Chapter 214
The main courtyard felt off when the group had finally arrived there and it took Jay a few moments to understand why.
It was after midnight on a Thursday. The air had cooled a bit and the sky was black with a field of stars strew across it. The moon glowed brightly and the air smelled like the end of summer. It should not be that busy on Guild grounds, yet everywhere they looked there were people, many of them 7 feet tall or taller.
There were still coaches and carts and carriages pulling in and out of the courtyard. Guards continued to patrol the area and kept the area clear. The new addition to the scene was the presence of so many black and teal clad Librarians.
What had taken place at the Library had not been the end of things and the Guild appeared to be hosting an inordinately large number of combat ready Librarians that night.
They were everywhere, and not just black and teal clad Librarians but regular armored Librarians as well. The more conservatively dressed Librarians were always accompanied by at least one black and teal Librarian, sometimes two.
Some Librarians had taken up posts inside of the entrance. Others patrolled the courtyard whereas still others performed roving patrols of the Guild grounds themselves.
The Librarians had moved on to the Guild grounds in a show of force. They were everywhere one looked around the Guild properties. While there might have been more Guild guards than Librarians the exact numbers were constantly growing closer to one another as additional Librarians continued to arrive.
The Guild guards were presented with a choice. They could either continue to allow Librarians on to Guild grounds, at which point they would quickly become outnumbered – or they could refuse entry to any more Librarians, at which point they would most likely trigger a confrontation – the very thing the Guild wanted to avoid.
It wasn't the confrontation that the Guild leadership was concerned about so much as the possible penalty - losing access to the library - permanently. On Eden, libraries were ruled over by Librarians – not private groups or parties. As if that weren't enough there was also the fact that Librarians were one of Gaia's favorites on Eden. Any fight against them as a group was akin to fighting against the Goddess, Herself.
She probably wouldn't appear Herself, but she'd absolutely put her finger on the balance of fairness – Her Librarians would be given an almost insurmountable edge. The problem for any attacker wasn't just that you shouldn't fight the Librarians, it was instead mostly due to the fact that you most probably couldn't even if you tried.
“I thought that Walter had smoothed things over?” Jay said in confusion. He was tired and his eye lids drooped as he spoke.
M'redith laughed, “Absolutely not. The penalty of their actions was decided – the ramifications of attacking a Library goes beyond just penalties. Librarians have a habit of showing up in force whenever a Library is attacked. Saying you're sorry won't stop them arriving. They'll occupy the area around the Library as a demonstration of their power. Their thinking is, if someone attacked the library then everyone needs to be reminded of why that is never a good idea.”
Jay sighed. “All because of one Guard?”
M'redith nodded and smiled. “Some mistakes cost more than others – this would be one of those.”
Aiden laughed as Norri flagged down a cart before she changed her mind and allowed them leave so that she could flag down the cart behind them.
“What was wrong with the last cart?” Aiden asked as the second cart rolled to a stop next to them.
Norri wrinkled her nose. “Onions. Would you want to ride in a cart full of onions?”
Aiden shrugged. “Good point. Goddess I can't wait to go to bed,” he said as he yawned widely.
Sha'li turned and faced the others as she brushed at her hair with one hand.
“Thank you all for a wonderful day – just saying thank you doesn't feel like enough but it will have to do for now. Can we maybe get together again soon? I have so many more questions now that I'm officially in Guild training!” Sha'li said in excitement as her hair gradually changed to blonde with red highlights before the colors swapped to red hair with blonde highlights.
Jay slapped his forehead. “Oh my Goddess I forgot! That reminds me - tomorrow night is the mini-golf opening! Are you free tomorrow night? You should come! We could talk then.”
Sha'li looked momentarily confused. “What's a mini golf?”
Aiden laughed, “He keeps saying that but we've little idea what he's talking about. It has something to do with putt-putt.”
