Dawning Skye

193 Royal Library

Walking down the steps, Skye looked around like a gaping tourist. She had never been allowed into the library whenever she visited the prince. His Aunt Marie would pick out books about Fae for them to read together, but Skye had always wanted to See the place herself. Now that she thought about it, her father might have caught onto her ‘gift’ for reading. She still wanted the full truth of why he felt such a need to protect her, but needed to have the proper, targeted questions first..

‘There isn’t a trait that boosts one’s intelligence, although Ether magic might make it easier to absorb information, I guess. That would explain Marco’s ridiculously high intelligence..’

As Skye’s thoughts jumbled, a man came walking up to her and asked in a soft tone, “Is there anything I could help you find?”

“Oh, aye. Forgive my rudeness. I would like you to show me the Relics and Tomes section, please. The oldest ones you have, if they are available,” Skye asked in her best courtier voice and speech.

The man eyed her a moment before he asked; “If you are looking for fashion inspiration or the like, we have an entire section right over there. Or is there a specific book you heard about? Maybe ones with colorful pictures that would please a pretty lady such as yourself?”

Skye felt her ire rise at the man’s chauvinistic attitude. ‘I don’t understand why so many men that consider themselves to be intellectuals always seem to be so stupid..’ Skye was about to chide him when a familiar face came jaunting up to her with a smile.

“Princess Skye! It’s lovely to see you again! I’m Nora, from the Medical Ward in the palace!? You met me with Dr. Gohan; do you remember?”

Skye stared at the girl a moment before she cracked a giant smile and said; “Oh, Aye! The lass that was interested in my magic! Lovely to see you as well, dear.”

The man in front of Skye changed three shades whiter than his normal tone at the word, “Princess”. He didn’t expect to see such a highborn lady in the library. Then again; he felt that if any woman was to be educated, it should be nobility. He wasn’t too keen on women in general being educated, but at least a princess made sense to him.. ‘Not like that one; why is she even allowed in here?!’ The man railed internally as Nora came to stand before them.

.....

“Thank you, Franklin. I’ll help the princess with her selection,” Nora spoke in a soft, polite tone.

The man glared at her like he could start her on fire; “You are Not qualified for such a task! And there are parts here that She and I can go to, that you can’t. Be gone with you, common trash! You shouldn’t even be allowed in here to begin with-”

An elderly man got up from behind the desk towards the back wall, and walked towards them while yelling; “That is Enough, Franklin! Did you forget where you are?! This is a library! Go be useful and put some books away! I’ve not the patience to deal with you now, and I don’t wish to offend the princess any more than you already have!”

Franklin shrunk away at the old man’s vehement reproach. He was the Head Curator of the Library, and held much more seniority than himself; enough to fire him. As the old man fast-walked his way to the three, Franklin bowed to Skye, then went the long way around back to the desk.

As the old man walked up, a smile spread across Skye’s face. The relatively buff older man was of average height, but did not resemble a librarian at all. His inner shirts were tight-fitted, and he wore a long robe-type of jacket over it that resembled something Skye remembered seeing in an old tome. ‘If I recall it correctly; a trenchcoat, I think?’

His pants were close to the style that was common in Sai, but reversed; they were tight at the top, then bagger around his ankles and feet. The two shirts were layered, but she couldn’t tell what they looked like; just that they were both black.

“I’m Doctor Frode Lyberth, the Head Curator here. Please, forgive Franklin. He’s barely left the central part of the city; nevermind any other part of the world. He doesn’t understand how shallow and narrow-minded he sounds when he talks like that.”

Skye and Nora exchanged a knowing look before they replied in a flat tone; “Used to it.”

Frode shifted slightly; “*Cough* Umm.. Is there anything I could help you with? I feel terrible about my associate..”

Skye perked up; “May I see the rare tomes and artifacts? The ones that you are having issues translating?”

Dr. Lyberth quirked an eyebrow and smirked as he lowered his voice to a barely audible level; “Are you sure you don’t want to see the items pertaining to the Catalyst Legend first?”

Skye’s face filled with shock, then immediately switched to suspicion. Seeing the shift, Frode informed her; “Your husband said you would be requesting the materials a few days ago, and that he would take it as a ‘personal kindness’, if I had the majority of our collection available for whenever you visited.”

Skye’s face instantly changed to a soft, sentimental expression. She wasn’t crying, but she could feel a small lump in her throat, and a giant, goofy smile on her face that wouldn’t go away. Frode thought it was sweet how obvious the two cared for each other. They even got the same grin when speaking about the other.

