Page 29 of Killian
“We return!” said Cynog, coming back to the room with Killian. Moira breathed out a sigh of relief. Not just because Killian was back but also because she was starting to think she was not cut out for diplomacy. She checked Killian’s face and saw that he was looking grumpy.
“We return carrying two items,” said Cynog and smiled apologetically at Moira. “One important missive and one object of concern.” The head librarian made a gesture, and one of the mosaic rondels rose from the floor to form a table. Cynog put the objects down, and Moira stared at them.
“What’s that one?” she asked, pointing at the box with the medical sticker over the seal.
“It was in your bag,” said Cynog.
“Oh.” She picked it up and shook it.
“Moira!” barked Killian.
“What? Let’s just open it.” Before anyone could stop her, she popped the sticker off and opened the lid. The librarians all gasped, and the spears came down, and then everyone paused.
“Well, that’s boring,” said Moira, looking at the foam-lined case. “It’s just two syringes and a vial.”
“Is it labeled?” asked Killian looking over her shoulder.
“It says: V1.5 Shelf stable, two doses. Not necessary for humans. Estimated time to effect: twenty minutes for most wolves. Well, that’s a bit peculiar. I guess it’s just for wolves and doesn’t need to be refrigerated? But it doesn’t say why you’d want it. I really feel like I should start leaving myself better instructions.”
“Well, if it is a wolf medicine, then I suppose it may be all right,” said a librarian in an indigo-trimmed toga, earning a stern look from the head librarian. “She carries pens in her pocket,” protested the blue toga lady, as if that was the delineator of good and evil.
“Let us see the letter,” said the head librarian, holding out an imperious hand. Cynog presented it with a bow. The head librarian looked it over.
“It is bound and marked in the traditional wolf way,” she said, and a sigh of relief went up from the room. She passed a hand over the wax seal, which evaporated, rising upward in a cloud of glittering steam to form the word DeSandre and then blowing away as if on a breeze. Moira tried to look like she had known it would do that.
“Ooh,” cooed one of the librarians, “did anyone else get a whiff of that? It felt like fate, right?”
“I definitely felt it!” exclaimed Cynog.
“Yes, thank you, Cynog. We all know you’re extremely aura sensitive.” From the clipped tone of Augusta verch Rhys, Moira suspected that Cynog’s sensitivity was not always appreciated.
“All right, let’s see what it has to say.” Augusta withdrew a piece of paper from the deerskin envelope and fondled it between her thumb and forefinger. “Vellum. Very thin. Quality work. Ink is…” She sniffed the page. “Plant-based. I’m not sure…”
Moira leaned closer, braving the wrath of the scribe, who pointed his quill angrily at her. “Coffee,” she whispered. Augusta glared at her.
“A plant of unknown origin,” she said firmly. Moira looked at the scribe.
“TwoF’sand twoE’s,”she said and watched him get halfway through the word before noticing the glare from the head librarian.
“It reads as follows,” said Augusta clearing her throat.
“To the honored Librarians of the Library of Alexandria,
As alpha of the DeSandre Pack of Portland, Oregon, of the new world colonies, I send to you my granddaughter Moira DeSandre. She is my heir. She speaks for our pack and myself and has my full confidence. Her word will be honored as my own.”
Moira felt as if her heart had stopped. She was Grandpa’s heir? When? What? No. She had an uncle. And a mother. She couldn’t be an heir. She couldn’t be an alpha. Grandpa was still healthy and capable. Wasn’t he? Had she forgotten something? No. No. No. No. She’d just been standing here flipping shit at a room full of people. That was not grown up and proper and… Fuck. She was supposed to be treated like she was important, not actuallybeimportant. Moira felt herself spiraling; the blood rushing in her ears was so loud she didn’t hear the next thing the librarian read. Then Killian grabbed her hand, and it was like the world snapped back into focus.
“In the transition of the Fae from this world to the next, circumstances my daughter-in-law Azure Lucas, daughter of Aderyn, daughter of Diana, daughter of Mina of Farfale, informsme you are familiar with—”
“Nice name-dropping,” muttered Killian, as there was a wave ofohsaround the room.
“If only I remembered any of those names,” Moira whispered back. “She must be with my uncle.”
“Yes, yes,” snapped Augusta. “May I continue?” Silence returned, but Moira thought it was much more friendly than it had been.
“Where was I? In the transition, yes, yes,” her voice dropped, and then she picked up again.
“Many wolf records were transferred to the library. Perhaps you are unaware of the state of affairs on Earth, but dark forces have worked their way across our lands. Many secrets have been lost to time, and we would regain the powers of our ancestors, as well as the return of the records and spells that pertain to the creation of werewolves. We believe that the ability to transform a human into a Shifter is of the utmost importance to the survival of our species. We thank you for your understanding, stewardship of knowledge, and assistance to your fellow Supernaturals.
