any sleep for a whole day.
The rattle of Kallen's restraints caught Ariadne's attention. Ariadne peered around the bookcase and saw Kallen straining against the chair. His jaw was tight and Ariadne could see his muscles straining down the column of his neck. His eyes were filled with anger and fear, as he made the chair jump.
"Ari. Run!" Kallen's voice was a hoarse rasp.
Ariadne turned to see Seshat stalking her. Ariadne backed up and bumped into a slender, warm chest. Ariadne turned and saw Lena standing there, her hands were clean of any blood, and they shot out to grip Ariadne's wrist. Ariadne tried to shake them off, but her grip was like a vice and Lena would not let go.
Lena stared into Ariadne's eyes and in that moment, she took a leap of faith. It was either trust Lena or face Seshat.
Lena stepped towards Ariadne properly, her arms wrapped around her.
"Close your eyes," Lena whispered.
"The book, I need the book," Ariadne pleaded with Lena.
"Close your eyes," Lena repeated.
"No!" Ariadne retorted.
"Stupid girl," Lena clicked her fingers, and she heard Seshat scream.
Ariadne closed her eyes and felt the world shift.