The Chimera

Chapter Thirty-One: Puzzle Plays Matchmaker

It's Jasper who hears the impatient staccato sound of a bird tapping its beak against the windowpane.

He's surprised he's still conscious enough to register it, but the stifling cotton feeling of his drowsiness lifts just enough for him to push himself into standing.

After Giada had regaled them all with her theory in the parlor, they went back to examine the owl door, only to find that it was gone.

Refusing to be put off the chase, they had made their way into the library to spend the endless night searching through the tomes for any mention of the chimera's true world. They were sure that something, somewhere would give them a hint. And while Jasper ends up perusing books cover-to-cover about any number of other topics-- biographies of the old empresses of the north, basket-weaving for beginners, old court songs from when the south still had a king to lend his ear to them-- he can't find anything about that other world that hosted the May Market.

He's already dozed off a few times now, but always finds himself awakened by the need to try and contribute, or by a sharp word from Tai questioning his use.

It's difficult to stop himself from laying his head down, though. Fifteen of them are spread throughout a cleared space in the library, where large colorful cushions and rugs cover the floor. It's so easy to lean back, embrace comfort, and let his mind slip away.

Now, though, he crosses the open space to unlatch one of the east-facing library windows, where a black bird continues its incessant tapping.

Once the window is open, Lionel leaps in in a flash: a raven one second, a young man the next. Usually so indomitable, the space under his eyes is now smudged by shadows of purple-darkness. Up all night like the rest of them, he had the additional tiresome task of flying to Beledon to bring news of their theory on the chimera to the city council.

"What did they say?" Jasper asks, voice slow and lagging in his exhaustion.

Outside, the night has finally passed. Where the sky begins in the east is a deep blush of pink, rising up into warm orange, then pale yellow, then light green, then finally an unapologetic blue that spreads all the way to the citadel.

Jasper thinks he would appreciate it more if he could think straight.

He leaves the window open. Maybe the freshness of the spring air will fix something in all this mess.

Lionel pushes his hand through his hair, ready to deliver his message to them. Or, to those still awake: their resident physician Dalmar is propped against the arm of a sofa, fast asleep. His younger sister Zahara, leaning against him, is asleep as well, while their cousin Araceli slumbers with her head on Zahara's shoulders. They make an amusing sight, Lionel thinks, all in a line.

Skander, attentive to him as ever, frowns at the obvious fatigue in Lionel's face and tosses him an apricot from their communal snacking bowl. He catches it and takes a grateful bite.

"The council honestly didn't pay much attention when I told them," he says, then goes in for another helping of apricot. Flying back and forth to deliver messages can really take it out of you.

"What do you mean? How could they not care?" Tai says sharply. He stands at a table littered with stray books and papers, a quill with an accompanying bottle of dark ink, and scattered scraps of parchment. His usual intensity is exacerbated by their undertaking to track the chimera. He's one of the few who hasn't dozed for even a moment, all through the moon's tenure in the sky.

The same can't be said for Puzzle, who purrs through happy dreams while curled up on top of the desk. It's an inconvenience, but Tai refuses to move him.