Page 217 of A Soul to Embrace

It was a pointless theory, but one he found humorous all the same.

He stepped towards the guard. “Take me to the library.”

The man nodded and led the way, while Jabez silently followed. He was taken down the central tree until its base touched the ground, where a network of roots arched and twisted, allowing for plenty of rooms and public spaces.

At the hollow, open entrance was a semi-circular desk. Its purpose was to allow true civilians to make requests or ask for passes into the central tree. Jabez was led in the opposite direction, to the back of the tree’s arching roots, where he followed his guard through a large doorway.

Inside, thousands of books were neatly placed on dust-free shelves on multiple levels with stairs. Many people were already inside the library, either searching for books or sitting down in comfortable areas to read freely. The place was quiet except for the occasional footsteps, a cough, and pages flipping.

To the right of the entrance, a long counter desk was situated in front of a shelf with nooks filled with scrolls of information pertaining to the library. Behind the desk, Zerik sat reading a book, wearing a pair of reading glasses.

The guard hung back as Jabez approached the counter, and Zerik paused to peer over his glasses. He flinched, shut his book without his bookmark, and shifted in his seat.

“Jabezir–” He cleared his throat nervously and removed his glasses. “I mean, Jabez. What brings you here?”

Zerik was unable to hide the way uncertainty filled his wrinkled face, nor how mild fear lifted into his scent. Considering that he was the one who had pushed so hard for a young Jabez to be imprisoned, the man likely worried about his potential retaliation.

“I would like to borrow all the books you have in English, if you have any. It’s an Earth language.”

His bushy brows twitched; he was clearly not expecting that kind of request. The man nodded as if he understood, then his eyes flicked to the side like one might if they were about to turn. He was too nervous to do it, as if he didn’t wish to expose his back.

“I-I should be able to locate them easily with one of my organisation scrolls. We only have a small number, though, and they aren’t in the best condition.”

“That’s fine. Zylah is unable to read Nyl’kira. Anything would be helpful, so she has something to entertain herself with.” Then he placed his hand on the counter and thrummed his fingers. “I would like books that’ll be useful in teaching her Nyl’kira.”

Seeing that Jabez had no intention of starting anything violent, or wasn’t attempting to strum up the past in anger, Zerik’s stiff shoulders softened. He gave Jabez a relieved, although forced, smile.

“Do you plan to be the one to teach her Nyl’kira? You can bet I was surprised by how well you’ve managed to remember it, even after all this time.”

“Yes, I’ll be teaching her. Do you also have anything on creating a translation spell that would help? I’d like for her to beable to read on her own, but also being able to speak with others while she’s learning would be beneficial.”

Zerik finally stood, and his long, flowing, sleeveless robes fluttered as he turned. He pulled scrolls from the organisation nooks, unfurling them to check their contents, then put them away when they weren’t the ones he wanted.

“Translation requires the use of a mana stone. You haven’t been informed yet, as we haven’t even begun that endeavour, but you won’t be permitted to keep any for yourself.”

Jabez’s jaw clenched before he muttered, “I figured as much.”

At his tone, Zerik glanced at him from the corner of his eyes. Then he looked away sheepishly, with his very long ears drooping. “Give me a moment. I’ll be right back.”

He ducked around a partition to go behind the organisation shelves to a private room. He returned shortly, and impishly checked that Jabez’s guard wasn’t watching as he slid a small dark-brown pouch across the desk.

“What’s this?” Jabez asked, taking it and opening its drawstrings.

“It doesn’t have much power left, but it should work in the interim,” he said, just as Jabez peeked inside. His ears perked up when he saw the faintest pulsating yellow glow of a mana stone. “It’s from back in the day when we were forming bonds with those on the other sides of portals. I used it when I was a young lad.”

Jabez lifted his head and cocked a brow at him. “I thought you said I wasn’t allowed any mana stones.”

Zerik’s head dipped downwards as his shoulders lifted and his features turned shy. It was a startling difference to the overconfident man from years ago, who’d acted similarly to Ulric. Loud, obnoxious, rude. Considering he was likely in his late seventies, it shouldn’t come as such a surprise that his personality had changed over the years.

“There is little harm in me giving this to you. It’s almost at the end of its life. If you were to attempt to change its use, you’d destroy it in the process.” He pulled another scroll from the shelf and placed it on the desk. “It’s... very precious to me. It’s the only personal stone I’ve kept, as all others have been confiscated for powering aspects of the city.”

“If it’s so precious to you, why give it to me?”

With his back turned to Jabez, Zerik’s face tilted towards the ground. A loud, solemn sigh shook from the elder, causing his shoulders to droop heavily.

“It’s my attempt at making amends for the past, and how much I had a hand in it. Many of the other councilmembers stepped down after you left, too shamed to remain in their seats. I stayed because I wanted to prevent it from happening ever again, as did Laele.” After obtaining one last scroll and confirming it was the one he wanted, Zerik placed it on the desk next to the first he’d taken. “We really are sorry–”

“It will take more than this to fix the past,” Jabez stated over the top of him, while placing it in his pocket.

---