Sleeping Roses

Less Than Fine

"This one," Kilan said, a week later, heaving a huge book out from the top of a bookshelf and coughing at the amount of dust that came down with it.

Briar stepped away from the ladder to avoid the mess and Kilan very carefully made his way down with the book, groaning slightly under the weight.

Once he was on the ground again, Briar took one end while he kept hold of the other and they swung the book onto the nearby tea table - the table grumbling for a moment under the weight.

Leaning over it, Kilan dragged the cover open as Briar sat down and scanned the index page.

"Here, it talks about it here, gosh this book much be over a hundred years old," Kilan said as he flipped through the thick pages.

"What makes to say that?" Briar asked.

"Because, well here for example." He stopped on a page and pressed the book flat. "This war here, the book references it at as only finishing a decade ago. That's completely wrong; it finished well over a century ago."

"Really?" Briar said, leaning forwards but Kilan was already flicking through to try and find the chapter he was hunting.

Briar had asked him to show her the Silk Road. He had mentioned it in passing the night before and as soon as he arrived in his dreams, she had asked after it again.

The book he had now was the only book in the entire library that related anything to travelling and that explained why Briar's geography was as shocking as it was. She had no idea where anything was in the world, which was odd - Kilan would have thought his imagination would at least be able to create characters that knew where they were.

"Alright, here, this marks out a bit of it at least," Kilan said, stopping on a world map - which wasn't at all as detailed as it should have been - and pointing. "It starts here and ends all the way over here."

"And people do this every year?"

"Every year."

Briar pulled the book around to her, looking at the map. "My brother travelled The Silk Road," she muttered.

"Oh yes?" Kilan said, trying to wipe all the dust off himself.

"Yes, a long time ago, but he said it was fascinating. I always wanted to travel it."

"Why didn't you go with him?"

"Oh I wasn't allowed."

"Too young?"

"Too young and I just wasn't allowed."

Kilan glanced at her just as Stephanie called that tea was ready in the parlour and Briar went on ahead. He looked at the book, then closed it and heaved it off the table and slowly made his way out of the library.

Stephanie met him at the door when he appeared and helped him with the book and they set it down on the edge of the table and Kilan dropped down with a sigh, rubbing his chest and opening the book again.

"Alright," he said, "Since you clearly haven't travelled much since you don't know where anything is, we're going to have to work on your geography."

Briar stared at him. "Why?" she asked.

"Why not?"

"Where do you expect me to use the knowledge?"

"You might as well have it," Kilan replied and pointed to another map. "I can't keep describing places if you have no idea where they are. You're a lady aren't you; any that I've met have an education."