The Invisible Library

She wasn’t actually going to lie, but there was…well, there might be an element of flexibility.

She did find that the books displayed prominently in every chamber had been dusted, but the spines were pristine and uncreased. They had the sad, untouched air of literature paraded for display purposes but never actually used.

It was profoundly depressing.

“I met one (that is, a dragon) once,” Irene said.

“What did you talk about?”

“He complimented me on my literary taste.”

Kai blinked. “Doesn’t sound like a life-threatening sort of conversation.”

The atmosphere of the place soothed her automatically; the rich lantern-lights, the sheer scent of paper and leather, and the fact that everywhere she looked, there were books, books, beautiful books.

She was a Librarian, and the deepest, most fundamental part of her life involved a love of books. Right now, she wanted nothing more than to shut the rest of the world out and have nothing to worry about except the next page of whatever she was reading.

She’d sort things out later. She’d explain things later. Right now she just had to make sure there would be a later.