A court of water and worlds

Chapter #41

Gwyn was currently running back to Merrill's office to give her back the books they took.
She got to the office before Merrill and quickly set the books on her desk exactly where she had found them.
She quietly stepped out of the room and shut the door.
An hour had passed and Merrill still wasn't here, this was not usually like her at all. Gwyn was starting to worry.
She tried to distract herself with research about Azriel's dagger.
She looked up glowing objects, objects that make people glow, magical daggers, other worldly daggers and found nothing.
Well not nothing.
She had found that most magical or made items came in sets of two or three, never just one.
And like the trove Nesta found last year, had three items.
Gwyn suspected that if this was a made item there was likely another object like it.
So she started looking for made daggers or another trove with a dagger or if this might be another object of the dread trove.
She finally came across a book with no title, just a blank silver cover.
She opened and found that long ago there had been two made swords dipped in the cauldron.
The second sword, Gwyndolin, was put in the cauldron by a priestess named Oleanna.
The first narben had dated back so far they didn't know who had made that sword.
Gwyn furrowed her brows. these were about swords not daggers—
Gwyns eyes lit up as she found a passage that said the made items Gwyndolin was a knife or dagger.
She wrote all of this down with a smile on her face.
She was so happy she found something.
But the passage said something else that made Gwyn's skin crawl.
"For whoever carries Gwyndolin, carries the burdens of life.
Hardships, pain and agony lay within this knife.
For whoever carries Narben, carries the kiss of death.
They carry darkness that snuffs out the light until there is nothing left.
just as their owners, each was created in a different time.
Just as their owners they are bound to call each other "mine."
One is an abyss of darkness the other a shimmering veil,
When we are brought together it is us you shall hail.
The sword of death and the dagger of light,
Come find us if you dare, I promise we won't bite."
What the fuck?
So there was a dagger and a sword. Gwyn continued to write all of this down.
If Gwyndolin was the dagger of life, maybe it glowed like a truth teller.
Gwyn's eyes widened. Did Azriel truly possess a long lost made item. If so then where was the other one, the sword of death. If they are supposed to be together then why weren't they.
Gwyn needed to slow down. She didn't even know if truth teller was Gwyndolin.
She took a deep breath and heard someone say her name.
It was Mor.
"Hey," Gwyn said, tearing her eyes away from her books.
Mor leaned against the table Gwyn was seated at.
"I have a question," Mor said and Gwyn waited.
"I was wondering when Emrie's birthday is?" Mor asked and Gwyn had a shit eating grin on her face.
"Don't look at me like that," Mor said, crossing her arms.
"I'm not looking at you like anything," Gwyn said innocently and Mor rolled her eyes.
"It's March fifth," Gwyn said and added, "why did you ask?"
"Well I love birthdays but for some reason Em wouldn't tell me when her birthday was because she says "it's a meaningless day because she is immortal and—-
"And doesn't want to celebrate the day she was born into a world of hate," Gwyn finished for her and laughed.
"She really told you that?" Gwyn asked and Mor nodded.
"Yeah Em hates her birthday, it took me and Nesta a while to get it out of her, but prying her with romance novels usually does the trick," Gwyn said smiling.
"Noted," Mor said and sat up from the desk.
"Wait," Gwyn said, grabbing Mor's hand and she stopped.
"Be good to her, ok. She deserves all the happiness in the world, so if you hurt her, I will hurt you," Gwyn said the last words with a little bit more anger than she intended.
Mor smiled and nodded, "I would never hurt her, I promise," Mor said and quietly added, "I love her."
Gwyn felt tears prick at her eyes.
"Good," was all Gwyn said and Mor gave her a small smile and walked away.
Gwyn was so happy for Emrie. She deserves all the love in the world.
She couldn't stop the silent tears from falling down her face.
Why wasn't she happy? Why was there still a hole in Gwyn's chest?
Maybe she would have to live with the constant sadness, the constant pain. That was just life.
—-
Gwyn had stayed in the library all day into the night only stopping to eat lunch with Flora.
Merrill hadn't come. Gwyn asked Clotho about it and Clotho said Merrill had been in her room all day.
Gwyn wanted to go and check on her but she didn't know where Merrill's room was.
So she continued to read and read until her eyelids got so heavy she had to hold them open.
She heard footsteps, and turned around to see who it was. No one was usually ever in the library this late.
Gwyn especially, she hated how Erie, and quiet it was at night.
"Elain," Gwyn said, watching Elain's blurry figure move towards Gwyn.
Gwyn rubbed her eyes and she took in Elain fully.
She looked very disheveled. Her dress was muddy and a little ripped. Her eyes looked tired, purple in her under eyes more vibrant than usual.
"Hi," she said, sounding out of breath.
"Are you alright," Gwyn asked, taking a step towards her.
Something flashed across Elain's face but it was gone too quickly for Gwyn to detect what it was.
"I'm fine," she said, grasping her hands behind her back.
"I know it's late but I was wondering if you had those books?" Elain asked, walking over to the table Gwyn was standing next to.
"Yeah," Gwyn said, trying to stifle a yawn. She walked over to the hold counter and picked up the books.
"Did you end up finding anything about Koschei in that book?" Gwyn asked, walking back over to Elain who was sitting on the table.
Yeah she looked really tired.
"Not much," Elain said, "like you said he had an obsession with wives, but that was the only constant I could find in all the stories about him in the book."
She sighed and looked down at Gwyn's open book and papers.
"You have been searching for a powerful dagger," Elain said as she studied Gwyn's notes.
"Yeah, do you know anything about Azriel's dagger?"
"Truth teller?" Elain asked and Gwyn nodded.
"He let me use it one time," Elain said looking down at her hands as if the dagger was there.
"Yeah Az, told me that you killed the king of Hybern with it."
"Stabbed him," Elain correct, "Nesta took the killing blow."
Gwyn shivered, sometimes she forgot Nesta had killed him.
"Still," Gwyn said, "I'd say stabbing him is still a big deal. How did you do it— I mean," Gwyn corrected "did the sword help you to kill him, did you feel any magic in it."
Elain thought for a moment.
"No," she said, "I didn't feel any magic in it, it was just a normal sword."
"You were made right?" Gwyn asked and Elain flinched but nodded.
Gwyn felt bad but continued, "maybe because Azriel's dagger was made and you were made, you canceled each other out so you couldn't use its power."
Elain's eyes lit up as if she had just realized something.
"If my powers were somehow nullified, do you think the sword would work?" She asked and Gwyn thought.
"Maybe, though the book says that the swords have specific owners, so it might not work at its full power if you weren't the sole owner of it," Gwyn said and watched sadness creep into Elain's eyes.
"But I mean, this is all hypothetical. Azriel's dagger might not be Gwyndolin—"
"Gwyndolin?" Elain asked and Gwyn pointed to the part in the book referencing the dagger.
She huffed and laughed, "it sounds like it should be your dagger with the name and all," Elain said, studying the rest of the page.
Gwyn scrunched her nose, "yeah, it kind of does."
Then footsteps sounded as if someone wanted Gwyn to know they were coming.
Azriel appeared from behind a shelf
"I was looking for you," he said and Gwyn didn't know if he was speaking to her or Elain.
"I should go, thank you for the books Gwyn," Elain said, hopping off the table and walking past Azriel.
"Elain wait," he said and Gwyn watched as he walked off after her.
What was that about?