The main library of Zenvo had not changed that much, if we ignore the addition of several new books. It was, in a way, like a dragon: the only trace of time passing upon it seemed to be the wisdom left behind.
Orphela had arranged for me to get a special sort of permission, by explaining part of my nature to the bookkeepers and paying a small… fee, for the sake of euphemism. I was, in her words, somewhat of a caricature of a man, provided with its own volition, and cursed to life by a dragon. She made it seem like I was the victim of this, a man-made artwork brought to life by magic. Her stretch and misshaping of the truth had concerned me in that moment, but then, I also knew not all men would take having a figment of a dragon’s mind walking among them with a cool head.
Yet the benefits of that small white lie were undeniable. Whenever I wasn’t visiting the family or Mardhaka, I spent my time perusing the shelves. Nature fascinated me. All that is or was, and I couldn’t be. Sea life was particularly alluring for me. Not merely fish, but the inhabitants of the sea floor. This, of course, included some fishes, but other beings dragged to the surface by fishermen were even more amazing. Brachiopods didn’t pique my interest enough, but I admired the beauty of their shells, their ribbed surfaces. Their intricate interiors. Corals were pretty, but I was of the mind that once you had seen a few, you had seen them all. Soft-tissued animals: jellyfish, sea cucumbers, anemones, and worms, to provide some examples, were fun, but by then I had read whole books on them. I wondered what would be my next ocean-bound obsession. Maybe it was time I started investigating about algae, as I had read a few snippets on them here and there and they seemed about as enthralling as the animals.
“Hey, Luberto, friend, has any new book about sea life arrived this week.”
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The rotund man with a balding pattern I hadn’t seen on nobody else (it started from the sides of the head, not affecting the fringes) dedicated an inscrutable bespectacled look at me.
“hmmm, who was the artist that brought you to life, again?” he made the same question as always., trying to annoy me. I didn’t mind this game of his.
“I never met him or her, nor the dragon that cursed him. Regarding my artificers, I am as much in the dark as you are.”
I took another book from the shelves and opened the index. Sponges. A possible choice, still not my first if there was anything else to catch my attention.
“That’s a hot and steaming load of bull crap and you know it. How can a picture not know he or she who drew or painted it, eh? You just don’t want to tell good Luberto about it. I am too good with you, too good, I say. I accepted to oversee you over all other employees of the library. What for? Derision, lies and empty promises. I only ask this of you, Terus, tell me who painted a man so real?”
“I bear the name of the model that was painted, I know that. I was told that by dragons. Why don’t you ask one? I can teach you their language.”
A brief smile soon turned to a scowl.
“You once told me dragons don’t like men speaking their tongue, that they often try to kill you despite the fact they could never. Are you trying to trick me into an early?”
“Then, if your memory is this good, my esteemed Luberto why do you ask things I have answered not once nor twice, but a hundred times already? Come on, tell me about the new sea life books, I want to read about new things.” I finished the sentence almost with a coo. Luberto was a friend, annoying at times, but serviceable nonetheless.
“Well, there is a book, Terus, but… it’s rather new and it bleats about the parasites of fishes. An absolute folly of a study subject, if you ask me. We are not fishes. Why know their parasites when we don’t even breed most of those species?” he argued passionately.
“Oh, parasites, I will check one copy!”
“But you better tell me who painted you one of these days. Follow me to the counter, we haven’t even placed them on the shelves yet.”
I loved such bits of exclusivity. It satisfied my dragon needs.