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"This is the top level," Ryze said. “There are several more down below, in caverns and tunnels under the palace. We tried mapping it all once, but it's extensive and, as strange as it may sound, it never seems to be exactly the same every time."
I glanced at him quickly. "What do you mean? Someone rearranges the shelves?"
"It's more like someone rearranges the tunnels," he said. "My mother used to say an ancient magic made this place and still resides here in the library. I haven't seen evidence of anything alive in here apart from the Fae who come in and use the place, and those who maintain it."
As far as I could tell, it was only me and him here right now. On the other hand, I couldn't make out a speck of dust on any of the shelves or tables. Either dust couldn't get in, or someone was meticulous in cleaning it away. Considering how big this section alone was, I'd think by the time they got to the end, it would be time to start back at the beginning again. Unless they used magic in the process.
Hells, maybe that was the punishment Vayne gave to people like Zared when they weren't where they were supposed to be. A task that tedious would keep anyone in line, wouldn't it?
"How is it organised?" I stepped over to one shelf and ran my hand across the line of spines. At a glance, they were about a variety of topics, from gardening to philosophy. Several dozen were fiction.
I pulled out one at random and opened it. The picture printed on the page was of a woman bent over. A man stood behind her about to impale her on his cock.
The next page, she was riding him, facing away from him while his hands gripped her hips. The page after that she was with two lovers, one inside her pussy, the other inside her mouth.
"I see why you'd keep the library hidden," I said dryly. "You definitely wouldn't want anything this precious destroyed."
Ryze looked over my shoulder and chuckled. "Certainly not. We should take that with us when we're finished. It might come in useful." When I glanced back at him, he winked.
I closed the book and slipped it back onto the shelf.
"In answer to your question, it's organised by topic and age. The further down we go, the older the books and scrolls are. Some of these have only been here for fifty years or more. Some less than that. There are several sections of empty shelves for future additions."
"What happens when they're full?" I asked.
"Then we find space somewhere else," he said, as if the answer was obvious.
"And when you run out of space?"
He cocked his head. "Do we need a kitchen that badly? We could always turn that into library space."
"I think that would work right up to the point where people got hungry," I said. "Then they might resent that decision."
He sighed and picked up another book to flick through the pages. "It's always something. Either way, we'll find somewhere. Even if we have to move the palace to another location."
"Is there a section on omegas?" I asked.
He shrugged vaguely. "I'm sure there is, somewhere in here. There's not much to know beyond what I told you. Beyond what you already knew."
"I still want to read everything there is," I said. "I'm sure there's a lot I could learn about the Fae too, while I'm here."
"Probably," he agreed. "If there's a subject we like writing and reading about, it's ourselves. Evidently, we find ourselves fascinating."
"Are there books about humans in here too?" I asked.
"There's at least one whole section," he said as though that was a lot. "A couple of hundred books, unless I'm mistaken."
"Out of several thousand books, there's a couple of hundred about humans?" It was difficult not to be slightly offended by that.
He leaned against the shelf and crossed his arms. "If it makes you feel any better, there's three or four hundred about griffins. And several hundred discussing the myths around dragons."
"That doesn't make me feel any better," I said. "Are Fae so disinterested in humans?"
"Not disinterested," he replied carefully. "Just self-absorbed. Would humans want to be written about?"
"Probably not," I conceded. "Especially not by Fae. There were more books in the Temple about humans than there were about the Fae, so I suppose it goes both ways."
"Precisely," he said. "Let me show you something."
