In contrast, the library in the House of Fourteen was much smaller and didn’t have windows looking out at the white-capped waters of the Indian Ocean. Actually, there were no windows, and if there were, they’d look out at the Pacific Ocean in Santa Monica.
What made the library at the House of Fourteen unique was that much like the Castle, it seemed to be alive. There was no librarian like Trinity at the Great Library to help readers find the books they were looking for. Instead, the library responded to the person’s thoughts, directing them to what they were interested in. Also much like the Castle, it was full of tricks and could be quite confusing.
Sophia pushed open the thick door to the library. Even though she was prepared for what she would see, the place still filled her with awe. Columns as big as small cars rose all the way to the third-story ceiling overhead. Balconies were located in multiple places, each providing a view of the masterfully painted ceiling. A painting of the Milky Way Galaxy spiraled and sparkled, following the movements of the real galaxy.
The first floor of the library somehow felt quaint and cozy, with multiple seating areas and reading nooks. Sophia knew this was deceiving. Too many times, she’d fallen asleep in one of the areas, only to wake in a place she didn’t remember visiting. One didn’t just get lost in this library. If you weren’t careful, you became like a book, passed along from reader to reader, shuffling through their shelves until you were found far from where you started.
Sophia’s sister Reese had explained that when so many magical texts are kept in the same place, the books start to conspire against the readers, playing tricks on them.
When she reached the first row of books, Sophia stopped and took in a breath to welcome the scent of pages cloaked in dust and brimming with knowledge. She reached out and ran her fingers across the spines, enjoying the sensation as they tickled her skin.
The library changed based on what the reader was looking for. If you wanted to leave, it pointed you in the right direction. If you wanted to hide, it gave you a place. And if you wanted to find out about something in particular, it shoved you down that aisle.
The key was that the person searching had to be very focused on their thoughts. The moment they trailed away or got distracted, their path through the library would follow suit. Sophia had heard rumors of magicians in the library at the House of Fourteen that had been lost for decades.
Focusing intensely, Sophia trained her thoughts on finding a book that detailed anything about the Dragon Elite or dragon eggs in general. She reasoned that it could be a single passage in a large text. Nevin may not necessarily have access to the library in the House of Fourteen since he wasn’t a Royal, but he might know someone who did. Or he could have gotten access to the same book somewhere else.
When the path in front of her didn’t shift, as it did when directing her, she began to worry. Was it possible there were no books in that vast library that pertained to dragonriders or at least briefly mentioned them? Something wasn’t right.
Closing her eyes, Sophia really focused. She needed to find a book in this library that mentioned that for every good dragon that hatched, there was an evil one.
When she opened her eyes, she fully expected to have a specific volume resting on the floor in front of her. Or feel that familiar tug at her core when the library was directing. There was nothing.
“I don’t get it,” she muttered to herself out loud.
“Sure you do,” a familiar voice said behind her.
Sophia spun to find the mysterious black and white lynx resting upon a glass case that definitely hadn’t been there before. The case, at first glance, appeared to contain dinosaur bones.
“Hey, Plato.” Sophia should have realized she was overdue for a visit from Liv’s sidekick. He liked to turn up when she least expected it and then disappear just before actually being helpful. “And no, I don’t get it. I’m focusing on what I need to find, and so far, the only thing that’s shown up is you.”
The cat stretched, his white-tipped tail flicking in the air. “Well, I don’t know. I’m not the only thing that’s new from a moment ago.”
Sophia stepped forward, eyeing the case Plato was standing on. On closer inspection, she realized it wasn’t dinosaur bones but rather… “Are those dragon remains?”
“I’m no archeologist, but I believe so,” he said coyly as he licked his paw.
There was a small placard on the side of the case that, to Sophia’s disappointment, didn’t offer much information. It read:
Dragon: Unknown
Circa: Unknown
Location: Unknown
“Wow,” she commented dryly. “I’m not sure if I found anything less helpful since you.”
He grinned like the Cheshire cat. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“You would,” she jabbed.
“Your focused thoughts brought up this case of dinosaur bones,” Plato offered.
“Which are incredibly not helpful,” she stated. “That Nevin Gooseman didn’t learn the Dragon Elite’s secret regarding good and evil dragons from a severely under-labeled case.” Sophia knew she didn’t have to explain things for Plato. Much like Mother Nature, Papa Creola, and Mae Ling, he knew things—more things than anyone else and often before most.
“But think about what you know,” Plato offered, a hint in his voice.
“Well, the library has always directed me to what I’m looking for,” she began. “I was focusing on finding a book about how for every good dragon, there’s an evil one.”
“Which means?” he asked.
“Which means…” Sophia studied the case where Plato stood again and noticed there were actually two different sets of dragon bones. Only a dragonrider would recognize that. She could tell the skull in the case couldn’t belong to the bones of the body. They weren’t the right proportions. “Wait!” she exclaimed, much too loudly for the acceptable volume in most libraries. But this wasn’t most libraries, and no one was around anyway. If they had been, Plato would have disappeared. “These bones, I bet they are from two different dragons. And by two different ones, I bet one was good and the other evil.”
Plato nodded his chin down and a sly expression on his face, waiting for her to work out the rest.
She sighed, mulling over what she might be missing. “Well, in response to my thoughts, the library gave me this case. And although it’s sort of related, it doesn’t answer anything, which means…” She dared to look at the lynx for answers, but he wasn’t offering up anything.
“It means there are no books that detail that for every good dragon, there’s an evil one,” she said and was surprised to hear the words come out of her mouth. As soon as they did, she knew they were right.
That was actually very disappointing.
Sophia slumped with defeat. “So Nevin Gooseman didn’t learn one of our secrets from a book here at the House of Fourteen or anywhere else.” She reasoned that if there wasn’t a magical book about this here, then there wasn’t one anywhere the politician could get ahold of.
Leaning against the glass case, Sophia stared at the carpet, trying to figure out where else to look.
“Books are one way we learn information,” Plato began, sitting down. “But there are others. History has been passed down in one way or another through various means.”