Page 21 of A Curse of Hope and Shadows: Part I
He walked towards the desk at the very end of the room, where Clarin was asleep at his desk. Dimitri coughed loudly.
“Books,” he snipped. “We require them.”
“Help yourself…” Clarin murmured sleepily.
Dimitri kicked the desk. Clarin raised his head and blinked, his eyes widening suddenly. “Ah, Young Lord!”
“Please,” Dimitri said flatly, “don’t let us interrupt you.”
“I’m sorry, I wasn’t expecting to see anyone—”
“Clearly.”
“What can I help you with?”
“Books!” Adeline declared, clapping her hands. “Adventure books. Mystery books.Funbooks.”
“I should quite like some history, also,” Dimitri added.
“Ah, right, yes, well, adventure is over there—” He pointed to a long section of the library. “And history just here… would you like me to help you find something more specific?”
“No, thank you. I’m sure we can manage.”
Clarin immediately found a task to busy himself with, and Adeline made a beeline for the adventure shelves, skimming the titles along the spines and swirling around on the ladder to reach the higher ones.
Dimitri, although he’d said he was more interested in history, hovered underneath her.
“See anything you like?” she asked him.
Dimitri mumbled something under his breath.
“What was that?”
“I said I can’t read anything from here. You pick something.”
“All right.” She drew out a dusty red tome and dropped it into his arms. “Ooh, I’ve read some of her work before. Yes, let’s take that. And this one, this is excellent fun. Ah!The Trials of Adeline!”
Dimitri raised his single eyebrow. “Your biography?”
“Mama named me after the main character. It was her favourite book growing up.”
“What’s it about?”
“It’s about a girl named Adeline whose brother is kidnapped by a wicked fairy, and she enters a labyrinth filled with monsters to get him back, armed with only her wits.”
“She would die very quickly.”
“Ah, but she’s very clever! Every monster she comes across, she speaks to, and tries to trick them, or help them, or tells them a story until they fall asleep and forget about eating her or change their minds.”
“That’s a ridiculous story. It would never work.”
“Well,” said Adeline shortly, “it’s a fairy story, so it does.”
“Did your mother name you for her wits or her ridiculousness?”
Adeline glared. “Do you want me to read it to you, or not?”
“You want to read it, and I have no objections to hearing it.”
