The Library (The Librarian of Alexandria Book 1) by Casey White (surface ebook reader .TXT) 📕

Owl held his tongue, staring at her face.  Something about her seemed...familiar.  He couldn’t quite shake the feeling that he’d seen her before, even though he was certain she wasn’t one of the guests.  She couldn’t be much older than him, which instantly ruled out her visiting the Library under one of his predecessors. His eyes flicked down - and settled on the stack of neatly-stapled papers she carried clutched in her arms.

“The biographies,” he said, understanding flashing through him.  “You brought them.”  Then that’d make her... “Did Indira send you?”

“She did,” the woman said, pulling herself up a little straighter.  She seemed hopelessly out of place here, with honey-brown hair hanging past her shoulders and her dark eyes wide.  Her cheeks were flushed - but as Owl watched, her gaze darted around the room before finally returning to his.  “Ah.  Right.  Uh.”

“I’m Owl,” he said, his composure flooding back in as the pieces finally settled into their neatly-arranged places.  “The Librarian.  I apologize, I wasn’t...I didn’t think someone would deliver these personally.”  He chuckled.  “Normally they just get left in a pile on the floor.”

“O-Oh,” she said, blinking.  “You don’t remember...”  She licked her lips, collecting herself, and shifted the stack of papers to one arm.

Owl managed to keep from flinching as she straightened with a swish of hair.  “Olivia Sutton,” she said, smiling faintly.  “I’m Indira’s assistant.  With the guild?”  Her smile twisted for a moment, deepening into something that almost looked genuine.  “We’ve met before.”

We have?  The words died on his lips, hastily bitten back before they could fly out.  He peered at her through the lenses of his mask, desperately searching his mind.  God, he looked like an idiot.

That wry smile was there on her lips again, a hint sheepish.  “I was allowed to accompany the guildmaster here on her last visit.  She had some records she needed.  Uh.  So...yeah.”

Owl’s eyes widened, his chin lifting a fraction of an inch.  There it was - the image he’d been searching for.  He could remember it, if he strained.  He could still see Indira seated on the floor of the entryway, papers spread out between her and him.

And he could remember the young woman standing behind the guildmaster, flipping back and forth through her files to present this or that document. It’d been years, even in the outside world.

“Of course,” Owl said, the words coming out on automatic.  “I remember you.  Apologies.  There’s just...a lot of guests.”

“Oh, I’m sure,” Olivia said, the last of the tension fleeing her expression.  “I can’t even imagine.  And a place like this?”  Her eyes flicked to the heavy double doors, boring into their wooden surface.  “You’ve got so much to deal with.  I wasn’t trying to- I-”  She clasped her hands in front of her, her expression turning serious again.  “I would never think to accuse the Librarian of-”

“It’s fine,” Owl said, chuckling.  “Not offended.  I should have remembered faster.” He shifted from foot to foot, confusion still filling his mind.  “So...Was there something you needed, or did you just really, really want to make sure I got the next batch of candidates?”

Olivia’s eyes widened.  “O-Oh!  Right.”  She stooped low, depositing the mess of papers into a heap on the stonework.

Just as quickly, she rose - and bowed, bending over at the waist.

Again, Owl fought with his emotions, narrowly managing to keep a straight face.  Her?  Bowing?  To him?  This was the 21st century, not the damn 1800s.

“I heard,” Olivia said, still doubled over and staring at the ground.  “About Lenny.  Emma told us, afterward.  About his...accidents.”

“That didn’t take long,” Owl said, with a snort.

It was hard to tell with her face pointed at the stonework, but he was pretty sure she was turning red.  “On behalf of the guild, Librarian, please let me apologize.  We are so sorry.  If we’d known he was going to be trouble, we’d never have-”

“It’s okay,” Owl said with a sigh, returning his hands to his pockets.  “We got it all straightened out.  I don’t think he was malicious, just...stupid.”

“Calling it stupid is too kind,” Olivia said, and the tension in her words shone clearly.  She stood, then, with her cheeks glowing.  “It’s unacceptable.  And we sent him to you.”  Her eyes tightened.  “If he’d destroyed any of the books with his stunts...the loss would be-”

“Hold on,” Owl interrupted, holding a hand up.  “Lenny’s an idiot, but there are limits to the damage he can do.”  He chuckled softly, shaking his head.  “The Library...doesn’t really work like that.  Lenny might have blown himself and Emma up.  He might have even hurt me, if he did something especially stupid.”  And if I’d utterly failed in my task as Librarian.  “But he couldn’t have actually damaged Alexandria or its books.”

Olivia stopped, blinking furiously.  He’d seen her eyes light up at the Library’s name, though, and groaned inwardly.  An eager one.  Lovely.

Despite her eagerness, his words seemed to have left her...baffled.  She licked her lips, glancing toward the door as though she’d find her answers there.  “Really?” she said at last, turning her eyes back to him.  “It wouldn’t?  I mean- I assumed that if the books were lost-”

“It’s a magic library,” Owl said dryly. “The books aren’t quite real.  Neither is...anything else, really.”  He sighed as her eyes started to go round.  “You...don’t know any of this?  Didn’t you dream to get here?”

“W-Well,” Olivia stammered, starting to shift.  “Yeah.  I did.  And...that makes sense.”  A smile curled at her lips, pressing dimples into her cheeks.  “That makes me feel a bit better, at least.”

Owl chuckled, rocking back on his heels.  “Now you know, assistant.  Geez.  I’d have thought Indira would have told you that much.”

The flush spreading across her face spread even faster.  “She’s- She’s just very busy.  And I would have thought you wouldn’t want people talking about this place out there.  She’s just- She’s keeping your secrets.  That’s all.”

Right.  That was it.