With the the initial details of our trade agreement in place, we parted ways with Thozgar. Not before he loaded me down with a substantial amount of Worlds materials, plus a decent quantity of Celestial. In exchange, I’d left him with two dozen lengths of tier-3 heartwood.

Inertia hadn’t wanted to leave the inverted field behind, and had at some point pulled out tools to test its effects, much to the She’erd’s apparent consternation. To make matters worse, Thozgar had permitted her to continue, encouraging her while assigning Arizar as our guide. Which meant Bevel absolutely had to stay, flitting back and forth as she played with the boundary.

Arizar had grown much more excited at the prospect of coming with us when I’d suggested she might be able to start her own Spell-city. That excitement had dimmed slightly, when she’d learned the details of Overflow B’s existing state.

Though not for the reasons I would’ve expected.

“It’ll help that there are buildings, of course,” Arizar said, giving us all a crooked smile as she gestured towards one of the nearby waterlifts. “But I’d always hoped to build my Spell-city from the water up.”

“Working with a half-finished design inspires new types of creativity, I’ve found,” I said. Inertia and I had certainly worked off enough of my own half-remembered ideas to know that.

“Mana flourishes even in the desert, huh?” Arizar replied, brushing her blond hair back to reveal a pair of slender horns that seemed almost encircle her head like a tiara. Ahead of us, several groups waited to enter the same waterlift. “While your reminder to focus on the positives is… appreciated, I’m not heartbroken. Life rarely works out the way we want it to.”

Tamrie nodded, reaching over and squeezing Arizar’s shoulder. “Not right, it weren’t.”

“Was a long time ago,” Arizar said, giving Tamrie a sad smile.

I glanced over to Tresla, sharing a shrug. Clearly we’d missed some context during the race.

We settled into silence as we waited for the group ahead of us, who were taking their time actually getting aboard the waterlift, several of them insisting the other go first.

While we waited, I found myself inspecting Arizar more closely, now that she was actually coming with us. Her clothes were the subtle type of wealth I’d only seen back on the Aranor family’s estate. The fabric lacked significant ornamentation, but the enchantment’s were woven as thickly as the white cloth itself, which was, in turn, very well woven.

I doubted she ever had to worry about a single strand of thread shifting out of place unless she wanted it to. Definitely no stubborn flaps only others could get to sit right.

On her left arm she wore a golden set of bracelets, the most ostentatious part of her outfit. The golden rings shone bright in the afternoon sun, yet the bracelets weren’t decorative. There was a complicated set of enchantments on them. If I was reading it right, they would mark and stun anyone who touched them.

A trap or a tool. Probably both.

The diamond stud earrings were the most impressive piece of enchanting on her though. I couldn’t imagine how much skill it must’ve taken to fit enchantments on such a small surface. They were far too intricate to decipher at a glance with Reveal Magic, though I intended to study them as best I could in Memory Palace later.

An elbow from Tamrie drew me out of my thoughts.

She was frowning, my arm held tight.

“Problem?” I asked just as we started towards the waterlift.

She didn’t say anything as Arizar stepped into the waterlift ahead of us. Thozgar’s daughter wasn’t just tagging along because she’d be joining us later. She was accompanying us to the city’s primary library. Near the end of our negotiations, I’d requested access to Thozgar’s grimoire, since he insisted on being so helpful.

No big surprise that he’d laughed me off.

“Perhaps once our alliance has proven true,” he’d said, shaking his head, still chuckling. “Yet Arizar can take you to Spellford’s Upper Library. She’ll let you into the restricted section, though I’m afraid your friends will have to remain outside.”

I’d laughed in return before clearing my throat. “That’s fine. I appreciate the help.”

As Arizar was whisked away, Tamrie poked me in the side. “You were staring.”

“Huh? I was? Oh, guess so. She’s got a lot of interesting enchantments,” I replied, reaching up to touch my ear. “Think it’d be worth getting a piercing for an enchanted earring of my own?”

Tamrie stared at me for a second before snorting, muttering the word ‘enchantments’ under her breath and pushing me towards the waterlift.

