A swirl of faerie lights whisked away from the shelves, dancing and fluttering over the crowd.
Then one of the massive limbs that spread over the Library’s ceiling moved. Gasps filled the room, and Beatrice couldn’t be sure one of them hadn’t been hers. She’d never seen one of those tree branches move. Yes, smaller branches detached from the shelves all the time. But the Tree itself never moved more than a small shiver or rustle here and there.
A skittering sound filled the space, and library bookwyrms in the hundreds clustered on the Tree’s roots, the nearest shelves, and slithered between the feet of the crowd. The large, frilledheads of several of the great wyrms who guarded the Library towers loomed over parts of the crowd.
The branch lowered, the faerie lights swirling around it. A hush settled over the space, as if even the Library itself held its breath. The limb reached down, down, down, growing so close to where Beatrice stood that she took an involuntary step back.
Then with an almost gentle touch, the very tip of the branch settled on Basil’s shoulder. The faerie lights danced in a circle around him, marking him out for the whole crowd to see.
Basil’s jaw fell open, even as Meg hugged him so fiercely there was no way he could breathe past that embrace.
At the base of the Great Tree, Head Librarian Marco smiled, his eyes twinkling in the faerie lights as if he’d expected this outcome all along. “The Library has chosen well. Master Librarian Basil, please step forward.”
It took a slight push from Meg for Basil to stumble his way forward as the crowd parted.
“I’m so happy for him.” Meg swiped at her face, her fingers shaking slightly. “He’s wanted this so badly, even if he’d never say it.”
Beatrice stepped forward and wrapped Meg in a one-armed hug. “Of course the Library chose him. No one loves the Great Library more than Basil.”
Viola and Sebastian also joined their hug, and for a moment, they just stood there. How far they’d all come in the past eight years since that first Midsummer Night when Basil and Meg had taken them here to live. Basil had been newly promoted to master librarian, and none of them could read.
Now all of them except for Beatrice were married. Basil was going to be the next head librarian. Beatrice had four of the cutest nieces ever.
Her gaze found Benedict in the crowd yet again. Now she just needed to figure out her own future. She might have become anassistant librarian as she’d wished, but that felt rather hollow, knowing she was going to have to pledge her hatred for Benedict if she wanted to break the mate bond.
It was what she wanted, right? Despite that kiss. Despite all they’d shared. She wanted a choice. She wanted time. She wanted…
She wasn’t sure what she wanted anymore.
Chapter Nineteen
As the crowd all but stampeded toward the doors, headed for the castle and its ballroom where a feast had been laid out and the dancing would soon begin, Benedict fought his way against the tide.
At last, he popped out near the cluster of Beatrice’s family. The newly appointed Assistant Head Librarian Basil had made his way back to his family, and he was speaking in a bewildered voice. “…still can’t believe it.”
“I’m so proud of you.” His wife, Meg, kissed his cheek.
Benedict cleared his throat before the kiss turned into anything more passionate. Not that such passionate kisses were an odd sight here in the Fae Realm. But he needed to get this over with as soon as possible. As the group turned toward him, he met the gaze of the only one who mattered in that moment. “Beatrice?”
“Right.” Her shoulders slumped slightly. She gave a tight smile to her family. “Go ahead and join the celebration. It’s in Basil’s honor, after all. I won’t be long.” She hurried to Benedict’s side, as if she didn’t want to give her family time to protest. “Not here.”
He nodded and followed as she led the way deeper into the Library. He didn’t want an audience for this any more than she seemed to.
She wound through the shelves until, eventually, the two of them stepped behind a waterfall into a small reading nook. This one consisted of nothing more than a pond in the center and a small couch alongside it. A cozy place if one didn’t want to be disturbed by anyone else.
Stopping beside the pond, Beatrice turned to face him, her face a gray pallor as if she was ill. “Well, I guess this is it.”
“Yes.” Benedict swallowed and halted before her, only inches separating them. His breath constricted, his stomach in painful knots.
He couldn’t do this. There was no way he could look into those endless blue eyes and pledge his hatred for her.
She sucked in a breath, as if ready to begin right then and there.
He swayed forward, speaking before she had the chance. “What if we didn’t break it?”
“That would mean we’d be stuck forever.” Beatrice held up her hand, the golden swirl of the mate bond glinting in the low light. “And you were the one to protest we couldn’t be together.”
“That was when my family had just been revealed to be traitors and I thought I might get banished from the Court of Knowledge with them.” Benedict flexed his fingers at his side to keep himself from reaching for her. “But truly, Beatrice, I love you with my whole heart. If that kiss didn’t convince you, then give me the chance to prove myself. Name what you’d have me do, and I’d do it.”
