Mosaic Windows

Chapter 10: An Unexpected Guess Breaks Virgil's Window

Virgil relaxed as Roman's smile grew, his eyes full of childlike wonderment. The library was giant, a staircase in the middle of it leading to another floor with more books. The walls were covered in books, a small rolling ladder every few meters. There were a few breaks with windows, each with their own bench or reading nook underneath.

There were a few more book cases in the room, and several tables. There wasn't a single empty space for a book. It looked like it would take decades for one person to read it. No wonder these three haven't gone insane while living on their own. Seeing so many books excited Roman, who knows what kind of stories they have here!

"Where did you get all of these from?" the human asked.

Virgil shrugged. "Some of them we've had for... probably centuries. Most of them decades. Well, we haven't had any new ones in the past 10 years, so all of them are at least a decade old." The prince awkwardly tugged his cape. It was obvious he didn't know what to say.

"How many would you say you've read?"

"Not nearly as much as Logan. I like to read fictional books."

"Me too!" Roman's eyes sparkled. "I go to nonfiction whenever I want to know something for my stories. Like properly wrapping up injuries or what berries are poisonous."

Virgil laughed lightly, "Sounds like being a writer is hard."

"Oh you have no idea," Roman groaned. "I practically live at the town library, I sit at the same table every time and know all the librarians names. And if I'm not reading or writing, I'm either painting or trying to make something else, not at the library though. Most of the time really I'm just sketching things out."

"I can tell you're really creative, you might like the gallery. It's also a music room so we have some instruments in there."

"You seem to have a little bit of everything here, it's amazing."

"Yeah, it definitely helps to pass time. Why don't I show you around the library before lunch?" Virgil lightly touched Roman's back to lead him. "The fiction section is over-"

Before he could finish the sentence, something shattered behind them. Virgil's wings opened on instinct, one covering Roman, despite neither of them being close to whatever made the noise. Both of them turned to see what it was.

Between the bookshelves, they could see a window was shattered open, sunlight bouncing off shards that lay across the ground, a rock laying a few feet away. Past the window was a man, who looked surprised to see the two of them. He wore what looked like the ugliest jacket ever created.

"Whoops," he said.

"Remus?!" Roman asked.

Virgil glanced between both of them and slowly lowered his wing. "Wh-who?"

Remus jumped through the window, kicking some shards out of the way. He pulled out his knife while he walked closer. This did not settle Virgil's nerves, and he put himself between the two humans.

"Look you giant scaly bitch, I've come to take my brother back home," Remus said, pointing the blade at the prince. "So you better let him go, or I'll take him from your cold, dead hands."

"Remus, wait!" Roman shouted before anyone else could move. He pushed Virgil's wing out of the way and moved forward. "He's not bad, in fact he saved me!"

"I heard you last night! You said he's keeping you here! What do you mean he saved you?"

"You were here last night?" Virgil asked.

"Yeah! I climbed up your wall, but I didn't bring anything with me so I couldn't break in! I was planning on sneaking in but-"

Roman walked forward. "Remus stop, I'm fine. The dragon witch wasn't trying to hurt me, I broke my leg and he found me! I was just freaking out last night, I wasn't thinking straight."

"When are you ever?" Remus rolled his eyes. "How the heck did you manage to break your leg?"

"Lightning struck a tree in front of me and Guinevere when we were heading home, it spooked her and she bucked me off. I landed on my leg wrong, and Virgil found me," Roman explained.

Remus remembered the tree. "So... dragon dude isn't holding you captive?"

"What? No," Virgil told him. "I told him that he can go home either when his leg heals or someone comes looking for him. We can't take him back to the town since we don't have any horses."

"Oh... well... I don't have a horse either." He rubbed his arm awkwardly. "I left without Guinevere."

"How the heck did you get here?" Roman asked.

"I can walk, dumbass." Remus's face dropped. "Oh no... I told dad what I saw last night! He went to ask Janus to come save you this morning!"

"Janus?! Why Janus?!"

"Because I told him that you were held captive by a dragon witch! And he's the closest thing we have to a monster hunter. Don't worry, he's not a threat, if I can take him then you can," Remus added when Virgil's face dropped.

Roman folded his arms with a huff. "That pompous jerk, I can't believe dad would hire him."

"I know right! He broke my nose! I gotta get home to tell dad you're fine. And Thomas I guess." He glanced back. "Oh, sorry about the window!"

"Wait, you're leaving? It's a long walk home and you just got here." Roman followed him, Virgil walking at a distance. "And we're about to have lunch. Is that okay?" He glanced up at Virgil.

"Uh, sure..." The prince looked unsure. "He- you should get some food at least before you leave."

Remus eyed him. "Alright, but it better be good food."

Virgil was going to respond when the door to the library opened. Patton stepped forward and seemed to take a breath to speak, but froze when he saw Remus. "Uh..."

"Oh, Patton!" Roman greeted.

"Hey... What- who's this?" Patton asked, a bit confused, a wary smile on his face.

"This is my twin brother, Remus. He thought Virgil kidnapped me and came to save me. But I told him that Virgil was just trying to help me."

"He's gonna stay for lunch," Virgil added

Patton seemed to ease up. "Oh! In that case I'll go get another plate, we just finished making lunch. Come on."

Roman and Remus started moving forward, but the prince stayed. "I'll catch up, I'm going to clean the glass up."

"Do you need any help?"

Virgil waved him off. "No, I have it."

"Okie dokie! Meet us in the dining room then." Patton waited for Roman and Remus to get to him before leading the way.

The prince's shoulders dropped and he turned to the window, walking closer. He raised his hands and vines grew and wove together, growing tighter and thicker until no light escaped through. Then he glanced down at the glass scattered and embedded into the carpet. It's clear, it's all clear, the stained glass above the normal window is untouched. There is no threat.