“And you have been tasked with opening this library.”
“Yes.”
“How, then, did you enter it at all?”
This was one of two questions she’d been afraid he was going to ask, the other beingby who. She exhaled. “I used the marks of the Chosen on a flat, unadorned stone wall.”
Unlike any other teacher who knew her, he accepted her words at face value. He had no idea that she didn’t know how to use those marks, after all. His nod was brief, and his gaze drifted away from her face, past the shoulder that didn’t contain a familiar.
“There appear to be occupants, regardless.”
“Yes, I’m sorry. Two of those occupants came with me.”
“Those would be?”
“The Dragons.”
“And the other three?”
“I have no idea how they arrived here. Wait, you can see them?” This was the wrong question, but it fell out of her mouth before she could shut it.
“Of course I can see them.” The answer was superbly waspish.
“It’s just—no one else can.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“No one else can see them except me.” Before he could speak again, she said, “Killian couldn’t see them. I think he knows something’s wrong,” she added, to be fair.
“I dislike translations,” he finally said. “They are cumbersome and frequently inaccurate. You are now telling me that Killianas cannot see these intruders?”
“Killian—Killianas—is perhaps not what he was the last time someone wakened you.” She desperately wanted to leave the rest of this conversation in someone else’s hands—but the Arkon was nowhere near where she now stood, and going back to him with the book required that she walk through three Barrani.
“What do you mean?”
Exhaling, she said, “When you entered the book, for want of better words—”
“Forseverewant ofmuch more intelligentwords. Continue.”
“—wasRavellonthe center of the world?”
“It was not the center of mine, but if you speak of my tenure in this position, yes.Ravellonwas considered by many to the center of the world. Of all worlds.” He lifted a ghostly chin in silence; Kaylin thought he’d finished. “So—it came to pass, then.Ravellon’s fall, and its entrapment. We heard of it; we spoke with the last chancellor, Terramonte. He came to offer us warning, having evacuated all that he could find. Some were not willing to leave. Some of lesser power had no choice.”
“You chose not to leave.”
“We cannot leave. While we exist, sleeping or waking, the library exists. Tell me, how large an area did the Towers encompass?”
Kaylin swallowed. She wondered if this man hadwantedto be a librarian. “The Academia was between two of the areas assigned to the Towers.
“Larrantin is still here. I think a couple of others, as well. Having spoken only to Larrantin, I believe he was distracted and missed the timing.”
“That would be young Larrantin, indeed. Very well. How do the Towers function? What is the theory behind their abilities?” His frown deepened. “Shadow.”
“I’m not certain how they function. But they exist in any state of reality I’ve experienced.”
His expression made clear just how little he thought she’d experienced. It raised hackles—but it always did—and she forced herself to swallow the knee-jerk reaction. Later, she’d complain to Helen about it. Now, she needed to give him the information he’d asked for—or as much of it as she could manage.
“They exist in the outlands.”