Into Taleria

Chapter Nine

They dove into the journal that very night. Aduil had made amazing progress on his own, especially for only three days. His only problems seemed to be with grammar, pronunciation and tenses, and while Kate had never been much of a linguist, she was more than happy to help out in any way she could. The sooner they could talk, the sooner she could figure out how to get home.

They studied late into the night, until Kate surprised herself by nodding off at the table and reluctantly agreed to call it a day. It must have been the books, she decided as she followed the guards back to her room. She'd been so amped up at the revelation of the journal, she'd thought she could've stayed up for days, but there was something so soothing about the smell of the books. Pair that with the quiet scritch scritch of Aduil's quill and his deep lilting tones... it made for a pretty nice lullaby.

Aduil was already there waiting for her when the guards brought Kate back the next morning and they jumped right back in where they'd left off. They hadn't been at it long when one of the guards, who'd stationed themselves just outside the door, came in and called Aduil away.

"I will... return," he said with a shallow bow before stepping out and closing the door behind him...leaving Kate all alone in an elven library.

She grinned and got up to explore, heading straight for a long bookshelf that curved along the far wall, or more specifically, to the wheeled ladder perched at the end of it.

"I have always wanted to try this," she said as she climbed up a few rungs.

Wrapping one arm securely around the ladder, she pushed off the edge of the shelf, sending herself sliding a whopping two inches. She frowned and tried again, pushing off with all her might and moved another three inches.

Well, that was disappointing. Probably some kind of safety feature. She hopped down with a huff and went to check out the books instead.

She couldn't read any of them of course, they were all either in Elvish or some other language she didn't recognize, but she found some pretty interesting illustrations in a few. There was one which seemed to be a craftsman's guide, with drawings of plate mail and vambraces in various stages of completion, and another with what looked to be sigils drawn in it, maybe a how-to for some spell.

Kate sang quietly to herself as she perused the books, a song from Beauty and the Beast. It had been her favorite movie as a child, so she knew all the songs by heart, and it seemed pretty appropriate given the setting. She couldn't help drawing comparisons between that story and her current situation because, while Aduil was hardly beastly, she was technically a captive with a less than communicative host.

One who might be royalty.

She hadn't forgotten that possibility, but she was reluctant to bring it up, even if she'd had the words to do so. Maybe it wouldn't change anything, and she wouldn't become an awkward mess around him, but she wasn't sure she wanted to take that chance. As it stood, he was just Aduil, her friend. Her kind and thoughtful friend with the sweet smile and dashing good looks and—she shook her head. Not the point. He was her friend, and she didn't want that to change.

Maybe she'd ask once they had more of the journal translated, and she could do it properly, without sounding like an idiot. 

Then again, maybe not. You can't embarrass yourself if you don't know you're doing something embarrassing, after all.

She was still singing when she re-shelved the book she'd been flipping through and turned to find Aduil leaning against the doorframe, watching her with a soft smile.

"Oh! You're back." Well, now she felt awkward. How long had he been standing there?

"What... song?"