This is the first time I’ve tutored any of them during opening hours, and despite the quietness of this particular corner of the Library, I summon a screen to give a little more privacy.
I plan to lurk in the walls anyway, keeping my visibility to a minimum while I pop in and out to deal with other patrons. To my surprise, North pulls out some books as well, taking over some of the tutoring since this is all material he learned last year.
As a result, I don’tthinkanyone notices the extra help I’m giving them.
But when I pop back a final time, just after closing,it’s only Eddy left at the table, and she’s no longer studying the alchemy text I gave her an hour ago.
“When did North leave?” I ask, surprised, as I slip into the booth opposite her.
“Just after you did. He said he had ‘errands’.” She hums under her breath, then cocks her head. “I thought you’d have noticed. Don’t you always know whenever anyone comes and goes from the Arcanaeum?”
I grimace, asking the Library for the explanation. In answer, something nudges my thigh. Oh dear. A small pile of books has been abandoned on the bench beside me, and on the top sits a familiar blue spellbook. With careful hands, I lift it up and place it on the table.
“The Arcanaeum primarily identifies patrons by their grimoires, so while it knows where everyone is at all times and would’ve noticed someone leaving, it wouldn’t have told me he was gone.”
Ordinarily, it’s a reliable and easy way for the Library to identify arcanists. Most would rather die than give their grimoire over to someone else. It’s like handing over a part of your soul.
The bonds between the books and their owners are so deep that writing in someone else’s is inefficient, not to mention one of our biggest taboos. Even I—who use the grimoires of the dead daily—would never cross that line.
Yet the Ackland heir just left his one behind without thought. I let out a deep, exasperated sigh at the reminder of just how far he still has to go.
“So it can’t tell who you are without a grimoire?”
“No. It can, it’s not blind.” I sigh, trying to think of a comparison. “The Library connects with and perceives books in a way it can’t do with anything else. Using them to identify arcanists is a kind of shortcut. As North was leaving, the Arcanaeum probably didn’t see the point in checking who hewas.” I glower at his grimoire. “If it had told me, I would’ve made him take it with him.”
“He’ll be back tomorrow,” Eddy says, as if that makes it better. “We can give it back to him then.”
“And during that time, he’ll be unable to cast anything more complicated than a scrap.” I shake my head. “But I suppose he’s brought that on himself. Now, more importantly, why are you reading about the history of the six families?”
She holds up the book so I can see the page she’s on, and I grimace as I realise it’s organised alphabetically. The first family is the Acklands, and given the photograph of a much younger Josef frowning in front of his desk, she’s reached the part about her father’s ascension to power.
“You said the best way I could help North was by learning everything about everyone.”
“Technically, Lambert said that,” I correct. “I suggested working hard at foundation magic.”
“Well, it seemed like the easier choice. The Arcanaeum gave me this book when I asked it for advice.”
The building chose well. That book is dry, but also probably the most unbiased written account of the last half-century, though it lacks a lot of the gossipier details.
I’m not sure that North would want his sister more involved in the politics of our world than she already is, and I suspect that’s why she waited until he was gone to start reading.
Eddy pauses, putting the book down. “Did Josef really kill the previous parriarch?”
“It was never proven.”
“But you think he did?”
“I don’t think there’s much that the parriarchs haven’t done to gain or keep power. There’s a reason I keep the Arcanaeum as far from their reach as I can.”
Unfortunately for North and Eddy, there’s no escaping destiny.
“Do you think he’d ever…” She trails off, looking at North’s grimoire, and I follow her train of thought.
I hum as I think about it. “The main threat to your brother is upstarts within your own family looking to usurp his position. Most of them will be too scared of Josef to try, given how hard he worked to find an heir who could get into the Arcanaeum.”
“So Josef is protecting North?”
“While it benefits him, yes. Having an heir who can access the Arcanaeum isn’t something that Ackland has been able to boast about for several hundred years.”