“What? You mean those lumpy misshapen lawns with the holes that people are always whacking balls around in?” Sha'li asked incredulously. “You own one of those? Aren't they boring?” Sha'li asked before she realized that her question might be seen as rude. “Sorry! I didn't mean it like that.”
Norri laughed. “Yes you did! They are boring. Jay says he has a way to fix that though.”
Sha'li suddenly smiled and gave Norri a warm hug. Norri smiled and hugged her back before Sha'li did the same with M'redith.
When she turned to Aiden he stuck one hand out and shook her hand as he gave her a half-hug with his free arm. Sha'li smiled at the odd farewell before she finally turned to Jay.
Her sponsor.
“I'm not sure if I'm supposed to hug or shake the hand of my... you know. I guess I'm not supposed to talk about it?” Sha'li said as she alluded to Jay's status as her sponsor at the Guild.
Jay shook his head and grinned. “A hug will do just fine,” he said and the two exchanged a quick hug.
In the past when Carly would touch Jay it tended to upset M'redith. Here however Jay had just received a full hug from Sha'li and M'redith didn't seem upset one bit by it. Jay began to understand that it wasn't about the touching so much as the person doing the touching. Jay filed that away for further thought at another time.
Sha'li looked a lot happier than she had since they'd left the library. As she pulled away from Jay he spoke up.
“Tomorrow night at sundown, we'd love to have you stop by. I'll reach out and have Boland send you an official invitation,” Jay said as the two separated.
Then it was time to go and M'redith helped Sha'li up in to the cart which was not filled with onions. M'redith then spoke with the driver and handed him a few coins. The driver tipped his hat in thanks.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
“See you tomorrow night!” Norri said in a sing song tone of voice as the cart pulled away and turned right out of the courtyard and into city traffic, which was busier than one would assume. Sha'li waved back to the group as the cart pulled away and out of the courtyard.
“Move along! The courtyard is for loading and unloading of passengers only!” A passing guard yelled at them as they quickly moved away from the courtyard and on to the path leading to the women's residential area. The guards seemed a bit testier than usual Jay thought to himself. He was pretty sure he could guess why after the library incident.
They walked in silence for a time. Jay walked next to M'redith while Norri and Aiden walked behind them so that they didn't block the entire path as they traveled.
“Today was fun.” Norri finally said firmly as if she were passing judgment on her day.
Aiden nodded and replied, “Especially the first two thirds or so,” and the others laughed.
They took a left on to a dirt strewn path that led under a canopy of trees and over a grassy looking hill in the moonlight.
They paused as a group of Librarians came towards them on the path and Jay and his group stood aside to let them pass. Their massive seven foot frames were large enough but in the darkness and cloaked in only moonlight they seemed far larger – especially on a poorly lit dirt path.
Jay and his group watched them pass by, their shadows from the moonlight looking massive compared to the shadows of Jay and the others. The group of Librarians didn't rush or hurry but continued on with only a brief look at the the Guild group. As soon as they had decided they weren't a threat the Librarians continued on without a word.
“I miss the friendly Librarians.” Aiden remarked as they stepped back on to the path and walked over to the women's residences.
“Imagine how Walter feels.” Norri said with a smile.
Aiden grinned. “Great point!”
“This is you Norri,” M'redith said as the group stopped in front of Norri's rooms.
“Good night everyone,” Norri said as she hugged them one by one. Aiden tried to shake her hand but she swatted it away and gave him a hug instead with a smile as she gave Aiden a squeeze with her arms. He frowned but changed it to a grin once Norri had hugged him.
Norri opened the door, entered her room, and shut the door behind her with one smooth motion and the others walked over a few hundred feet to where M'redith's rooms were located.
“Goodnight Aiden. You did good today,” M'redith said with a surprising and unexpected compliment.
“Thanks!” Aiden said with a real smile as she managed to surprise him with her words.
She nodded before she then turned to face Jay and the two exchanged a warm hug that lasted longer than the others had.
Aiden finally felt uncomfortable enough to look away and even walked a few paces away from the door to give them some privacy.
