"Thank you." She said simply, all sweetness gone. She called a servant over to lift me up and follow her. I was exhausted and struggled to keep my eyes open. We were weaving our way through the palace, a maze of hallways and doors. "You must be tired. I am sorry about the long walk, but I don't trust Napah or Iox, so I need to put you somewhere I can trust. We stopped in front of what looked to be a simple door, but as I looked closer, carved into the wood were a multitude of minuscule, intricate designs. She knocked five times on the door, hummed a little tune and then knocked thrice more. The door opened from within. As the door swung inward and we entered, all I could see were book and windows. It was a round room with windows covering every wall. It was so bright and my eyes were so tired, I couldn't help but to close them. I wanted so badly to open my eyes and look out across Koohoc, but I had no energy left. Paia pushed something and I heard a grating of metal, and the light seeping through my eyelids relinquished. I was set down on a soft cushion. The last thing I heard before slipping into a deep slumber was a lovely whisper, "Sweet dreams."
The scent of something smoky and sweet wafted into my nose. I could feel the drool running down my face. I groggily sat up and rubbed my sleepy eyes. It wasn't too bright. I noticed steel slats on the windows, regulating the amount of light let in. It was enough to see comfortably, but not so much that it hurt to keep them open. A purple man sat in front of me with a large plate of sausages, chunks of bread that looked like it had been deep fried, and a large blue pomegranate looking object. The corners of the man's eyes wrinkled as he smiled. "Did you sleep well?"
"Yes, very much so. Thank you." I replied in my half awake state.
"I'm glad. My name is Eutu. I am one of the Puyak, the servers of the Bibyio, the Royal Library as you would say I think. I brought you some morning meal. Here eat up." he said pushing the plate towards me. "I will leave you to eat in peace now." He stood up and walked away into the sea of books before I could thank him or introduce myself.
I looked down at the plate and hungrily grabbed a sausage. It was even better than it smelled. Before I knew it they were all gone. I reached for the bread next. As I popped it into my mouth, Paia glided around the corner of a shelf.
"Do you recognize it? I read about it in one of the Earth books. I think you call them knots?" She asked with excitement and curiosity.
I thought for a moment. "Knots, no, I've never...oh, wait yes." I smiled. "They are called doughnuts. I think that must be what you are talking about. These are the same idea anyway if not a bit different."
"Doughnuts. How fascinating." she breathed. "I'm so sorry; I do fear I've forgotten myself. My name is Paia." She stuck her elbow out towards me and looked at me expectantly.
I peer at her elbow in confusion. "Um...My name is Nico."
After an awkward moment of silence she laughed. It was like the tinkling of little silver bells. "In Koohoc, when we meet someone or introduce ourselves we touch our elbows as a sign of peace. Stick you elbow out like mine. There you go. Now just bump them together once. Just like that you are a natural!" She laughed again.
"Where I come from we shake hands." I explained. Adding on when she cocked her head, "You stick your right hand out like this and move it up and down a few times."
"How odd! It is so fun to learn new things isn't it? That's why I like it here so much. This is my own little place to go and slip into other worlds. Plus Iox isn't allowed in here. You see being the future Queen; I am the head of the Bibyio. I am in charge of the Puyak who take care of all the books and information in here. We have more of a friendship than a dictatorship unlike past queens though. This is my favorite place to be and all of the Puyak and I get along so well. They are my only friends now that I am marrying the king. People don't realize who I really am. I actually find Iox extremely despicable, but I was forced into this engagement to protect my family. Iox only wanted me for my looks, but I rejected him, so he threatened me with harming my family until I agreed to marry him. I tried to explain this to everyone at first, but after no luck of getting through to them, I gave up. Shortly after that I realized how much more I could accomplish by playing sweet with him. Once I started acting like I was in love with him, he stopped watching me and having me followed, allowing me to try and figure out some of the schemes he is up to. I'm so glad I figured that out before you came along. I have a feeling we are going to become great friends."
She stopped ranting momentarily and smiled at me. I was so mesmerized I didn't hear her begin talking again. "I will not treat you like a pet in private, but if Iox or his spies are around I must do so in order to keep him from catching on and killing you. For now, until we see how he reacts to you I think it is safest for you to stay in here. I will make sure one of the Puyak brings you something to eat later this afternoon. Feel free to look around the Bibyio, and have a look at the books, but stay out of trouble and out of the Puyaks' way. They have important jobs moving and arranging all of this information. I will stop by again sometime later. Do we have a deal?"
I numbly nodded. She gave me so much information and it was so hard to think around her. Every time I tried to comprehend something, I was distracted by the sparkle in her eye or the tinkle of her laugh, or...there I go again and she isn't even here anymore! Paia said that I was free to roam about and look around, but how was I supposed to move? I sure wasn't going to bother one of the Puyak. I guess I will have to content myself with where I was sitting. As I leaned back against the wall to settle myself in, I felt my back push something. The grating sound of metal against metal was heard and the steel shutters on the windows opened and disappeared revealing a magnificent sight. I could see what I assumed to be all of Koohoc. Turning in almost a complete 360 degrees, excepting the hallway that opened up into the sea of books, I could see the city all around me.
"Do books not interest you?" Eutu's voice scared me. I had been sitting in silence gazing out the window since this morning. Watching all of the Apxikn, the house planets, Oeon, the messengers' planet, and the Anoon, warehouses, orbit around me on Kevtpo, the Royal planet, was quite fascinating. I could also gawk at both the Tpaivo and Eioikn, moving people from place to place. I had been perfectly content all day observing the purple people of Koohoc go about their day. Some people, which a passing Puyak reminded me were called the Evac, were out patrolling almost like policemen back home, but some were more intense and carried larger weapons.
Snapping back to reality I answered Eutu. "This view has been entertaining me for the day. I find your world quite intriguing. As for the books, I would very much like to peruse through them, but I cannot walk and didn't want to bother anyone." I gave him a pleasant smile. I liked this guy. He reminded me of Nombu. Poor Nombu, I miss him, and it is all my fault that he is gone.
"Why can't you walk?" asked Eutu. "Were you hurt?"
I sighed to myself and looked up preparing to see the look of pity spread across his face. Instead, what I saw shocked me a little. His face was calculating like he was thinking hard about something, trying to figure it out. "No, I was born without the use of my legs." I replied still a bit surprised.
"I have an idea." He said while getting up and disappearing through the gap, and swallowed by the sea of books. I waited a bit impatiently. I was actually going to ask him if there was some sort of cart or something I could sit on and roll myself around. I looked up at a noise. Huffing and puffing came a large stack of supplies trying to break free from the grasp of Eutu. He laid out the supplies on the ground in front of me and then helped me down to sit after saying that he was going to need my help. He showed me what looked almost like a price scanner from a grocery store back home, held up two pieces of scrap metal, and taught me how it quickly melded the two pieces together. My, was this place much farther technically advanced than us.
After that he would hand me pieces of metal to meld together at certain angles. He would measure and plan and all I had to do was run the scanner looking thing. Soon I frame of sorts started to form. We worked long into the night. Finally after the metal shades had long been closed to block out the light for sleeping, Eutu lifted me back into my bed and told me he had a few things left to do and I would see it in the morning. I sleepily curled into a ball and fell fast asleep.
