A plain carriage, one any decently paid commoner might use, stopped in front of a long string of buildings, letting the city knight and the well-dressed man out to continue on foot. Cyris eyed the corner building they now stood in front of as Timetheo paid the driver. A sign hung above the front door; it was plain but carved with the symbol of an open book and the words “Eastern District Public Library” on it.

It’s quite small to be a library. Cyris was surprised that such a small building, even counting its second story, was truly a library. He was used to the Central District’s library which also doubled as the Royal Academy’s library, as well as the quite extensive collection in his own home estate.

“This will only take a moment, Commander,” said Timetheo. “Did you want to wait here for me, or….”

“I’ll come in with you.” Cyris was curious how the inside looked as well.

“Ah, okay then.”

It was obvious to Cyris that Timetheo was a bit self conscious about checking on his sister when they should be out investigating, but he obviously wasn’t going to pass up the opportunity once Cyris had given it to him.

“We have a little time, so just do what you need to.” It was true that Cyris had received a report that morning detailing that the people whose skills had ceased to work had now regained some use of them. It seemed whatever had caused the effect was wearing off. Their investigation was now considered less urgent, but that didn’t mean they had all the time in the world. But it did mean that a short stop at this small library wasn’t a problem anymore. Cyris would have suggested it regardless, knowing Timetheo would be distracted with worry if they didn’t.

He stepped from the bright outdoors into the much dimmer library, his eyes slowly adjusting. The smell of leather and paper came to him right away making him remember his academy days when he spent quite a lot of time holed up with stacks of books, at least when he wasn’t in classes or practicing his sword work. The inside of the library had a few cramped sitting areas that managed to look more cozy than stifling and was packed as much as possible with shelf after shelf of books. There were even some shelves that held rolls of parchment. In the back, a spiral staircase wound up to the second floor. He could just see even more densely packed shelves through the opening at the top of the stairs.

Timetheo went up to the circulation as Cyris was glancing around.

“Good morning, gentleman, sir,” said the librarian behind the desk as she greeted them both. “What can I help you with today?” The young woman was well put together. Though her clothing was a bit simpler, she had as clean and sophisticated a look as many nobles Cyris had seen, and her auburn hair and heart-shaped face made her quite pretty.

“Well, we’re here to see Thea, if you don’t mind. I’m her brother, Timetheo Cronwright. She doesn’t know to expect me, so I hope I didn’t come by at a bad time.” Timetheo’s eyes lingered on the librarian a bit longer than necessary. Cyris kept his amusement to himself when he noticed that.

“Oh, then forgive me. I’m Ginaveve Derrit, the assistant librarian here at the eastern branch.” She gave a small curtsey. “If you’ll forgive me for saying so, now that you’ve mentioned it, I can see the family resemblance. But unfortunately, you just missed her.”

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Timetheo frowned. “I could have sworn she was supposed to be here in the mornings on this day of the week.”

“She is, but she had some errands to run due to her new charge, the one your family agreed to take in to help a merchant family you’re close to.” Ginaveve’s eyes were honed in on Timetheo’s face as she spoke.

Timetheo’s frown deepened, his eyes glancing at Ginaveve’s intense stare, then his eyebrows went up. “Ah, I see. That does make sense. I think I remember my father and mother mentioning something like that a while back. My memory is a bit hazy on that sort of thing since I’m usually busy with work rather than home.”

Cyris noted that Ginaveve’s expression seemed to pout for a brief moment as she looked away, but when she looked back, there was not a trace of it. Was she testing Timetheo about something? Cyris’s instincts for this kind of thing were usually spot on, and they were telling him that something odd had just transpired.

“I wouldn’t worry too much. If you’d like, you can wait here. I don’t think she should be much longer. She’s been out for a while now, so I would guess she should return soon. She promised to be back in time for us to switch places for lunch after all.”

It was at that moment that the door opened and the little bell attached to it rang. They all turned to see who just walked in and were met with a very surprised looking woman in her early to mid twenties. Her facial features did resemble Timetheo’s a bit but her hair was a soft-looking lavender gray rather than Timetheo’s dusky green.

“Tim?” she asked when her dark violet eyes focused on the man in front of her. Then her gaze flickered to Cyris. Her eyes widened, and Cyris heard Timetheo snicker under his breath.

Timetheo introduced him, so Cyris inclined his head her way. He couldn’t help but note the pink color that was slowly creeping up her neck, cheeks, and the tips of her ears. Ah, so she must have heard quite a bit about me. For a moment he wondered whether her source of information had been the papers or her brother, but realized it probably didn’t matter. He didn’t want his liaison’s sister to feel awkward, so he said, “It’s nice to meet you, Lady Thea. I’ve heard a small bit about you from your brother. We’re working, so I’ve accompanied him here since he wanted to stop by to speak with you.”

Thea’s blush only darkened as she stammered, “I-it is very nice to meet you as well, Commander Hollendale.” She pulled her eyes away from him and back to her brother. “You wanted to speak with me, Brother?”

“Well, more like check up on how you were. But also how you were getting on with your charge. I hope it hasn’t been too much trouble for you. Let me take those.” Timetheo reached forward and took the shopping bag from off his sister’s arm.

Thea’s blush paled, and she stepped to the side, looking behind her. For the first time, a small child was revealed. The child was dressed in boy’s clothing, so Cyris assumed the child was a boy, but with hair that long and dark and a face that was quite androgenous and pretty, one could have mistaken him for a girl if he’d worn a dress. Something about the odd and critical way the child stared at Cyris caused him to take a closer look at the boy as well.

“Ah, Luin, this is my older brother, Timetheo, and this is Commander Hollendale who is working with my brother. Tim has come to check on us, isn’t that nice?” The discomfort was tangible in Thea’s voice.

The child, Luin, nodded as if on cue.

“I was just picking him up some sets of clothes. But let’s go talk out the way, Tim.” Thea turned to Ginaveve. “I do apologize for being a bit later than I expected. Please feel free to enjoy the cafe a while. You can take your time.”

Again, Ginaveve’s expression was a bit odd, her smile delaying for a bit. “Yes, I guess I should get going if I want to have time to enjoy it before they close in a few bells. Are you sure you are good to handle things? I don’t mind staying and taking my lunch at the cafe another day.”

“Oh no, I couldn’t possibly delay you further. Thank you very much for covering for me today, Gina.” With those final words, Gina protested no further, bowed her head once, and headed out.

Cyris felt a bit odd scrutinizing a small child so much, so he took to looking at his surroundings once again while keeping his attention on Thea and Luin out of the side of his vision. But the look of chastisement taking form on Timetheo’s face only confirmed what his instincts had already told him. There was more going on here than one might think.

This explanation may be interesting.