Court of Feathers

Fourteen

Word Count: 2,037

"Shiro?"

After walking for what felt like eternity and finding neither hide nor hair of the two teens that seemed to have just magically disappeared into thin air (mostly because he couldn't find the stupid kitchen anywhere and kept doubling back to where he had started in the first place), Shiro eventually gave up with trying to find them and now found himself curled up comfortably on a window seat, a book in his lap, sitting amidst the largest library he'd ever laid eyes on.

It had reminded him of the Beauty and the Beast movie when he had first walked in. He remembered watching the little cartoon with Katie one night when Shiro had volunteered to babysit while the rest of the Holts were out, he didn't know why he thought of that magical library in the beast's castle at that moment of walking into the room, but it did look like something out of a fairytale.

Books were lined up one by one like toy soldiers, one after the other, their size nearly identical to every other book in the room, and—unlike most libraries back on Earth—there was not a single speck of dust to be seen. Shiro stopped counting the shelves after awhile, and, after some thought, began looking for a good book to read, realizing he couldn't remember the last time he actually held a book in his hands, much less had the time to sit down and actually read.

After coming to that conclusion and starting the hunt, Shiro realized he had missed being able to roam through a library to look for something good to read. It was nice to be moving around with the intent of reading again, after picking out volume upon volume written in a script he couldn't understand, he finally found a tattered book hidden at the back of a shelf. Shiro was surprised to find that it was a book of, what he could guess, nursery rhymes and children's' tales, handwritten in slanted English, the curling letters telling stories Shiro didn't recognize, but curiosity overtook him and, having nothing else to do, he located a window seat overlooking what he guessed were the swirling and colorful flowers of the royal gardens, and began pawing through the pages.

That must've been hours ago, because the bright expanse of sky had dulled considerably since then, the blue sky being replaced with the beginning colors of twilight and his head shot up from its cramped position against the wall at the voice that echoed through the room.

"Hm?" He rubbed his eyes, stretching, hearing a thud beside him, he looked down to find that the book he had been reading at some point before dozing off, had fallen to the floor with the noise. "What's it?" He mumbled into his hand, yawning.

"Shiro, have you been here the whole time?" Keith bent down to pick up the book that had fallen, and glancing at the cover before putting it on a nearby table, "we've been looking for you for hours, Allura said she hasn't seen you since this morning."

"Oh," he scratched the back of his head, sitting back up on the cushions, his muscles glad not to be in a cramped position anymore, "how long have you been looking?"

Keith shrugged, "Probably an hour and a half, maybe a little more."

"Oh," he repeated, whoops, he didn't mean to doze off, the remains of some weird dream was already beginning to slip away from his memory. At least it wasn't the same one that kept sending shivers down his spine every time he thought about it. "I'm sorry, I worried you, I promise I didn't mean to fall asleep."

Keith nodded, skeptical of his brother's promise, a minute later his eyes found the book he had put down earlier, "What is it?" Keith's brows furrowed after picking the leather-bound book up again, flipping it over in his hands before turning to a random page and reading what was written.