A Tale of Crown and Country

Tavin

Other than the wide stained windows–the first artistic piece Tavin found in the city–the exterior of the University library was as plain and sandy as the rest of Aldira. A few young men were headed out onto the streets as Tavin approached. A woman not much older than Nasta in a simple deep red dress smiled at him as they passed on the grand stone steps. Guarded by a pair of large winged cats, the grand wooden doors leading into the library greeted Tavin as he approached. He stared at them, practised the words he was to say in his head again, and pulled one of the doors open.

    The interior did not match in the least what he had expected. A wide, dark wooden staircase beckoned him inwards. It split on the next landing, the two sides of the staircase creeping up the sides of the room that stretched up four storeys to the ceiling. The first landing, only up a handful of stairs, opened onto another set of doors, ones inset with small stained glass windows. Words in a language he couldn't understand spread across them. Tavin pushed a door open and stepped into what he presumed was the main floor of the library.

    A small alcove to his right was a sort of circulation desk. An old man wearing a deep blue robes in the Vastran style stood with his back turned to the desk. He was hunched over a large dusty book, not having heard Tavin enter.

    But what really caught his attention was the expansive room to his left: the library itself. One large room, the library stretched three storeys up. Shelves lined the walls and spilled out into the floorspace. Carved wooden tables stood every few feet, a few of which were occupied. Each storey of the library comprised of a thin strip around the outside of the room whereupon small round staircases stood at the end for access. Ladders leaned against shelves all around the room for easy access to the higher shelves. Tavin gazed in wonder at the room, at the ease of the students using it, and at the sheer amount of knowledge in one room. It may have been the only library in Aldira, but it more than made up for that. The only library he had ever seen was his Grandfather's, and it was not nearly as comprehensive as this.

    "Looking for something?" a wheezing voice asked behind. Tavin's attention jerked back to the front desk, to the old man in the robe. The man ran one wrinkled hand through the tufts of white hair on his head. But he didn't appear old in Tavin's eyes; he seemed learned, wise, experienced, yes, but not old.

    Tavin gulped and spoke the line he had practised: "I'm looking for a book on the history of–of Allriya, and–and the history of the royal–the Careyl royal family, as well," he stuttered.

    The man turned around. Tavin looked around, unsure of what he was supposed to do. But the man returned a moment later with a large yellowed book and a quill. The man handed Tavin the quill and gestured towards the half-blank pages. Taking the hint, Tavin signed his name underneath a nearly illegible one in beautiful handwriting. Tavin's name was not nearly as pleasing to look at. He always forgot how to draw the G and found his name too long anyways. The man pulled the quill from his fingers and turned the book around. He stared at the signature a moment. Tavin still wasn't sure if he was allowed to leave or not.

    "Guildensrohn," the man said curiously. He looked up at Tavin: "Reightneirian, I presume?"

    "Yes," he answered, though more than a little confused at the relevance. He wondered if he'd have to find the book himself in amongst the waves of shelves. It was daunting, but not so much as it would be to have to ask the man behind the counter for help.

    "Second floor, shelf five, row three, end of the shelf," the man said, answering Tavin's silent question. "Library closes in an hour." He turned away with his large book of signatures again, and Tavin assumed he had been told the general location of both volumes he'd requested.