After calming herself a bit, Skye politely asked Dr. Lyberth to show them the way. He looked at Nora and hesitated a moment, but motioned to both of them to follow him. They went to a door that was behind the employee area, down a relatively short hallway, through two more doors, then down two decently-sized flights of steps. Once at the bottom, they walked for a good six minutes before finally arriving at a strange, large door that was obviously made of extremely old metal. Skye was a little confused, but would be able to find her way back if need be.

Once Frode twisted a large wheel several times in multiple directions, several clicks could be heard coming from inside the door. After one final, very loud clank noise; it was able to be pulled open. Rows upon rows of shelves filled with boxes, clear storage cases, and random artifacts filled the cave-like room except for the four large, rectangular tables nearest to them.

There were no windows or holes of any kind except for one vent at the top that let in a minuscule amount of light. It was nearly pitch-black, so Skye couldn’t see the entire room until Dr. Lyberth flicked the light switch. Once he did, she literally squeaked in her excitement at the sight before her.

As Skye looked about, she asked; “How does the air get pumped in or filtered in here?”

“Good question! That vent up there has six different layers that get switched out about once a week. I’m personally not sure what they’re made of; only the engineers knows that. But the oxygen is also provided for and cleaned by the moss on the back wall.”

Skye looked to where Frode was pointing, and was surprised to also see a giant sheet of glass-like material separating them and the shelves from an actual wall of a cave. Upon closer inspection, she realized that they were basically in a giant glass box. When she lightly tapped her knuckles against it, Frode chuckled.

“I know what you’re thinking, but it’s not glass. The genius engineers decided that artifacts and tomes weren’t the only precious things to be found.. They’ve got the Explorers, or Adventurers, or whatever; ripping apart the historical sites! Can you believe that?!” indignation was clear in Frode’s voice as he began to rant.

“How can they destroy history like that?! We should be studying and preserving the historical sites, not stripping them bare like common thieves! I don’t care how useful it is, Not everything needs to be reused when it’s historically significant!”

“Dr. Lyberth, you’re doing it again,” Nora said, effectively saving Skye from his.. enthusiastic explanation.

Clearing his throat, Frode apologized to the two women. He knew he had a tendency to go off about the engineers from the Research and Development Department. ‘They just have no respect for the past.. How do they expect to navigate the future without understanding the past?! I swear-No. No, don’t start again; focus!’

Shaking himself from his thoughts, Dr. Lyberth walked over to an eight-shelved bookshelf marked ‘new arrivals’, and grabbed the first box on the top shelf with a grunt. After walking over, he set the box down, then pulled a clear container out of the box. Confusion plain on the princess’ face, Frode commented; “It was to stop people from requesting the materials until you had a chance to see them yourself.. Most of it is pretty old and damaged..”

Skye gave the doctor a brilliant smile before pulling the box over to herself. Frode thought about being honest with the princess, but decided to do what the prince had asked instead. He felt bad about lying to such a kind and gentle woman, especially given that he owed her a great debt.

Frode’s wife had to take their youngest child to the Medical Ward in the palace for treatments every day. Ever since she was a baby, she’d been constantly sick. The doctors didn’t know much past the fact that her white blood cells attacked her healthy red ones, even when she was healthy. They’d seen the issue a handful of times, but didn’t know exactly what it was, or how to treat it.. And most that had it at a young age didn’t live to be adults.

It was Dr. Lyberth’s main motivation for becoming the Head Curator. He had studied various subjects his entire life, and was a child prodigy. He knew over eight different languages, plus five of the ancient ones. With access to all of the artifacts and tomes that the palace received daily, Frode thought he could find a cause for his daughter’s constant sickness; possibly even a cure.. But it was a moot point now.

When Skye had made her Shaman rounds yesterday, Dr. Lyberth’s daughter had been in the ward for her treatment. The princess had healed her with no care or clue as to whom she was; according to his wife. She’d been in the room with her when Dr. Gohan had brought her in. It took her all of eight minutes to fix a problem that their daughter had been suffering from all ten years of her life.

Last night she had eaten three times the amount of food she normally did, and slept through the entire night with no fever or sickness. This morning, while Frode was getting ready for work, she was playing tag with her older sister. It was the first time she’d ever done it without falling over sick after ten minutes. She was still at it when he left his home.

As he climbed into the carriage; Frode had immediately closed his windows, and cried out of overwhelming joy. The doctors didn’t think she’d live passed summer, now she seemed immortal with her enthusiasm. Dr. Lyberth decided right then and there that he would give or do anything for the princess. No matter what the Crowned Prince told him to do...

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