Villainess From the Stars

3. A Fateful Encounter

At a certain point, Roark acquired a pen and paper for Vienna so that she could make notes on what she read.

Vienna didn't register the interesting artifact between her fingertips and the fact that it wasn't the normal quill she had to use back at home. Her subconsciousness remembered how to use a self-inking pen without having to be told.

There was so much to soak in.

It did not show the wide diversity in the world of Terra in the media she had before consumed in her other life. Terra was flush with the life of all kinds of new cultures and races. Terrans were equal to humans. How they differed was their adaptability. Their different sizes and pigments often suited the environments where they lived on the Continent.

In the books she learned of the Sea Folk lived in the seas of Terra but often stuck to the Pōrteac Seas, preferring to stay near the Elemširdis. Elemširdis usually had wings and were the beings she once thought to be faeries. She read about the gentle Giants that once roamed the Continent taking care of the mountain ranges and planting trees. The giants shared the desert with some Terran warriors who sought to protect the innocent nature of their tall neighbors.

Vienna felt her heart race in excitement when she came across a certain tale of beings... She scooted closer to her left, where Roark had come to sit.

Her cheeks reddened slightly before she asked, "Who are the Ôkren? My tutor hasn't mentioned that race."

"They are a bipedal race, like the Terrans. They feel close to Terra and its materials, its very components."

"Like metal?"

Roark nodded before glancing outwards. "There is a sparse population. They were one of the most oppressed, due to their weaknesses but also their strengths."

Vienna looked back at the book that was stacked on top of the others she had already finished reading. Its dark linen cover was not worn down like the others. It was thinner and had only the very basic information of the race.

"Is that why there is so little information? So it won't happen again?"

Vienna's eyes traced Roark's face. His pale gray features seemed to almost lend to a rocky terrain across his features. She remembered how he had seemed to blend into the very stones of the Stronghold.

She wouldn't ask. She knew that everyone has their secrets and even if everyone knew but her...

Vienna stopped mid-thought when she saw him turn back to her with a bittersweet smile on his face.

"I will endeavor to prevent it from happening to my people again."

Vienna had the strangest desire to hug the odd male, but she knew him. She tightened her lips, her eyes coming to rest upon his clasped hands on top of the polished table. Pop took hugs as a sign of support and love, but others that didn't know her well enough might think it was an act of pity.

He seemed to understand without her having to say a thing. He reached across and grabbed the page of questions she had prepared for him.

A maid in a long blue kirtle had poked her head through the library door.

"Sir Roark, one moment of your time, please."

Vienna closed another book she had already read.

"I'll be fine."

"I'll be around the corner, Lady Vienna. Call if you need anything."

Once the prime minister left the room, Vienna climbed down from her tall chair and approached the aisle closest to the library door. She lifted the edges of her tunic and sat on the floor inlaid with smooth stone bricks. She was thankful for the slacks beneath her embroidered tunic that cushioned her knees against the hard ground.