Benedict sighed and fully turned back to the shelves. So much for the moment he’d shared with Beatrice.
Beatrice carrieda stack of the law tomes she’d paged through earlier. These were some of the ones that had looked the most promising, but she hadn’t been able to make heads or tails of them. Basil had wanted to look through them to see if he could find something she’d missed.
As she neared Basil’s desk, she slowed her pace since both her sister Meg and their friend Helena were standing before the desk.
Helena’s face was tear-streaked, and she gestured in her normal, dramatic fashion. “I’m worried! Demetrius hasn’t been himself since he returned from the war. He’s so cold to me and the children.”
Meg pulled Helena into a hug. “I’m so sorry.”
“He has seemed different to me as well.” Basil drummed his fingers on the desk. “Concerningly different. He didn’t recognize me at first.”
“Exactly.” Helena wailed the word. “I expected some difficulties because of his imprisonment, but not this. It’s like he’s a different person.”
“I’m sorry.” Meg hugged Helena again. “You and the children will have a place with us if you need it, all right?”
“Thank you. That means a lot.” Helena brushed at the tears streaming down her face. “I might stay with my parents for a few days. I don’t know what else to do. It seems drastic, but…”
“If you don’t feel safe, you need to protect yourself and the children.” Meg held Helena’s gaze firmly. “If Demetrius were in his right mind, then he would agree.”
Beatrice remained rooted to the spot, her mind churning. This was the second time she’d heard that those who hadreturned in the most recent prisoner exchange were acting strangely. Both Nick Bottom and Demetrius had returned colder, distant, and even downright mean. Demetrius’s own wife didn’t know him anymore.
Yet Benedict had come back strangely nicer than he’d been before.
Just what had happened in the Court of Revels? Why had those who had returned undergone such changes to their personalities? The only one who seemed the same was Master Librarian Domitius, but he’d always been cold, mean, and arrogant.
Once Helena left, still sniffing, Beatrice strode the rest of the way to the desk, setting the books down on the corner.
Standing behind his desk, Basil’s gaze swung from Helena’s retreat to Meg. “I didn’t want to say anything in front of Helena, but I’ve noticed Nick Bottom acting oddly as well. Beatrice, have you noticed anything off with Benedict?”
“Besides the fact that he’s acting nicer than he used to? No.” She shook her head, grimacing. She probably shouldn’t complain about Benedict getting a personality change, considering it had been a positive one. But that change did things to her heart when she was with him, and she didn’t like it.
It must be the mate bond messing with her mind.
“I’m going to report this to Head Librarian Marco and King Theseus.” Basil strode around his desk and gave Meg a quick kiss. “I should be back before bedtime.”
Meg returned the kiss, but her eyes still held that worry that Beatrice had seen all too often in her younger years. “If not, Buddy, Beatrice, and I can handle things. Whatever is going on, Head Librarian Marco and King Theseus need to know about it.”
Basil nodded before he turned and rested a hand on the stack of books. “Beatrice, could you take these home for me?”
She nodded and resisted the urge to groan as she picked up the books once again. Whatever was going on was more important than her mate bond problem.
Chapter Nine
Beatrice hugged a pink bookwyrm as she made her way to Head Librarian Marco’s table, tucked deep within the tangle of roots beneath the Great Tree.
When she rounded the last tall root, she discovered that Benedict had beaten her to the head librarian’s table. As he waited, he tapped the two slim volumes he held against his leg.
Behind the table, Head Librarian Marco looked up at her approach. He stood, smoothed a hand over his long white beard, and smiled. “Beatrice, there you are. Good. All ready for the readings tomorrow?”
Swallowing, Beatrice forced herself to set the bookwyrm down and put on a professional smile. “Yes, of course.”
She and Benedict had picked out a perfectly acceptable folk tale and practiced the reading together over the past few days, in between searching the tales for anything about the mate bond and helping Library patrons.
In the last week, the rush of patrons hadn’t slowed. If anything, the numbers had increased, thanks to the arrival of the Faerie Market.
Head Librarian Marco reached into a pocket of his librarian coat and pulled out two more coats, both of them in green. “I’m giving both of you a temporary promotion to assistant librarian while you are performing in the Market. Those in the Market will be less likely to take advantage of you if they think you are assistant librarians rather than apprentice librarians. Consider it part of your assessment for making the position permanent in a few weeks.”
Beatrice reached for the smaller of the two green coats, her heart pounding harder. That green coat was a big deal, even if it was only for half a day. Could she prove to the Library and Head Librarian Marco that she deserved to wear a green coat permanently?
