Page 29 of Legends and Librarians
“We’re good here.” I tried to ignore them, but they climbed up the picnic table. “Really, we’ve got this, but thank you.”
“But sir, this is our library too,” the commander said. “We must help in the restoration efforts!”
Oren grinned. “You can help me, if you want.”
The knights whispered amongst themselves, glancing between Oren and me. I got the strange feeling that they wanted something from me by how they kept staring, but I continued painting as if they weren’t there. Once that dried, I could add the new latches to keep the books in and we’d be done.
“We are warriors here to help another warrior,” the commander said, bowing politely at Oren. “Sorry good sir, but we must decline.”
“Well then, I guess I’ll leave you to it,” Oren said, lips pressed together to stop from laughing.
I rubbed my forehead. “Thank you, but I really don’t needyour help.”
That seemed to encourage them even more as they hauled a latch up one of the lending libraries, stabbing into the wood with their swords.
“Hey, you’re going to damage them even more.” I picked up the knight commander. “Just go back inside and play with the dragons or something.”
The tiny man’s eyes widened. “Play? With dragons? You must have no idea what a dragon’s capable of. They burn villages, kidnap princesses, and destroy whole fields of crops just for fun. We do not play with dragons here. We fight them!”
The rest of his men cheered, clanking their swords against their armored chests and scurrying up the other lending libraries, getting paint everywhere. A headache pounded behind my eyes.
I couldn’t handle dealing with the lending librariesandthese knights. Especially not when I saw the telltale signs of dragon fire out of the corner of my eye. The last thing we needed was a dragon fight scorching the lending libraries.
“Sorry, but this is for your own good,” I said as I picked the knights up one by one, putting them inside the libraries where the books would go. I attached the new latches and locked them in. “There, peace and quiet. Now what were we talking about, Oren?”
His mouth dropped open. “Are you sure that’s okay?”
“They’ve got air holes.”
And they were wild magic creations, not real knights. They came from a book and were just figments of that story. Wild magic playing tricks on people.
Right?
The knights pounded on the glass like they were in jail, but they were perfectly safe, the dragons weren’t coming over here, and the lending libraries were happily bouncing after their newpaint jobs. All in all, it was the best I could hope for.
Chapter 11
Roan
I finished screwing in the last of the new latches, the sun gleaming off the warm bronze. The lending library swung its door open and closed without a single squeak before bouncing back and forth.
“Okay, okay,” I said, patting it on the roof. “You’re all set now.”
Wait. When did I start talking to them as if they were people? I jerked my hand back. It was far too easy to get comfortable here.
“We’re finally done!” Oren wiped his brow, accidentally streaking paint across his forehead, before collapsing on the picnic table. “Phew, that took all morning. I’m ready for lunch.”
“Lunch sounds good.”
Nyssa walked outside, grinning. “They look amazing!”
As she oohed and ahhed over each lending library, I felt a bit of pride swell in my chest. They really did look good.
But then her eyes widened. “Uhhh, Roan? Why are there knights inside these libraries?”
Oops. I’d forgotten to let them out. I winced, then put on my best smile.
“They were...repairing the lending libraries from the inside,” I said, giving them a knowing look as Nyssa unlatched thelending libraries. “We couldn’t have finished so fast without them.”
