The Four Swords

Chapter 58: Welcome to the Library

The Swordsmen were finishing facilitating the last rounds of sparring when I returned from my chat with Cali. I was taken out of the rotation because of my absence. The three men, along with my uncle, looked at me in anticipation of something.

"What did I miss, My Lords?" Why was I so clueless?

The men all gave each other a knowing glance. I guess I had been the topic of a recent conversation.

My uncle broke the silence, "Jack, every time you go down to that end of the field, there seems to be another reason for the King to be upset with you." My uncle explained in good humor.

"What kind of theatrics are you going to cause today? Though I must say, we all agree that calling in the Queen was thoroughly entertaining and by far the best meeting we have ever had." Lord Bleddyn added on.

My face fell. I was a joke to everyone. I took a deep breath. It was enough to steel myself against the world in front of me. I could comfort myself later in the library. My time was up for thinking of ideas on how to explain my absence in the next few meetings.

"I hope today is theatrics free. The King has decided to put my knowledge of the royal library to some good use. He hopes I will find something that can be useful for defending against the Norads," I slapped on a cheerful tone, evoking thoughts of books to do so. Surely that was vague enough to satisfy everyone.

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"So that is what the King needed to say to you. It is probably best that you let him clear his head before he sees you again. He did not seem too pleased to see you bring the Queen," My father interjected.

I did not want to keep that topic of conversation going. It only made me relive the aftermath. Cali's favor benefited me in a way she did not intend, a change in topic of conversation.

"The Swordsmen will all want the King focused on business today. The scouts from the clan of Bear just arrived, so the troops may end up being sent out soon," I dangled the new information in front of them.

As much as all of these men want to be prepared for anything, they craved action. This tantalizing piece of information made their eyes grow wide in anticipation. Focus shifted from me, thankfully, and back to correcting the men who might be headed toward the enemy.

Thank you, Cali. The distraction was enough for me to slink away to the library to begin my confinement. My shadows followed in step.

Emotions swirled inside me fighting for my attention. I loved the library. I could have moved a cot in the corner a few weeks ago and happily lived the rest of my life within its walls. Somehow that love felt tainted now. How could the King use my haven as a punishment?

Shame and embarrassment took their turn at the forefront of my mind. Was I really that much of an outlier in the population that my interests were considered painful? No wonder my friends adopted me like a pet. No. Those were the words of a hateful tirade. I will not accept them as truth.

Whilst wading through my emotional turmoil, I arrived at the library. Two grand twin staircases framed the main room with dramatic effect. Although auxiliary book storage rooms could be found on both floors, the main room was my favorite.

The stair rails escaped from the pages of a romance, where the heroine slides into the arms of her beloved. The ladders to reach the highest shelves doubled for the rope ladder to the crow's nest of a pirate ship. The rows of shelves created a labyrinth and only I was the adventurer brave enough to solve the puzzle to get to the heart of the maze.

This room breathed life into the stories I read for many years. Alina brought me here when she was about ten. While she looked for a specific history her tutor at the time required, I looked through as many books as possible. Ever since that day, I tried to visit as often as allowed.

No one else seemed to find the library quite as interesting as I did. Even the servant who was supposed to maintain order, came by only about once a week to replace books back on to their proper shelves. I rearranged an entire section one time. It was not discovered for almost a year.

My heart wanted to pick up a work of fiction to momentarily escape my reality and enjoy someone else's imagination. My feet carried me toward those adventures before I stopped.

What if I could actually help the kingdom? What if there was more to know about the Norads than we already knew?

I turned around and headed toward the upstairs auxiliary room. Histories of our kingdom lined those shelves. I looked for the most worn covers and started pulling those books into a pile on a study desk.

"Jack, what exactly are you looking for? Maybe we can help?" Finley offered while looking skeptical of the large stack I acquired.

"I hope that I can find something about the Norads. Anything at all. If you want to help, pick a book and dig in," I pointed toward a smaller secondary stack for him to peruse.

"If you say so," Alejo picked up a book and found a chair. It happened to be the smallest book I unshelved and his chair was nearest the door. I don't think the muscular guard was thrilled with my choice of pastime, but he also did not complain.

Finley chose another book. His round face held a timid smile. I felt as though he was handling me with care. That was fine by me. The less talking we do, the more reading I can get done.

Picking up the largest history, I started at the beginning. Maybe being banished from those meetings was not so bad after all