This time we stepped inside together, and the envelope pushed us close. So close I ended up holding her from behind as we watched the city zoom by. It was much quicker than the one we’d taken to come up, and a few seconds later we were stepping out into a plaza beside a set of marbled steps. Both the steps and the plaza were hewn from a rough textured stone that was black with blue lines running through it.

A set of books sat on statues to either side of the steps, the one on the left open, the one on the right closed. Those steps led into the library which was housed inside the top of Spellford’s massive central pillar. Around us, the plaza was full of people coming and going, all of them here for the library. There was literally nothing else attached to the plaza.

Once Tresla arrived, we made our way up the steps. I found myself looking down at Tamrie as we got closer. She was nervously, brushing her hand through her hair, fiddling with the hairpin.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

I kissed the top of her head to reassure her. It bothered me that she thought I’d be checking out another woman. I’d explained that wasn’t how it worked for me. I could recognize aesthetic beauty, obviously. But it’s not like I could even be attracted to her when I didn’t know her.

I didn’t have long to consider how I might reassure her further before we were walking through the library entrance. There were a pair of massive doors sitting to either side, of that same black and blue stone, yet they looked like they were rarely closed, if the number of tables and booths set up in front of them was any sign.

To the side I saw an enchanted message board. It flicked between what seemed to be hand written notices. Another patron walked up to it, and tapped the side, bringing up a list of activities and their scheduled times.

“Does the library serve as a center of learning?” I asked as I read the list. There were a lot of classes listed.

“Of course,” Arizar replied, following my gaze. “Citizens are welcome to come study whatever they wish.”

“Was the same in the Lower Holds,” Tamrie said, waving a hand to the side where a set of stairs led downward. A symbol resembling a pair of dancing people sat over the entrance arch. “Sure enough, the classes were different, but just as popular.”

“We should probably do something similar. I keep meaning to dedicate more effort to our education system, there’s just always something else,” I said, feeling my ears turn red when Arizar raised her eyebrow.

It felt more than a little judgmental.

“Tanis is doing a right proper job, but it’s a far cast from what Spellford offers,” Tamrie agreed with a sigh. “Tarnibus’s pupil was to meet us here, so at least there’s that.”

“I forgot about that. What do we know about him?” I asked as we followed Arizar deeper into the library.

I momentarily forgot my question upon stepping through the main arch into the core of the library. It was much like any other library I’d been in, other than its size and relative splendor. Except for one incredible luxury that had me stopping in place. Even the Aranor family’s library hadn’t had an attendant at every shelf to help people find whatever book they were looking for and then make them copies.

“He’s human. Ensouled, stuck in Astral,” Tamrie said, having pulled out her notebook while I’d been staring at an attendant who tapped his finger on a book and produced it in his other hand before returning to his desk. “Tall, blond hair and beard. Prefers to wear both in braids. Will have a blue ribbon woven into them when we reel him in.”

“Guess that covers the basics,” I said, shaking my head. “But Tarnibus thinks he’ll do a good job?”

“More’n like,” Tamrie replied, nodding.

“I’m surprised you have ensouled creating copies for anyone who wants one,” I said to Arizar as she steered us through shelf after shelf.

“Oh, they’re not ensouled. The shelves are enchanted to only respond to their keepers,” Arizar said, gesturing to one of the people waiting at their desk. She looked to be reading a novel. “And making sure that our people have free access to knowledge is one of my father’s core tenets.”

“And what are his others?” Tresla asked, her hooded head shifting as if to take in all the books. “He seems rather unusual, even for a Terra Vistan High Shaper.”

“You’ve met many Terra Vistan High Shapers, have you?” Arizar replied, arching an eyebrow at Tresla.

“More than most, though they were all in the southwest, along the border to the Forgelands,” Tresla answered without so much as a glance at Arizar.

