“I…” The girl was surprised.
Loretta laughed and took a coin from her purse. “Never leave without your gold.” She put it on the girl’s hand.
Tania smiled and left. When the girl was gone, Loretta said, “Spending on loyalty is never a waste.”
“I’m doomed, then.” Which was true. Zora didn’t have a single coin. Perhaps there had been some in Seth’s bag, but she hadn’t looked for that.
“Don’t be silly. Money is not the only currency in the world.”
Zora didn’t want to consider what other currencies there were. She needed some time to collect her thoughts, and then she remembered a detail prince Larzen had told her; that nobody had ever won the Blood Cup. This wasn’t something to be ignored. With still an hour before having to get ready to go to the arena, Zora decided to do something useful.
“Do you know if there’s a library in this castle?”
Loretta looked disappointed. “Are you sure? We could go to the gardens. It’s the best place to, you know, see and be seen. Although, I guess you don’t need to worry about being seen. I’ll take you there but I won’t stay.”
“No problem.” Zora smiled. Her one goal was to win that competition, and if she truly wanted to achieve that, she’d need to spend every waking hour working towards it. And getting more information about it was a great first step.
They walked to a huge golden door.
“Thank you so much,” Zora took Loretta’s hands in hers. “For everything you did today. It would have been lonely, confusing, and awful without you.”
“Nah. It’s my honor to help you. Enjoy your books but don’t get lost in them. I’ll cheer for you tonight.”
Zora laughed. “At least one person will.”
“I’ll be the first of many, you wait and see.”
Loretta turned around and disappeared in the hallway. Funny how Zora had even stopped looking for dark places. It was as if Loretta’s calm and cheerfulness had been contagious. Prince Larzen had indeed made a good choice. So far he’d been keeping his side of the bargain. Hopefully her part wouldn’t be hard.
Zora took a deep breath. Such a huge door for just a library. She pushed it hard and it swung inward quickly, being much lighter than what she’d predicted. As she stepped in, she had to catch a breath. Not even in her dreams she’d have imagined a place like this.
It was a circular room with a window on the roof from which sunlight came in. There were shelves from the floor to the top, and three mezzanines for the higher books. Even then, some books would still require ladders. On the ground floor, there were three more doors, which certainly led to even more sections in this library.
In the Dark Valley, her house had been the one with most books; an entire wall, with topics ranging from poetry and stories to potion ingredients, anatomy, and some history. Zora had read many of those books twice. The school also had a full wall with books. That was what she’d imagined when considering a library.
But this, this was too much. She wasn’t sure she’d be able to read all those books even if she did nothing else for her entire life. It was more than what a single person could ever learn, could ever absorb, so much knowledge and art, and who even knew what else? It was part dream and part agony as she contemplated her own human limitation. Study as she might, she’d never even come close to the knowledge in a single library in a single castle in a single kingdom. And yet, there were probably so many wonderful things she could learn! Potion recipes, more healing herbs, maybe she’d even find answers to the Dark Valley, maybe even a solution for them.
Her eyes were misty as she looked up in awe, contemplating the beauty and power in that single room, thankful for the opportunity of being there, amazed at the beauty of the library.
Then, for a brief second, she felt a chill in her stomach, and looked down from the books to find intent dark eyes on her. Griffin leaned on a door.
5
Awe and Wonder
Zora shuddered.
Griffin stood straight. “I take it you can read?”
“Well… Why else would I be here?”
He shrugged. “No reason, of course. Reading and researching. That’s all people do in libraries. Certainly.” His tone was weird, as if he were explaining himself or confused, talking a little too fast.
Zora smiled. “Turns out I’m not that useless.”
“Absolutely.” He walked towards her. “Which is one more reason you shouldn’t be competing. This competition, it’s physical. Most of the champions are latching on to their only shot at achieving something. It’s the only thing they can do. That’s not your case.” He was right in front of her now, at an arm’s reach, not that she would ever reach an arm towards him.
“Aren’t you also competing? And yet, your highness obviously can read, or else you wouldn’t be here.”
He sighed. “My case is different. If it helps, I wouldn’t want either of my brothers fighting for this cup either. It’s not because you’re a girl, it’s just because I don’t think it’s for you.”
“Why are you in it, then?”
“Personal reasons. But I’m sure you didn’t walk into this library by chance. I can help you. What are you looking for?”
Zora almost made up a stupid excuse for being there, but maybe it was better to make her commitment clear. “Historical records. Information about previous Blood Cups.”
“That’s an excellent idea. Perhaps the written word will be more persuasive than me and help you come to your senses. Follow me.”
He entered a door. Zora was surprised to come to another room with books, but this wasn’t as tall and had only a few rows of shelves. On a corner, there was a metal door. Griffin opened it, revealing a small room with a round table in the middle and shelves with old, worn books on two walls. There were no windows in this room, which was lit just by a lamp on the table.
This was more like her library at home.
He pointed at the shelves. “Here we have records about the triannual competitions. Not all of them were for the Blood Cup, but I’m sure you’ll find whatever you’re looking for. If you ever want to research a specific subject, come in the morning, when we have a librarian on duty. But this should help you for now.”
Zora was actually surprised that he’d helped her. “Thank you.” Then she added, “I’m not going to give up the competition, though.”
He stared at her for a moment, then sighed. “I suggest you do. Just don’t show up tonight. And you’ll still be welcome to partake in the festivities. If you want to help your valley, you need to be doing politics. That happens in the ballrooms, dining rooms, even gardens. Not the arena.”
“I’ll do both.”
“As you wish.” He rolled his eyes and left.
Right. He was quite delusional if he thought she was going to give up. Now, onto what mattered; information.
Zora was unsure from where to start, so she pulled a book at random. The title was “Triannual festivities: Year 33”. That had been seven hundred years before. It was surprising that the book was still intact. Maybe it was a copy. Gravel counted the years dating from when their kingdom had been formed. Year 33 was even before the Dark Valley. She would need to comb these books for when the festivities had the Blood Cup but she didn’t even know when they chose to hold that celebration instead of the regular festivities. Perhaps this would be easier to do in the morning, when they had a librarian. She moved to the far right and bottom of the shelf, trying to find one about the celebration from twenty-seven years before. The book she pulled was from year 3. The years were not in order.