Tom stopped and gazed at the front of the building holding the Library. There were three stone steps leading up to the front door. The sides were stone, and the roof was made of wood. The front wall facing the square had a large door in the center and a few simple carvings. One was a picture of a book, another appeared to be a map, and the last was a quill. There were also some runes as well, carved above the door. Tom took it all in for a moment, checked that the women were right behind him, and headed up the steps.

The large door was open to the street, and a couple of people walked out just before Tom and the elves got to it. Tom stepped aside to make room and Diavla and Varga followed suit, at once. The strangers nodded their thanks, and Tom stepped through the doorway.

The first space was an entrance hall. It was well-lit with rock lights even in the daytime, which seemed a bit extravagant. There was a counter blocking the way forward, with a gap in the middle for visitors to enter through. Beyond the counter were three closed doors, each with one of the pictures from the outside wall. Before they could go in, however, a woman sitting on a stool next to the opening in the counter greeted him.

“Hello, young sir, and welcome to the Rivermarch Library. Is this your first time here?”

“Yes, it is.” He walked up to the woman, who seemed to be middle-aged, with brown hair heavily seasoned with white. She had a friendly-enough smile.

“Very good, sir. The cost to enter is ten copper per person.”

“All right. Can you tell me what this place is, please?”

The woman beamed at him. “Certainly! This is the Library of Lady Rose Thornhill. She had this building put up, and decreed that after her death, all of her large book and map collection be placed on display, for everyone in the city to enjoy. She claimed that books grow lonely without people to read them, and set aside a fund for people to work here." She pointed at the left door, then the right. "This room has books, and the one on the far right has maps. The copy room is in between them, producing books and maps, many of them for sale in the other rooms. We are interested in buying new books if you have any, or renting them to copy.”

“Do I have to pay per book I want to see?”

“Not at all! The ten copper covers access to all the books and maps in the Library.”

“All of them?” Tom repeated in disbelief.

“There are rules, of course. Let's see… People do have to share. Fire of any sort is forbidden, as are food and drink. All the lights in the building are magical, to protect the books. If you damage a book or map, you will have to pay for a copyist to repair or replace the item. We ask that all readers be careful handling the books and scrolls, and you must have clean hands to enter. There are usually one or two readers available for hire in the book room, but sometimes there is a wait. There are even reading classes every Eightday for those who wish to learn their runes. Those are five copper per lesson, I believe.”

Tom absorbed all that, blinking. “That is amazing. I've never heard of such a thing before.”

“We're very proud of the Library here in Rivermarch. It is growing famous throughout the kingdom, and the Lord of the City is a patron.”

“Well, I can hardly wait to see it.” Tom fished three large coppers out of his coin pouch and held them out to the woman. She looked at the coins in surprise, then eyed Diavla and Varga uncertainly. “Ten copper per person, you said,” Tom reminded her, pressing the payment into her hand. “Are my hands clean enough?” He showed her his palms, then the backs of his hands.

“Ah…yes, young sir.”

Tom had Diavla and Varga show their hands, as well. The woman looked as if she might want to object, but the elves' hands were noticeably cleaner than Tom's. He started to head in, but the woman called out again.

“Young sir, your pack, please. We keep them here.” The woman gestured behind herself, where Tom could see a number of bags and packs. “You can pick it up on your way back out.”

“All right…” Tom mentally reviewed what was in his pack, and couldn't think of anything irreplaceable. He turned his pack over to the woman, who set it down with the others, placed a wooden disk on it, and handed Tom a matching disk.

“So we don't give your pack to the wrong person.”

“Thank you.” Finally past the last hurdle, he led the elves over to the door with a book drawn above it, pushed it open, and stepped inside the book room of the Library.

It was very nice. Tom could readily admit that. The room was clean and well-lit, and the sheer number of books was enormous. Hundreds at least. Tom did some sums of sums in his head, and revised that estimate upward to thousands. He'd never even heard of such a large library before.

Unfortunately, he wouldn't be able to make use of any of it unless he hired a reader. Or, he might manage to bring Eubexa in here to read and translate. Tom waited a minute to let Diavla and Varga ooh and ahh over the collection. It was the first thing besides Sally's Sweets that really seemed to impress them.

The copy room was next. There were eight tables in use, each holding a book propped up and illuminated by its very own rock light. Scribes toiled away, carefully drawing each rune with precise movements. Tom thought about the papers in the mysterious language, but the Temple had confiscated them. He couldn't think of anything else he needed copied at the moment. Finally, they moved on to the map room.

