Order of Aria

Chapter Seven: Another Library Adventure

     "So that's why I never knew this place existed." Ronwynn muttered as Miss Violetta opened the door to the secret library. Miss Violetta faced the door trying to jingle the keys out of the lock. Ronwynn scanned the small room that was hidden behind the regular library's desk. She was skeptical that she could find the information that Esmeray wanted. 'It's so much smaller than the other library. I doubt the selection will have what we need.'

    "What did you say dearie?" Miss Violetta turned to face Ronwynn. She had a wrinkled hand holding the door open, while the other held the keys. Ronwynn fixed her posture and put on an awkward smile. Her hands clasped together in front of her creating an awkward clap to sound throughout the silent rooms.

    "Nothing. I didn't say anything ma'am." Ronwynn tried to grin to try and reassure Miss Violetta that nothing was wrong. In return the elderly woman just smiled and went to hand her the keys.

    "I understand it may not be the largest selection of books but, it's what we have here. Whenever you get ready to leave just press the lumination crystal by the door. It will signal the one I have on my desk." Miss Violetta ushered Ronwynn in the room and gestured to the yellow crystal on the wall.

    "Why not just leave the door open?" Ronwynn asked while shuffling out of the way of the door. Miss Violetta shook her head.

    "You youngins don't know the meaning of the word secret do you. We call this the secret library for a reason. If the door is left open, who knows who will come in and take this information. Now just tap the light when you want to get out and I'll let you out if everyone is gone. Alright? Have a nice time dearie." Miss Violetta closed the door and locked Ronwynn in the small room alone.

    "I'm literally older than you." Ronwynn muttered as her shoulders slumped. She sighed and then got the list Esmeray had made her out of her bag. Her eyes scanned the list and she got to work. "This place is definitely going to have a different sorting method. Another task to add to my list. I just love meaningless tasks."

    A little bit of sarcastic muttering later and she finally found the section she was looking for. Browsing the shelves she hunted for the gold lettering that read 'Flame Symbols and Their Intricacies - Kyra Ardere' and its twin, 'Explosion Symbols and Their Intricacies - Kyra Ardere'. 'I guess she really liked fire.' She takes the books off the shelf and makes them float within the air. She scans further along the shelves, checking off each book from her list until she has them all. She completes her list and puts it within a pocket of her bag. Then, she collects the books from their place in the air and then goes to the table in the corner to organize them.

    Once done, she places them within her bag and realizes she has to get her list once more, to show Miss Violetta the books she has taken. She sighs and walks over to the lumination crystal and gives it a light tap. It glows a faint yellow, as though it were a daffodil and not a crystal and then fades as the signal is sent to the connecting crystal. A few minutes of leaning on the table, waiting for Miss Violetta, Ronwynn debates tapping the light again. As she stands, Miss Violetta opens the door.

    "Hello dearie, did you find everything that you needed? I hope so. Clover will be back soon and I don't think Esme will like her finding out about this library." Ronwynn rushes out and tries to make it appear as though she just stepped out from Violetta's office, rather than the mysterious door to the side. As she is locking the door, Ronwynn goes to hand her the list of books. Miss Violetta turns her head towards it and waves it off. "I'll look later sweetie. Not many people go in and not many go out. Just get those books to where they need to be and we'll be fine."

    "Right." The list is stuffed back into the bag. As she walks off, she hears the jingling of trinkets and the muttering of directions. 'Whew right on time.'

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   Ronwynn knocks loudly on the door to Esmeray's workroom. 'Not risking walking in on something again.' A shiver rakes up her spine and nausea fills her stomach as she recalls Keyfiir's body. She hears a thud and a few thumps, frantic footsteps, and light cursing before the door is opened. Soon, Esmeray appears, looking a little more disheveled than usual. Her short blonde hair out of place and sticking up as if she had been electrocuted, eyes red from all the dust floating, and her glasses haphazardly strewn on her face. She sighs in exhaustion but then perks up at the sight of Ronwynn.

    "Ah kid! You're back quicker than I thought. Figured you would've attempted to reorganize the entire section." Esmeray says as she fixes her glasses. She wipes her hands on her black apron before reaching for Ronwynn's bag.

    "Before you do that, let me just fix your hair real quick." Esmeray pauses in her awkward, leaned down position and lets Ronwynn attempt to pat her hair into place. Her efforts are unsuccessful though.

    "Yeah no that isn't gonna work on this mess. It has a mind of its own when I'm working on things. Anyways, the books. If you will, that is."

    "Ah right." Ronwynn takes her bag off of her shoulder and opens it to show her the collection.

    "That's great! Let's just move this away from the hall and into my office." Ronwynn closes her bag and holds it in her arms as they move down the hall to Esmeray's office door. The door is opened and they both rush to the desk in the center. Ronwynn pulls each book out and stacks them. Once the stack is complete Esmeray analyzes it, mentally checking off each book from her list. She pauses at one book and looks confused.

    "What's wrong? Is it the wrong book or the wrong author?"

    "No, nothing is wrong with it, I just. I don't know, I just remember this book being thinner." She grabs a thick, sage green book with silver lettering that reads 'Explosions by L.K.'. She holds the book and moves it as if testing its weight. "It's a lot heftier too. Did they add pages or was it always like this?" She leans against her desk, still holding the book. She opens it and flips through the pages. Ronwynn stands there awkwardly trying to figure out how to help.

    Esmeray sighs and returns the book to the pile. She rubs her eyes with both hands from under her glasses. "I think I've been working a little too hard today. I still need to spare the time to read all of these. Medeis this is gonna be fucking rough." Esmeray continues muttering to herself about finding the time to look through everything. Ronwynn raises her hand to try to grab her attention. Esmeray doesn't seem to notice and instead goes through her desk to look for something. "Where did it go? Gonna need it with all this work I have to do. Goodbye good rest, welcome back sleepless nights."

    "Um Esme?"

    "Yeah?" Esmeray responds, still not quite paying attention to Ronwynn. She shuffles through another drawer in her desk.

    "I had said that I could help with everything. You know instead of just grabbing the books for you to look through. I could maybe look through them?"

    Esmeray pauses in her shuffling and looks up at Ronwynn. "Huh? You want  to help me? Are you sure about that? I mean you can hear me going on about 'sleepless nights' but still want to help me?"

    Ronwynn shuffles in her spot while rubbing her arms. "Yeah, uh I would like to help you. If you will allow me of course. I don't have to if you don't want me to." Esmeray stops her hunt and walks up to Ronwynn to hug her.

    "Thank you Ronnie. I don't think I could survive this without you." She lets out a relieved sigh and rests her forehead on Ronwynn's shoulder. Ronwynn tries to return the hug despite her arms being pinned to her sides. She pats Esmeray's back and lets out a light laugh.

    "I think you do need to get to sleep. You never willingly hug me for little things." Esmeray pulls away from the hug and pats Ronwynn on her head.

    "Nah, I haven't been working that long. I'm just frustrated with not finding anything yet. Frustration can lead to a lot of things. I'm not joking though about the sleepless nights. Until we get everything set we won't be sleeping much. Have you seen my Bright Eye potion by the way? I seem to have misplaced it."