Chapter 53 — A Convenient Vesali

With the sudden appearance of the second-year Library Guild boy, Ria glanced back to where the secret door had been and was relieved to see only normal bookshelves. Even to her magic sight, the preservation enchantments obscured the mechanism to open the door. Finding the way to open it again would take time, and without figuring out the trick to the hidden room’s inner door (or maybe getting Aldri to open a portal) they wouldn’t be able to head back the way they came.

The boy from the Library Guild gave them a greeting nod. “It’s rare to see anyone in the historical archives. Not many interested in these old documents and official records.”

Ugh. Ria mentally groaned. With her in a helmet and armor, Keira costumed like a ghost, and Iselyn trying to stay out of view behind Aldri, they looked totally suspicious!

The cheerful expression that bloomed on Orlisi’s face only gave Ria further cause to worry as the elf girl took the lead to smoothly volunteer, “We’re doing research on historical events related to Archmage Luventi.”

The boy’s mouth twitched up in a poorly suppressed smile. “Dressed like that?”

The troublemaking elf motioned the boy closer conspiratorially and leaned in to fake-whisper, “The first years were a bit embarrassed.”

“I bet,” the boy laughed.

Keira huffed and Ria grimaced under her helmet. The cover story was embarrassing, but it was probably better than anything she could come up with. A glance in Aldri’s direction was met with an apologetic shrug, but the spatial mage was still grinning at her expense.

“I’m Orlisi by the way,” the elf girl held out a hand to be clasped, which the boy did. “That’s Aldri.”

“Harold,” the boy offered as he acknowledged Aldri’s nod. “It’s pretty cool to find one of last year’s Newcomer Champions doing research in the library.”

“Hey, we’re not all book-avoiding arena crazies,” Orlisi rebutted amiably, and the boy made a sheepish expression. “Say, Harold, we’re pretty much done here, could you show us to where we can find a detailed map of the city?”

The boy shrugged. “Sure, let me finish my rounds filling up the preservation enchantments, and I’ll take you back to the main floor.”

“We’ll meet you over by the stairs,” Orlisi offered motioning in a direction off to the left, and Harold nodded as he returned his focus to the stones embedded at the ends of each shelf.

Ria wasn’t the only one to let out a held breath once the boy was out of sight.

“Ah, I thought we were done for,” Keira muttered. “Who would’ve thought that tunnel led to the Grand Library of all places!”

“It makes sense though,” Aldri mused. “The kings would want private access to the archives and a place to read.”

“Rather than that, Ria, help me get out of this costume,” Keira demanded from under her mask.

“Don’t forget your insignias,” Orlisi reminded, her insignia glinting in the pale blue light, already affixed without Ria noticing.

By the time the second-year found them again, Ria and Keira had stored away their armor and such and they all had properly pinned on their academy insignias.

“Giving up on the disguises, huh,” the boy, Harold, commented with a chuckle. “Don’t worry, I’ll keep your secret. You’d be surprised—the kind of stuff that I get asked to help find.”

Orlisi also chuckled. “I bet. Snow worms are a great prank.”

“Hah! I heard that there was an incident with those last year,” Harold replied, grinning.

The elf girl pretended to look into the distance and hummed a tune, before glancing back with a grin to match the library boy’s.

Ria rolled her eyes and wasn’t sure how to feel about how their adventure was turning out. The excitement of danger and exploring lost places had been suddenly replaced with normalcy. But she was still feeling tension, and new worries were bubbling up in her stomach. Did the books they took belong to the library? Would they trigger some sort of alarm when they tried to leave?

It wasn’t as if she could just hand over the books on Vesali magic or the map of the castle and interior palace’s lower floors without having to answer about where she found them and why she took them…

When they reached the upper floors of the library, golden light was still streaming in from the domed windows. The sight of daylight was a relief, but the library was still busy with students even with evening approaching. Goldday and Divinesday sure saw a lot more students studying and socializing than the other days did.