Arizar inspected Tresla more closely for a few seconds as we all walked in silence. Finally, she said, “My father has three core tenets. The first is that if it costs a man next to nothing to substantially improve another’s life, it is a failure not to do so. He often expresses it with the saying, ‘The needs of the many outweigh the luxuries of the rich,’ or other such lines. The library is a key part of that.”

“Huh, only ever heard that as the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few,” I said.

“A foolish opinion that allows those in power to justify abuse on those they choose,” Arizar replied, her tone bitter. She cleared her throat, before adding, “That does, however, lead directly into the second of father’s tenets. That no law is absolute, and no ruler is all knowing nor all wise. I’ve heard visitors say he has more advisers than a Sahevin has siblings, though I find that to be inaccurate. Its more that he requires results from his people, instead of imposing rules upon them.”

“Oh? How does that work?”

“If an enchantment is to be built, there are guidelines for what works well. And if that enchantment fails, then it is the fault of the Shaper who placed it. This requires a proper assignment and tracking of who is responsible for which work, which does slow the initial stages somewhat, but it works surprisingly well,” she explained, gesturing to the nearby shelves with her golden bracelet hand, the rings tinkling lightly. “There is an unfortunate amount of regulatory investigation if any injury is involved, which serves as further deterrent. Not to say it doesn’t occasionally happen. But we’ve long had visitors come to study our success. Not that they adopt the underlying principles, choosing to simply copy our designs instead. Fools.”

“Huh. Maybe on the way back to Cape Aeternia, you can explain how that works. Sounds like it might be something worth setting up.”

While Tamrie’s grip on my arm grew tighter, Arizar practically beamed at my suggestion. “I would be delighted.”

“That’s two,” Tresla said, pausing for a second next to a shelf with books with bright red spines on them. It was the same shade of red as the glint that occasionally escaped her hood. We all stopped with her, but she quickly shook her head then gestured us along. “What was the third?”

“His third tenet… well, it’s more like an admission of guilt, in my opinion,” Arizar said, as we approached an arch with an opaque blue and black barrier flickering inside it. “Essentially, father believes that everyone should be allowed a little favoritism, though it should be tempered. I’m told he only started saying it after my mother… well, anyway, it’s a recent addition.”

“Can’t say I disagree with that,” I said, looking up at the arch and the barrier within. It seemed to be the inverse of the Worlds affinity, at least in appearance. I was pretty sure that meant it was Celestial.

“I’m afraid this is the restricted section,” Arizar said, a slight grimace on her face when she turned to Tamrie. “I’d bring you in, if I could.”

“S’ alright,” Tamrie said, waving her off. “Worked the library in the lower holds, didn’t I? Know how it works better than most.”

“Your father did mention we wouldn’t be allowed entry. I’ll admit, there’s enough available here I doubt we’ll be bored,” Tresla said, turning to take in the rows upon rows of shelves. Her eyes seemed to linger on the shelf where those red books had been.

With that said, her and Tamrie started away.

Honestly, I was tempted to take a day to walk the library, adding as many books as I could with Review Scroll. There were probably several here that Keeper didn’t already own. Plus, these would be free.

A thought to put to the others before we left.

“Shall we then, Magus Dominus Perth?” Arizar asked, drawing my attention back to her and the door.

“Ah, right. About that. I go by Magus Protectus Percival now. I meant to correct your father, but wasn’t sure how to,” I admitted. Immediately after we’d met, I’d still been wary of him, and had wanted to be on my best behavior. After, there’d been far more important things to discuss.

“I shall make sure he knows before we depart, Magus Protectus Percival,” Arizar said, giving me a slight bow.

“Uh, just Perry’s fine, when it’s just among friends,” I said, shifting uncomfortably.

“Rather presumptuous, to presume my friendship with your betrothed extends to you,” Arizar replied arching her eyebrow.

Somehow, I felt like it wasn’t the time to mention that Tamrie and I weren’t engaged. “Just Percival then?” I tried.

“Very well, Percival,” she said, tapping the opaque barrier once.

Much like the Waygates, it unfolded to grasp us and pull us inside Spellford’s restricted spell section.

Knowledge is power was never more true.