Tom stepped through the door to find another space much like the book room, in that there were many sets of shelves, only most were filled with rolled up scrolls rather than flat books. He stepped to the middle of the room, looking around automatically to see exits and potential threats. Finally, his gaze rested on the wall to his left, and his eyes widened.

Wow.

The entire wall had been painted with a mural that formed a map of the entire human continent. That alone was impressive, but the quality and detail were exquisite. The colors were vivid and the runes were written in shrinking symbols when read left to right. But the most important fact was that the wall was nearly twenty feet tall and over twenty feet away.

Tom could see it.

He could see it.

All the details were sharp and clear. The little curls on the corners of some of the runes, the little whitecaps drawn on the waves, each small wiggle and bend in the rivers—all of it. Tom stared in awe, drinking in the sight.

“Are these the wonders that others see?” he murmured. As he gazed at the mural, taking in detail after detail, he found he had to blink a few times to keep his sight clear.

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“It is beautiful.”

That was Diavla, standing beside him. She took his left hand with a gentle squeeze. Varga started to ask a question, but Diavla whispered quickly to her in Elvish, and the redhead fell silent. A few moments later, she appeared on his right, leaning against him. The women gave him time, which he appreciated.

Small pictures of a setting sun on the left edge and a rising sun on the right edge told the orientation. North was toward the ceiling. The human continent was roughly triangular, surrounded by three seas: The Elven Sea on the right, the South Sea at the bottom, and the Sea of Storms to the west. Each had stylized sea serpents drawn scattered in the blue regions between the island chains.

Actually, I wonder what name the elves have for the sea between us. Do they call it the Human Sea?

Tom put aside the thought for the moment, and set himself to memorizing as much of the map as he could.

The north and southeast corners of the continent were decorated with small amounts of white. Mountain chains slashed across the land in a few directions. The largest ran northwest to southeast. The elves probably crossed over those mountains about a month ago.

Searching the center of the map, one country had a bolder outline than the rest, and its name was drawn slightly larger and more ornately. That must be Baria. Those runes signify ‘Baria’. Tom committed them to memory. Baria was southeast of the center of the continent, but not by much. It would be hard to get much farther from the sea than we are now. Tom looked for waterways.

There were two large lakes in the continent's north central region, and two major rivers emptying into each of the three Seas. There appeared to be one decently large river running through Baria, and Tom traced it to the west coast. Ugh, Captain Weller was right, of course. Going downriver would get us even farther from our goal. If they went that way, it would be necessary to hug the coast whenever possible because of the greater sea serpents, going all the way around the continent. The northern way around would be shorter, but too cold, and the lands too inhospitable. Most of the southern coast was warmer, with the exception of the southeast point.

But which of these countries allow elves to be free, if any? Which way should we go, which part of the coast would be a safe place to find an elven…what was that word? Ember-something? Embassy. That's what we need. Now, would a map tell us, or do we need a book? And how do we find the right one?

Tom reluctantly tore his gaze away from the beautiful map. He looked down at the kind women on either side of him. “Thank you,” he told them both. Diavla smiled at him and gave his hand a reassuring squeeze. Varga pressed her cheek to his bicep a moment, then patted him and stood back.

“We need person. Person know books,” he told them in Elvish. They all looked around, and Varga pointed at a small counter where a Library worker sat waiting, with books to sell on display. Tom nodded. “Thank you, Varga.”

Asking there for help sent them back into the book room, where one woman with white hair sat at a desk and answered questions from people. Tom actually had to wait a few minutes, but eventually, his turn came. He stepped up and nodded politely.

“Hello, ma'am. I'm Tom Walker. I am looking for elven embassies.”

“Hello, Tom. My name is Sage Booker. Call me Sage,” she told him with a grin. She glanced at Diavla and Varga, and her eyebrows went up. She turned her gaze back to Tom's face. “Elven embassies? How interesting.”

Sage leaned back in her chair and steepled her fingers, obviously thinking hard. “Hm…elves…elf-human relations…politics…law…geography. Yes, geography. Coastal kingdoms… Alliances of the Coastal Kingdoms, by John of the Tor. I would start there.”

Tom recited the title and author back to make sure he had it right. “Thank you, Sage. How would I find that book, and how would I find someone to read it to me?”

“One moment, please. Oscar!” Sage called. A young boy came running, almost tripping in the brown robes he wore.

“Yes, Miss Sage?”

“This gentleman needs Alliances of the Coastal Kingdoms, by John of the Tor. It should be in the geography section.”

