In Times To Come

“Wait, Erin!” I forced the dress on over my head and rushed to the door, flinging it open and bursting into the hall. I yelled after her, “Erin!”

She turned, surprised. “Yes, My Lady?”

“Uh, do you know if there is a library nearby, or maybe even somewhere with castle information?”

She thought for a moment. “Of course, there is a library, but the records room…”

“A records room?” I prodded. That was exactly what I needed.

“That particular room can only be accessed by His Highness and his trusted official,” she said carefully. “What My Lady would want with those-”

“Just interested is all,” I added quickly. “I don’t know much about the way things work here and so I was hoping to get a little background information.”

“Well, if it is a history book you are wanting, then the library would be sufficient.” She pointed down in the opposite direction. “Walk to the end of this hall and take the third right. From there, it is the second door on your right.”

“Thank you,” I said before speeding off in that direction

“My Lady, your breakfast!” she called after me, but I was too excited to listen.

I may not have gotten exactly what I wanted, but a library was better than nothing. I would just have to search harder. Besides, I loved books, regardless of what they contained. Just the thought of seeing all those volumes made me giddy.

My excitement was hardly containable as I approached the door she had described. It looked so normal, had I not been told where to go, I would have never known it was a library. The door handle was cold against my skin as I took it in my palm and turned. Locked.

‘Just great.’ I thought in exasperation. “Now what?”

“Can I help you?”

I turned on my heels to see an elf standing just behind me. He was an older man with dark brown hair and greenish-grey eyes. Small, round spectacles sat on the bridge of his nose which he looked over in order to study me more closely. His clothing was modest and looked inexpensive, not at all what I would have imagined someone to wear in a castle. A set of keys jingled in his left hand.

“Are you the librarian?” I asked.

“That would be me. Sammuel is the name,” he said with a smile. “Are you a reader?”

“I am,” I grinned back.

“Well, well. It has been some time since this library has had a visitor.” He unlocked the door and stepped inside. “Is there something in particular you need?”

I heard his question, but could hardly form the words to answer. Never in my life had I seen a library and it took me a moment to take it all in.

There were books of every size and color from one end of the room to the other; from floor to ceiling, wall to wall. It was astounding.

“Um,” I stumbled, regaining my senses. “Just looking, really.”

“Oh? Well, if you need something you can always come find me. I’m usually in that back room there,” he pointed to a door set in the wall of books. “Just call if you need me.”

“I will,” I nodded and then turned my attention to the wall beside me.

Studying the bindings I could tell that they weren’t arranged in any order except by subject. This particular section was on farming. That would do little in helping me. I shifted over to the next set of shelves. This one was closer, but not it either. When I had gotten to the very end of this wall and still found nothing, I turned my attention to above.

A huge ladder rested against the shelves and stretched almost to the ceiling. If I climbed it, I could step onto a platform toward the top to inspect the books higher up.

I steadied the ladder and headed upward, one rung at a time. I wasn’t afraid of heights, so the trip was easy for me and I was glad I made it. The books these upper shelves contained were exactly what I was looking for.

I picked up the volume with the most promising title, “Early History”, and began to scan the pages within. The chapters were well named and the Table of Contents in the front directed my attention to a section that looked very interesting. I sat on the wooden floor of the platform, my back against its railing and began to read.

Ch. 8
The Special Ones

It is known that once every few years a child elf is born with abilities that surpass the average. These elves are known as “the special ones” or, once they are full grown, “Magicians”.
Not one Magician is like the other and each has a talent all his own. The differences in tribe and region have no effect in the conceiving of these elves. There is no known cause as to why these particular men are different from birth, but it is found commonly within certain families; being passed down throughout the generations.
There is usually only one Magician per affected family at one time. However, there have been cases involving the birth of twins, but this occurrence is rare.
… … …

“Twins?”

Below this was a drawn portrait of two small elves. They each held the hand of the other, a dull expression resting on their faces. They wore the same clothes, same boots, even the same hairstyle. They looked identical in every aspect. I had never seen anything like that before.

I looked to the next page. It read “Chapter 19”.

“What about the rest?” I complained out loud. If I looked close enough I could just see the frayed edge of a tear close to the binding. Someone had forcefully and purposely removed the next page.

“Find something interesting?” called up Sammuel.

"Yes, but,” I showed him the book over the banister. “There is a page missing.”

He motioned for me to come down and I did. When he had the book in his possession he studied it awhile before speaking. “Ah, that would be His Eminence Charles the fourth.”

“His Eminence-“

“Charles the fourth,” he finished. “It was ordered just after the Krager Rebellion that any documents containing information about the Magicians were to be collected and destroyed. A pity, really. You see, the only reason this bit here is still in tact is because there is a paragraph at the top that belongs to the previous chapter.”

I looked up to the top of the page, he was right.

“Why would he order something like that?”

“You are a curious one,” his eyes twinkled from behind the small lenses. “I’ll tell you what, come back tomorrow morning and I’ll have a whole pile of books for you that will help in answering just that question.”

I looked at him with a slightly ardent expression.

“Be patient,” he said, reading my face. “Gathering materials takes time and what would be the fun of just getting told the answer. Wouldn’t you rather find it for yourself?”

‘Actually, no,’ I thought to myself, but I wasn’t going to tell him that.