We The Kings: Book Two

Chapter 11

Carlo continued to drag over heavy stacks of books and surrounded me with them. Most of the books were incredibly large. After the fourth pile I told him it was enough.

"Thank you." I mumbled.

"Of course."

He finally had left me alone to read. I first started with "Fantasy Creatures and the Dark Origin." It was long, and the writing in the books was small, making it difficult to read. I took a piece of parchment paper and was prepared to find anything useful. No such luck, there was no mention of dragons or anything useful. I tossed it aside and continued to read the next book, which was also proven to be useless. I began to get a bit frustrated, and tossed the book into the useless pile.

Carlo came back to the table.

"Is there anything specific you're looking for? Mythical creatures are found in a lot of stories. If you were looking for something more specific I could help."

"No thanks. I just want to read."

I couldn't tell him I wanted to know about the dragon. It was too specific, he could summon the guards and have me taken away.

I kept reading into the hours into the night. He brought me a candle to read with when it got dark.  I thanked him.

"Did you find what you're looking for?"

"I'm not looking for anything. I'm just reading for the pleasure of it."

"Ah, yes. Well. I have to close the library soon. Which means I have to put all these books back."

"I'll be back tomorrow, can't you just leave them out?"

"Library rules states all books need to be returned to the shelves before it get's locked. Don't worry, Lee. I'll get them all down again for you tomorrow." He smiled. His smile was nice too.

I left and returned the next morning as I said. Carlo was still there, wearing his wide smile. I reminded myself, I was here for a reason. And no, I couldn't be attracted to the library boy. Or at least, I couldn't act on it.

He brought all the books down again early the next morning. No one else came into the library. It was just us. I was reading to the point where I gave myself headaches.

The Water Lion is a fish who Mermaids tend to keep for company.. They are small, but they.. They are small.. But they..

I felt a gentle hand shake my shoulder.

"Reading for pleasure, huh?" He crossed his arms and smiled, cocky that he had been right.

"Yes. I'm just tired."

"You really enjoy reading 'The history of Water Lions'? It sounds very compelling to learn about a creature that doesn't exist, and yet seems so boring."

"How do you know it doesn't exist?"

"It says mythical for a reason, right?"

"I have traveled many places. I have seen creatures that books say don't exist. It's more possible than you may think." I said.

"You're not wrong. All the stories I've read say dragons went extinct, but here we are. Our king with a dragon. So who know what else is possible. What have you seen? I've never left the city, or at least, I haven't gone far." He sat across from me. He put his hands on his face, interested in what I had to say.

I was reluctant at first. I chose my words carefully.

"Mermaids. I've met mermaids."

"Mermaids? What were they like?" His eyes lit up. His mouth opened in awe.

"They were. Very pretty. Their tales were golden, with fish scales. They were nice."

"They were pretty and nice? I could read that in any book! You have to give me more than that."

"Alright, fine. They had special abilities. When they held your hand, you could breathe under water like they can."

"For real? Did they take you under water? Did they show you their mer-kingdom?"

"No, nothing like that. They just helped me swim a little. They are very peaceful creatures, they hate humans."

"Why is that?"

"Humans are destructive. They fear that humans will come for them after wiping out each other first."

"That's valid of them. We're destroying each other. This war has to end."

I got nervous when he brought up the war. It was a subject I didn't want to bring up with anyone from Vendov. I remembered how I almost blew mine and Samuel's cover after we retrieved the mind of the dragon to a man and his daughter who brought us into his home.

"Yeah, agreed." Is all I said.

My studies continued for days. I came across a section in a book about fire fairies.

Fire Fairies are mischivous, and mean, They are creatures that are bug like. They cannot escape glass. Despite them being a nussance, they are loyal creatures. They always pay their debts to any creature who benefits them. Their stings are painful, and never fade. Another weakness of Fire Fairies are water. Water Fairies and Fire Fairies are natural enemies. To learn more about Water Fairies, continue to page 428, section C-45.

It was times like that I wished Mavis was with me. She was smart, and would know what to look for. I thought of what she would tell me if she were here. She would tell me to use my head, and my resources.

It was night. My candle was almost burnt out. Carlo cleared his throat from behind me. I looked over at him.

"Hello. I'm sorry to interrupt but. I left for a bit, I don't think you noticed. But, I live next door and I cooked, and well. I brought you some dinner."

He set down a plate of fresh cooked food.

"That's very kind of you, but I couldn't take your food."

"Lee, can you please let me do something nice for you?" He cocked his head sideways.

I took the plate from him.

"Thank you."

It was a plate of sweet potatoes, ham, corn, and chopped greens. I didn't realize how hungry I was until I had started eating.

"You must've been hungry." Carlo sat ontop of the table next to me, swinging his legs off it.

"Or perhaps your cooking is that good." I said.

"Thank you, I try. I also made these." Out of his satchel, he pulled out a bag of cookies.

"You bake, too?" I asked.

"Yeah, I like to. I usually don't have anyone to cook for. My dad comes and goes for work, my mom is usually busy too. They just left me with the boring job they didn't want. That's alright though, it's kind of peaceful here. A quiet part of the city."

"Not many come here, do they?" I stuffed a cookie into my mouth. It was soft, and a sweet blend of sugar and cinnamon.

"Not really. There was someone who came in a lot last year, but he stopped coming. Once in a while someone will borrow a book or come in and read, but they rarely come back."

The someone who came in a lot last year had to be Samuel. My stomach sank at the potential thought of him sitting in the same chair that I was in.

"Hey, can I show you something? Do you think you can tear yourself away from the books that long?" Carlo asked, jumping down from the table.

I shouldn't, I told myself. I needed to lay low as much as possible.

"I should keep reading." I said, pulling my eyes back to the book.

"Come on, Mr. Dark and Mysterious. Grab your cloak you like to hide under and follow me."