Valiant Valerie (the Ballad of Valerie of Mor Book 1)

Chapter Eighteen

"The wizard has many homes," Idwyl told Valerie.

"Do you know where?"

Idwyl shrugged and smiled optimistically. "We can find him."

"So you don't know where he lives?"

"He has a home nearby, which he frequents often. That is why we built our order here," Idwyl said, pulling more books from the shelves.

The library was a dank, musty place and Valerie was sure not many people visited it. The monks were a strange breed of people. They seemed to worship the wizard, but had no idea who he really was, where he lived, or even the deeds of which he was capable. They had plenty of stories about him and were more than happy to share them at a moment's notice. However, they also seemed just as content to live their lives and go about their business.

"Here. This is the place of his Dravon home," Idwyl said, pointing to a map.

"That is near here. So you've met him then?"

Idwyl looked uncomfortable. "Not me. But I'm sure Brother Bernard has," he said, smiling at the thought.

Valerie sighed. "Do you know who else has met him? Perhaps knights who he gave quests to? Other brothers who are no longer with you?"

Valerie was hoping to get some information from him that would give her a strong starting point. If she could just figure out the name of anyone who had met the wizard, she might be able to narrow down where he was based on information about that person. There were all sorts of stories about knights who had received a quest from the wizard, but they were all so long ago in legend that Valerie was not sure where to look for them in fact.

Valerie had been sitting while Idwyl found book after book for almost three hours. Her back was cramped, her head throbbed and her eyes hurt from squinting in the poor light. Instead of asking him to leave her be with the books, she decided it was time for a cool down and a break. She would go and see how Jonathan was doing and see if Gabriel wanted to change her bandage.

Idwyl was still rambling about books and stories. Valerie tried to wait for a moment when he took a pause for breath, but none seemed to come. Eventually she coughed softly and he turned back to her.

"Mm?"

"Brother Idwyl, I think I should go a check on Jonathan if you don't mind? I could do with some rest." She touched the bandage at her temple and he bustled about guiltily.

"No. Of course, miss. I'm sorry I did not think of it earlier." Idwyl piled the books up into some sort of tidiness. "I'll take you back to Brother Gabriel's rooms." He smiled, wiping his hands on his robes and picking up the candle.

"Thank you." She smiled as graciously as she could and bowed her head.

She followed Idwyl through the corridors. It was a warren of a place and Valerie wondered how on earth the brothers committed the layout to their memories. Just as Valerie though they were coming back to the courtyard, there would be more corridor stretching before them. It was not surprising then when they came to Gabriel's rooms without passing through the courtyard.

Valerie walked through the door, about to exclaim her exasperation with Idwyl, when she noticed Gabriel standing in the middle of the room, forearms bloody, a look of pleased surprise on his face.

"Oh," Valerie said. "I... That is, we..."

Gabriel smiled. "Brother Idwyl would have brought you the subterranean way, then."

Idwyl nodded, looking very much like he was not sure whether he had done well or not. Gabriel laughed and Idwyl relaxed somewhat.

"It's a shock the first time, feels like you're going on and on forever!" Gabriel said.