Page 70 of Legends and Librarians
“A lot more.”
“Show me,” she said, gaze roving over the library searching for them. “Story spirits are such a cool name for them, like you’re seeing the souls of the books themselves.”
“That’s exactly what I was thinking!” I grinned, happy somebody finally got it. “The story spirits are more than just illusions. They have thoughts and feelings, just like you and me.”
“That’s awesome.” She smiled at the Demon Lord. “I think I’ll take you up on that tour now.”
His eyes widened. “Wait, what? I’m sure Nyssa will show you around. She’s the librarian, not me.”
My shoulders shook with silent laughter at the idea of these two, one bright and full of happiness and the other dark and trying to avoid everyone. Maybe she was just the kind of person we needed to get the Demon Lord out of his shell.
“By all means,” I said, “show her around and make sure to take your time. You did offer her a tour after all.”
He glared helplessly at me, as if begging me to save him from this human, but I just shook my head.
“Fine,” he said with a dramatic sigh as Willow made a happy noise and hooked her arm around his. “This is the Misty Mountain Library. We’ve done a lot of repairs lately to make it as glorious as it once was.”
I bit my lip, honestly loving this far too much.
“I noticed that,” she said, turning back to me. “Last time I was here it was pretty rundown. You guys have done an amazing job.”
“Oh yeah, you said you’ve been here before, right?”
She nodded. “I used to spend a lot of time here as a kid. Gran would drop me off while she was gathering herbs on the mountain.”
“Wait, really? Same here. Maybe we met back then and never realized it.”
Willow laughed. “That would be really cool.”
As the Demon Lord showed her the different sections of the library, the new windows, and the repaired roof, I started to wonder if he was stalling for some reason. We’d gone in circles, cleverly avoiding the middle area where the rest of the story spirits were.
“What’s going on?” I whispered at him as Willow knelt down to look at some books on the bottom shelf. “Just show her the story spirits already.”
His eyes narrowed. “And risk another spilled cocoa incident?”
I winced. I hadn’t realized he’d heard about that, but of course he had. They all trusted him to defend them and the knight had still been upset when we returned from the festival.
“I don’t think she’d treat any of you like that,” I said, “but I honestly can’t be sure. Sometimes you’ve just gotta take a chance on people. The library needs a writer and I think she’d be a good fit. Don’t you?”
The Demon Lord studied her as she sat cross-legged on thefloor, flipping through books with the joy of a child. If I didn’t know better, I’d have sworn he was smiling just a little.
“Maybe,” he said, “but I’m going to keep my eyes on her.”
“That sounds fair,” I said, resisting the urge to tease him. I’d never seen him interested in anyone before, not enough to give them a tour and possibly smile at them. “Hey, Willow?”
She glanced up, putting her finger in the book to hold her page. “Yeah?”
“I’d love it if you sponsored our library for the festival.”
“Really?” She leapt up, barely holding onto the book. “That’s amazing! I won’t let you down. I’ll go home and write right now. My book will definitely be done by the time the final ceremony starts.”
“Wait, you’re not done writing it yet?” I asked, suddenly nervous. “The ceremony is in less than a week.”
The Demon Lord sighed, but before he could say anything, Willow shook her head. “It’ll be fine. I’m almost there. I promise.”
With that, she backed up, bowing and smiling like a woman overflowing with joy. Then she seemed to realize she still had a book in her hands, because she turned around and put it back on the shelf. Then bowed again.
“Thank you.”
