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Luckily for Fina, we didn’t have to wait long. The door to the solarium opened. Lady Glennis strode in, her heels cracking on the fine stone floor. Her simple green gown was cinched at the waist, functional, but still elegant. She had a notebook open in her arm and a severe look on her face.
My heart dropped. What could an expression like that mean? If the king was already in a bad mood, I certainly didn’t want to be the one to meet him. What happened to make the Lady Glennis look so openly upset?
“Good morning, ladies,” Glennis said curtly. “I trust you’ve enjoyed making your introductions.”
She peered at us, brows raised slightly. We all nodded and murmured our affirmatives.
“Good,” she said. “Unfortunately, there’s been a change of schedules. The king isn’t able to meet with you, so you will have the day to yourselves.”
“The king won’t be at dinner, either?” Adora asked.
“Not this evening,” Lady Glennis said. “He has urgent court business.”
Wynona stood up briskly. “Does Nightfall maintain a training facility?”
“Of course,” Glennis said. “One of the guards will escort you.”
Wynona nodded in thanks and went to the door. My wolf perked up with curiosity—was the guard about to shift the way my maidservants had? However, all he did was step across the threshold behind Wynona.
“Lady Glennis,” Fina chirped, “is there a library in the manor?”
“Oh!” I said before I could stop myself. “Yes, milady, is there—”
Lady Glennis shot us both a knowing smile. “Yes, girls, there is a library. I’ll have your maidservants escort you.”
Fina caught my eye, and I couldn’t help but return her grin. It seemed like Fina and I could become fast friends. Wynona certainly wasn’t interested in friendship, nor it seemed was Rona. They wanted to win. I didn’t know what Fina’s goal was, but I had no interest in winning, and having a companion to explore the library sounded like more fun than holing up in my room for the afternoon.
Despite the circumstances, I wanted to enjoy this brief taste of being out from under my father’s thumb. Back home they called me Ice Princess, but here, I could—sometimes—try to be someone different. Someone more like my true self instead of the role I usually had to play.
Amity and Rue escorted us out of the solarium and towards the south wing of the manor. Again, they were in wolf form, and I glanced at Fina to see her reaction, but she seemed to think nothing of it. She’d sent away her own maidservants, saying we didn’t need four escorts, and hadn’t appeared to notice the slightly downcast looks her servants had gotten in return. It was none of my business, though—and I had a library to explore. Fina hooked her arm in mine and chattered away merrily as we strode through the halls.
“I’m so excited to see this library,” she said. “My quarters had a small library of its own, I can’t believe there’s more!”
“Mine as well,” I said. “I hope there are archives, too.”
“Archives!” Fina laughed. “I hope there are novels. The good kind.”
“What do you mean by the good kind?”
She lowered her voice. “The romantic kind.”
I gasped in faux-horror and swatted playfully at her wrist. “You devil,” I teased. “You read those things?”
“I’m addicted,” she admitted. “The books in my quarters are too high-brow.”
At the door of the library, Amity and Rue both shifted back into their human forms—dressed in their uniforms, courtesy of the rings, I assumed. They nodded to us and then each pushed open one of the great wooden doors.
“Wow.” I dropped Fina’s arm, eyes widening as I drank in the library.
It was enormous. The ceilings were so tall that there were two staircases on either side of the space, leading to a wraparound balcony with shelves and shelves filled with books. A hearth was already burning in the center of the room, flanked by overstuffed chairs and stacks. There were tables scattered around, well-lit, and everywhere I turned were shelves and shelves and shelves of books.
“I can sense the romance novels,” Fina said. She closed her eyes and placed her forefingers to her temples. “They’re calling me.”
At the higher level of the library, a shelf caught my eye. It wasn’t packed with books—it looked like it was packed with scrolls. “Enjoy them,” I said. “I’ve got some exploring to do.”
I hurried up the narrow staircase to the wraparound balcony. It didn’t look like anyone came up here often—a thin layer of dust had built on the wood shelves, and the lighting was dim. Between the shelves, there was a narrow, closed door. Likely to more archives, I assumed. I tamped down my curiosity about the door. First, scrolls.
And were there ever a lot of scrolls. The shelves were unlabeled, so I pulled one out at random, coughing at the sudden explosion of dust. I pulled it carefully from its leather tube and smoothed it out on the nearby table. Text only—and not in a script I knew. I returned it to its holder. I pulled a scroll from another shelf—same thing. Unfamiliar text. After pulling the third text-only scroll, I moved to a different shelf, closer to the door in the back.