Fortunately, Ria’s group weren’t the only ones not in their formal robes. Many of the other students had opted for similar casualwear, perhaps having returned from outings in the city proper, or perhaps because they didn’t have to attend any classes on Divinesday.

On their way to the maps section, a pair of first-year girls that Ria didn’t recognize timidly asked Ria and her tournament teammates to write and sign a message on their program brochures for the day’s tournament.

After agreeing and seeing the girls’ expectant eyes, Ria was uncertain what to write. She glanced Orlisi’s way but quickly decided the prank-obsessed elf would trick her into writing something embarrassing. While she was hesitating, Keira and Iselyn had finished adding their comments: Good fortune with your studies! and Thanks for your support!

What Ria remembered most about the tournament was the cheers from the crowd and how they filled her with strength and motivation to push herself beyond her limits. Decided, Ria put her everflow quill to the paper.

Thanks for cheering us on!

She wrote it and signed her name with the glyph-like fancy script she had designed for her formal reply to Keira’s invitation so many months ago. The girls looked ecstatic.

When the girls were walking away and Orlisi was teasing her for being famous, Ria caught a bit of their conversation.

(“It’s a shame Zena wasn’t with them.”)

(“Ah, but she’s so much scarier to approach…”)

(“Tell me about it! I bumped into her earlier and couldn’t do it!”)

(“We’ll have to be courageous, now that we have three of the four!)

“I can only hope someday I’ll discover a spell that’ll make me famous,” Harold was enviously saying when Ria returned her attention back to her group.

“Xander favors those who take chances,” Orlisi encouraged.

“So it is said,” Harold agreed with a bit of a smile as he reached up and pulled a large fabric scroll from a cubby with several similar copies and unrolled it onto a nearby table. “Vesali City— with locations of importance marked. Will this map do?”

Orlisi and Keira were already gathered close around the map with Aldri viewing from over Keira’s shoulder.

“Yes, this will do nicely,” Orlisi answered with a grateful smile in Harold’s direction. “Thanks for your help, Harold. We can put it back when we’re done.”

“You’re welcome. It wasn’t a problem,” the boy replied, ducking his head before leaving them to their research.

Keira pointed to a location on the map. “This should be my family’s estate.”

“And the Grand Library is here.” Orlisi pointed.

“The tunnel was straight. Maybe if we plot a line through both points?” Aldri suggested, but just looking at where Keira and Orlisi pointed, it was obvious where that line would take them.

“So, the other direction of the passageway really does lead to the castle,” Orlisi noted with eyes gleaming with excitement.

“We’d need to bring in someone with authority to explore the lost portions of the old palace,” Aldri said. “Someone who would hopefully keep it secret.”

Ria’s eyes widened as both Orlisi and Aldri meaningfully leveled gazes her way. Who could she possibly know that… no, they couldn’t mean…? Phaelys?

“What if that tunnel was sealed to keep the undead from getting out?” Keira worried.

“I want to go and see it,” Iselyn said quietly from where she had snuck up beside Ria to look at the map, Malleron on her shoulder, interestedly observing. “Especially if undead are there.”

Keira threw up her hands in exasperation. “It’s my estate and servants that’ll be put in danger if this goes wrong, you know!”

Aldri consolingly patted Keira’s shoulder. “If a simple tunnel collapse kept them out this long, I’m sure Ranger and the five of us can arrange something similar again.”

“Woof!” Ranger agreed.

The remarks were met with an eye roll from Keira, but the golden-haired girl seemed to grudgingly accept the premise with a muttered, “Fine. But if it turns out too dangerous, we need to get Aunt Asara involved.”

Everyone cringed, but Orlisi nodded. “Okay, that’s fair, Keira.” The elf girl then grew a diabolical smile as she again looked Ria’s way. “Can we count on you to recruit that someone with plausible authority to explore the lost sections of the palace, Ria?”

This time everyone’s gaze turned her way to await her answer.

Ugh. Wouldn’t Phaelys be just as likely to turn them in or claim any findings for his family?

