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“But…”
“No buts.” Camille hitched her loaded backpack upon her shoulders. “I want ice cream, and I want to watch The Estate. Do it for me.”
Cecily sniffled again. “Achille and I used to eat ice cream together.”
“I know, but you’ll have to settle for me now. Let’s go, hon. These books are terribly heavy.”
Kenna helped Cecily to her feet. “Thank you, Camille. What would I do without you?”
“You’d probably get a lot more done, since you wouldn’t be addicted to some silly teenage soap opera. I saw the family’s queue yesterday. You’re watching it too.”
“Hush, child. It’s research.” Kenna helped her daughter put on her backpack. “Has Cecily invited you to Solstice breakfast?”
“Of course. Lunch and dinner, too. I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
Cecily sniffled, and Camille took her by the hand and led her through the shelves.
Kenna watched them go. “My daughter is on break from university. Her boyfriend broke up with her several weeks ago.”
“She seems to be in good hands,” Lila said.
“Thank the gods for Camille. She and Cecily have been best friends since the moment they met at university, and she’s proven her worth in the last few weeks. She hasn’t even left my daughter’s side since the breakup. She’s been so focused on trying to cheer her up.”
“A friend like that is hard to come by.”
“Yes, she is. I’m not too happy about all the hot chocolate and ice cream Camille keeps sneaking her, but I can hardly complain. At least my daughter is eating, and Camille is just doing what she can. Cecily will be heartbroken for a long time to come. First loves and all that. You must remember how things were at that age. You live with an open heart, and your whole world crumbles at the slightest strike against it.”
Lila gave a small nod. She had never actually lived like that—not as a teenager, anyway.
No wonder Tristan had gotten over her so quickly. He’d had practice. He’d had others. She’d probably never even meant as much to him as he’d meant to her.
The realization knocked a deeper hole in her heart.
She’d let herself get so undone, and for what?
Dixon gave her hand a little squeeze as Kenna led them to the back of the library, which opened up into another section of the building. Dozens of computers filled the room, with students pecking away.
Kenna seemed to have a point about students learning through their interests. Few highborn, lowborn, or workborn students would have been caught dead in a library over Solstice break, not unless it was to choose an adventure novel. But these kids still dug into all manner of subjects. One boy had two art history books open near his computer.
Sketches of noses filled his screen.
Lila’s eyes strayed over the computers themselves, balking at the selection. Midrange rigs, all of them.
“Our admin, Kara, runs both labs and the server room,” Kenna said under her breath. “You can work here, of course, but Mòr believed you’d prefer your guest cabin. Just pick a computer, and our admin will have it set up before our tour is complete.”
As if summoned, a woman with bubblegum-pink hair appeared from behind a counter and shook hands with them all. “I was told you were coming today. I was also told you’d need a computer and access. I don’t like my rigs going out where I can’t see them, but the oracle has commanded it, so I suppose I’m overruled.”
“I will take care of it as if it were my own,” Lila promised, inclining her head.
“You better. I’m not as cuddly as my hair might suggest.” The woman led them to a door in the back. She grabbed a card attached to a lanyard at her neck and slid it through a reader, which emitted a feeble beep. The door snicked open. “The real computers are in here.”
The group entered another room. Adults and much older teens bent over keyboards, typing and digging into manuals. The computers might not have matched the ones she’d had at home, but they only lagged a touch.
As Kara droned on about their specs, Lila stopped before the fastest rig in the room.
“How did I know you’d pick that one out of the bunch?” Kara sighed. “I’ll have it set up in your cabin within the hour. Come see me if you need anything else.”
Kenna led them back into the main computer lab. “In the meantime, I’ll show you the cafeteria and the greenhouse. My cousin, Edana, and her husband have done some wonderful work with ferns. Many of them are bigger than your friend there. Unless you’d like to visit the Star Tower?” she asked, aiming her question at Dixon. “My youngest sister takes care of the telescope.”
