He had fallen to the floor, and oddly enough, I hadn't felt a single thought of pity or compassion for him. How weird, what a good time in the arms of someone you aren't meant to be with can erase the thinking of eighteen years of complacency.
I cradled his head in my lap, as he looked up at me with a sort of sad, vacant look. "Mychel?" Disbelief swam across his features, and suddenly, he went unconscious. "Damn." I looked up at the rest of the group, Fizan in particular. "Any ideas what just happened?"
"I'm certain the poor man had a vision. Perhaps a hallucination. We have been in this room for about three hours without a break." Tinoya nodded, flushing a bit, out of embarrassment, and something else I couldn't quite name. I ignored it for now, and ran a hand absentmindedly through Mychel's hair attempting to reassure myself that I still cared enough for his well-being.
"Well, what are we going to do with him?"
We stood there, silent for a moment, looking at the man passed out cold in front of us. Finally, Tinoya chimed up. "I'll take him to my room, if you two men don't mind taking him up there. I'll watch him while you three catch up?" She eyed us all questioningly, still putting together pieces of an indeterminate puzzle.
"Thank you." My voice came softly, and I was relieved, as I leaned down to brush a kiss upon Mychel's forehead gently. I hoped he would sleep perhaps. He seemed out of sorts, groggy, not in the right state of mind. I ceded him to Fizan and Kelem, who unceremoniously lifted him up, grunting, and carried him up the stairs, as Tinoya directed them.
I took a look around the Room, this Room of Secrets? I hadn't known it even existed, until tonight. Kelem had led me out of the forest, through the town to the Library; there, I got lost. Leading me through the main entrance, he led me down the hall to where his and Mychel's studies were, and just before reaching his study, was a tree engraved into the wood. I had always thought it was pretty, decorative, and unique; turns out it served a second purpose. Touch the right combination of knots, and the panel opened. I'd repeat the pattern here, but that's too many people who know too much, at that point.
Winding up a staircase, I found us here, in this room. A few bookcases line one wall, extend out for a few rows, holding huge binders full of information; the secrets of the world over the past two thousand years or so, from what information I can glean. Tinoya is the current Secret Keeper; I'm in enough awe of that myself, for no one ever gets to really meet the Secret Keeper besides the Grandeor and the Assistant to the Grandeor. They live their adult lives almost entirely here, keeping secrets of nations and destinies. Fitting I suppose, that we would have to come here to find out why I got this damn ring.
Fizan did mention something about finding that out, right?
I heard footsteps behind me, and realized I was still sitting on the floor. Pulling myself up, I stood up and regarded the gentlemen in front of me. Kelem still seemed a bit nervous being near Fizan and with the almost-mauling incident earlier, I suppose I couldn't blame him. But right now, we needed to get down to business. Sitting down in the chair behind the desk, I looked expectantly at both of them.
"Well, are we going to get started? Since I'm stuck with this thing," I held up the ring, flashing it in the candle light, "I'm really going to need some information about it. So, endow me with your infinite knowledge?" My voice carried a teasing tone to it, but I really craved, deep down, to learn as much as I could while the first Secret Keeper was here, in actuality.
It's not every day when someone out of the distant past shows up in your city.
Kelem glanced at Fizan unsurely. "You ready?"