Ria thought back over her interactions with the Vesali boy and his eagerness to hear about her adventures… Maybe it really was possible that he would agree to almost anything to get a chance to experience a real adventure?

They would have to find a way to separate him from his chaperone… but if they could solve the way to re-enter the tunnel from the library, then even that might be possible. She hadn’t seen him with a chaperone the times they had met during class, after all.

Phaelys finding out about her taking the books on crystal magic was a risk, but if he could be convinced to allow it and maybe even help her learn…

“It might be possible,” Ria admitted. “But I won’t see him again until Goldday and the debut is the next day.”

Grinning with glee at the answer, Orlisi waved her hand to deny Ria’s concern, “Don’t worry about that, Ria. We’ll want to get better prepared. We’ll need time to prepare and to do more research on treasures that might have been lost down there.”

“The opportunity to explore a location lost for almost a hundred years…” Aldri breathed out in excitement of his own.

They discreetly discussed things for a while longer until Keira noted the reddening sunlight and reminded them that dinner would be ready soon and they should head back. Orlisi and Aldri volunteered to stay late and do more research. Iselyn also apologized and opted out, leaving Ria and Keira to head back with only Ranger.

“I feel bad for Bienna having to cook extra and then for it to go to waste,” Keira said as they navigated the maze of shelves toward the library exit.

“Ranger would probably be happy to help finish off any extra portions, and I’m fine with left-overs,” Ria volunteered to cheer up her friend.

Ranger enthusiastically woofed his agreement, earning a wry smile from Keira. “Somehow, I think both those suggestions would upset the woman to no end.”

“Woof…”

Ria tilted her head at Keira, not understanding, but her confusion was interrupted by nearby students offering congratulations on her tournament victory. The congratulations drew the attention of other students milling about and waiting in the lines to borrow books, and more congratulations mixed with cheers rippled through the space.

Amazed by the spontaneous reaction of her peers, Ria wasn’t sure how to respond at first, but she remembered Zena’s advice at the arena and smiled and waved, thanking them for their support and encouragement. Keira recovered shortly and did the same.

Exiting the library required the signing of a few more event brochures, but that was when Ria realized it. They had exited the library! No alarms. No guard mages in academy colors had come to detain them.

Ria breathed out a sigh of relief.

Ranger woofed a question, and Ria denied it was anything to worry about. Of course, that assertion drew a raised eyebrow from her untrusting familiar. While she was assuring him that everything was fine, Keira contacted Harvin to arrange transportation.

On the way to the gate, they stopped by the Enchanters Guild to pick up a vermin repelling stone so Ria wouldn’t have to keep recasting the ward in the tunnel. Keira also insisted that Ria purchase a magically secure storage for her ‘recent ill-gotten acquisitions’. Having discreet and protected storage wasn’t a bad idea for storing her books containing restricted magic—particularly if she didn’t want to risk carrying the books around at school—so she didn’t fight her friend’s efforts.

While they were waiting for the carriage just outside the academy wall, Keira’s voiced “Oh, I wonder if he finished his task for my father?” caused Ria’s head to snap up from where she was lost in exploring the properties of her newly unlocked gate.

Ria’s heartbeat quickened. Instead of Harvin, Jarrel was driving the carriage!

And something about him was different. He looked more confident, but that wasn’t it.

“Thanks for coming to pick us up, Jarrel,” Keira greeted as if everything were normal.

“Just doing my job, Young Lady Kiera,” Jarrel returned, and his mouth slid into a wry smile. “From what I was told back at the estate, I’m sure how you ended up at the academy will be an interesting story.”

As she and Keira climbed into the carriage, Ria couldn’t help tilting her head at the something that was different about Jarrel. Was he… sharper… somehow?

Suddenly, Ria remembered Jarrel’s off-hand question before he began returning home exhausted with his clothes slashed up. Her advice… there was no way… was there?

“What’s with that look, Ria?” Jarrel asked with a laugh as he skillfully worked the reigns to start the horses leading the carriage away. “It hasn’t been that long since I last escorted you home, has it?”