damsel in distress

Chapter 6

The service has already finished and the hall has a layer of lonely silence shrouded over it, not a single soul in sight. It’s empty, the entire establishment is deathly still. From the corner of my eye I spot the curtains fluttering. Time hasn't stood still.

No, there is nothing wrong with me. There can’t be.

I take slow steady steps further, crossing the boundary of the altar specified to us visitors. It is left unguarded, open for anyone who wishes to pry further and just push the door behind the shapeless idol with five heads.

The door leads to another world, a vertigo of narrow spiral staircase. The air around me thrums with a feverish despair as I set my foot down on the steps, chasing the ending of light far end at the bottom. The stairs end abruptly, spitting me out to a passage, vast open courtyard, or what is the central space between the square walls of the monastery. Why is it empty? Forget the sound of human breaths, not even a crow caws in here. I venture out in the shadowed sunlight, feet aching and mind reeling with the aftereffects of a disastrous thought.

What exactly does Luminos do with all its funding?

I stop before an ornate wooden door where the sun’s shadow cuts the floor in half and push it open. There’s a library inside, a huge one— no, colossal.It stretches up to the far end of my sight and looms over me like it touches the sky. Countless staircases and junctions connecting the wooden floors and ornate lamps on every pillar. It would have been a paradise for me if it weren’t so empty. Viola says the Luminos was built after the settlers ended the reign of terror. It has been here for longer than our dynasty, our castle. Not a living sound inside. The place has an odd smell to it; unused paper, rotten ink, and the absence of any human entity.

But what is this obscenely large institute doing with all my money if it isn't managing its assets?

I drag my exhausted feet to the nearest shelf. History. I read the inscription on the other. The Creation. The next was about the history of sea trade and our relations with the Dravins.  Titles ranging on sword art, to making explosives for mining, gold trade, history of relics… that, certainly, isn’t what a religious institute's library should look like. Why would the monks need to study military and warfare?

I trace my fingers on the dusty shelf and look up at the magnanimous reach of books. It is a maze, a place to get lost. I wonder if Adam has followed me in. Even if he has, he probably would stop before the altar. The man respects boundaries as if they are the reason he lives. Thinking about it, it really is odd. Adam never lets me venture out anywhere alone if he spots me somewhere. He willingly leaves the company of his friends to come and drag me back to the castle if I am spotted doing any mischief.

Has he gone to report me to Brother this time?

No, I shouldn’t think about that. The nobles do not have the authority to barge into this place as per their wishes. Maybe that is why Luminos has stacked up books like those. My fingers stop at a frail bounded book with no jacket and I pull it out, struck by a charming intrigue that the book has to offer.

Written in the Stars.

The feel of its paper is downright ominous. The cover has a picture of two youth locked in an embrace, a bit too close for my humble tastes. Yet, I find myself sinking down to the floor, back pressed to the books and splintered wood. I turn to the back of the book, but there is no story description. Flipping to some random page, I settle down to read.

“You don’t understand,” she said softly. “You’ve always been raised in this castle, trained to wield a sword. Trained to cut down your enemies into two when they strike you down.”