The boy ran off at once. Perhaps half a minute later, he ran back. “I'm sorry, Miss Sage, what was the title again?”

The woman sighed. “Oscar, what have I told you about running off half-full?”

“…Not to?”

“That's right. And this is why. Now, the title is Alliances of the Coastal Kingdoms, and the auth—”

“Got it!” Oscar bolted off.

Sage started muttering to herself. Tom realized that she was counting in Elvish, and tried to hide his grin. The elves exchanged amused glances, as well. Sage noticed, and abruptly cleared her throat, her face reddening a bit. “Please excuse me.” For a few moments, she stared off in the direction Oscar had disappeared, then Tom heard Sage saying something akin to chanting. He suspected she was counting in Dwarvish.

Oscar returned, hurrying not quite so quickly, with a book in his arms, and slowing down dramatically as soon as he caught a warning glare from Sage. The old woman took the book from the child, examined it for a moment, then nodded. “Here you are.” She handed the book to Tom.

“Thank you very much. Where are the readers for hire?”

Sage pointed at three different tables set in alcoves along one wall. One table was unoccupied. The second one had two people seated, one of them reading to the other. The third had four people gathered, one of them reading. This might take a while, Tom mused. Could I get Eubexa to read this? But she's recovering from tough healing, I understand. Besides, we don't really have time to bring her in and have her read the whole thing.

A thought occurred to Tom. He almost dismissed it out of hand, but reconsidered. I'm rich, sort of. I might as well ask. He realized that Sage was already helping another visitor, and stepped away from her desk. Carrying the book, he returned to the small counter Varga had pointed out, and got the woman's attention.

“Pardon me. I was wondering, is it possible to buy or rent this book, and take it out of the Library?”

“Let me see.” The young woman took the book and examined the cover. “I will be back shortly.”

“T—” Diavla caught herself and shook her head slightly, frowning. “Master, what are we doing?”

“I want book. I ask, I give coin, I get book?”

“You want to buy the book?” Varga asked. At least, Tom was pretty sure that was what she was saying.

“Maybe. Maybe give coin, get book, give book.”

“You ‘rent’ the book,” Diavla taught him. “What is the book?”

“Maybe book say, where we go, get elf boat,” Tom explained. “Eubexa read. We find person, read.”

“Maybe book (something) say?” Varga asked.

“Maybe book no say, Varga ask,” Diavla explained. Tom shrugged.

After another minute of waiting, the young woman returned. “I am sorry, but we don't have a spare copy of this book made at the moment. If you wish, you may pay two gold—” Tom flinched, and bit back an instant protest only with effort, “—and take the book out of the library, then return the book in good condition to receive your two gold back. The usual cost of a book is one gold, you see, so this way, people are discouraged from paying the fee and then keeping the book.”

“Oh…” Tom couldn't help but sound relieved. “Sorry, it's just that two gold is a lot of coin.”

“I quite understand. Generally, only nobles borrow books.”

Tom had the needed coin, but it was stashed in his secret belt pocket, and he didn't see a private place to fish them out. Diavla had spent nearly all of the coin in his pouch on healing Eubexa. He debated what to do for a moment, then nodded.

“Will you please hold this book for me, then? I can return shortly with the two gold, but I have to visit the Treasury.”

“Oh! Certainly, my lord!”

Tom shook his head rapidly. “I'm not a lord, I just have enough coin for this.”

“Oh. Are you a wealthy merchant, then?”

Tom was about to deny it, but then thought it over a moment. Actually…I suppose I am a merchant now. Life is strange sometimes. Aloud he answered, “Wealthy enough for this, at least. Thank you. I will return soon.”

He stepped away from the counter and bowed his head closer to the elves'. “I go Keep, get gold, go here. You stay? You go?”

Diavla looked around longingly. “I want to stay, please.”

“I will stay with Diavla,” Varga said.

Tom nodded. Diavla leaned closer. “You get my gold, you get collar?”

Tom thought it over quickly. “Maybe. Now get gold, get book.”

Diavla nodded back. “I will (something) Elvish books.”

“Be careful,” he murmured in Western. At her puzzled look, he tried again. “Dangerous bad. You no do dangerous.”

“ ‘Be careful,” she taught him. “We will be careful.”

Tom looked around the book room warily, eyeing visitors, looking for danger, before turning and leaving the Library. I'll only be gone a few minutes, he told himself.

I'll only be gone a few minutes, he repeated nervously as he hurried towards the Keep.