M'redith looked up and Jay smiled. The two exchanged a kiss that went on longer than was normal before M'redith pulled back a bit breathlessly.
She grinned at him before she placed both hands on his chest and pushed him away gently but firmly.
“Sleep. Must. Sleep. See you two tomorrow,” M'redith said as she waved to the two of them.
The door opened and closed before either of them had a chance to respond as M'redith disappeared in to her rooms.
Jay and Aiden wordlessly stepped on to a nearby dirt path and headed towards the men's residential area. It wasn't long before they'd reached Jay's room and said goodnight with their usual half hug slash half handshake.
As Jay entered his room and shut the door behind him he felt around for the button that turned on the lights. Although the moonlight was enough to see by outside it was a different story entirely inside of his rooms.
The light popped on as he found the switch and he quickly walked to his bedroom and turned on his Tropical Island Aura. He let it cycle for 30 seconds as motes of light rose off of him. His skin tingled but it wasn't uncomfortable. Once it had finished he deactivated it and began to quickly undress. He felt clean and all of his clothing smelled as if they had just come off the clothesline after drying in the sun.
He tried to be quick but there were so many straps and ties that it was a few minutes before he finally was ready to get to bed.
He stood bare chested in a pair of linen pants and then remembered that he'd promised to ask Boland to invite Sha'li.
He fumbled about in his backpack until he'd withdrawn his writing kit along with his seal kit.
If felt like he was collecting a lot of kits.
He took a sheet of paper out of his seal kit and then used a writing implement from his writing kit to jot down a quick note.
Boland, a few quick requests. Would you please see that Sha'li – she works at Redgrass, they can put you in touch with her – is invited to tonight's grand opening at M'redith Meadows? I'm not sure who else you've invited but I'd like to see that the other major share holders of Redgrass are invited. I'd also like to make sure that Walter, Warren, and T'lly from the Guild are invited.
I'd like to see invitations extended to Constance of Stringe Auction House and Brother Orin, Head Monk of Kagan's Dome.
Lastly, please offer an invitation to King Ferrigualt, Mayor Figs, and the Redguard who rescued us a short while back.
I'm sorry for not sending this to you sooner,
-Jay
Jay folded the paper before he lit a wax stick from his seal kit and dribbled it over the folded paper. He let it cool for a moment before he took out his single sided die and slid it in to a handle. Then he pressed it in to the wax and held it there for a brief moment before he withdrew it, took it apart, and stored everything back in his backpack.
He took the note and some coin and walked outside where people were constantly passing by on a nearby path. Jay didn't have to wait long before a messenger came by.
She was carrying other messages as well and Jay quickly paid her a few copper to drop his message off at Boland's. She assured Jay that it would reach him within the hour.
“Thank you!” Jay said but the woman was already moving and had walked off towards the main courtyard.
Jay returned to his rooms and shut and locked the door behind him. He pulled his pants off as he walked to his bedroom and left them on the floor where he dropped them.
His eyes were barely open as he pressed a button to turn out the lights and then crawled in to bed. The sheets were cool and clean and the pillow was fluffy and soft. The bedroom smelled like clean linen and a tropical breeze thanks to his frequent uses of his Aura ability.
The room was dark but there was still just enough light to see by thanks to the moonlight that shined in through his bedroom window.
The day had gone well – sort of, Jay thought to himself. They'd certainly become closer friends with Sha'li. That had been the goal of the day and they'd succeeded beyond their wildest expectations. They'd managed to get her an adventure class – Icemaiden, something that she would never forget. Her life had been changed that day thanks to the Glimmerhides.
The end of the day hadn't gone so smoothly, but that had been through no fault of their own. Still, even now Jay bet that if he looked out of his bedroom window he would see a Librarian pass within a minute or less.
Jay was just thankful it hadn't been his fault. He had been involved, but not at fault. A very important distinction.
Outside his room Librarians patrolled the Guild grounds and monitored the Guild guards closely.
Jay yawned and stretched out in bed. It was cozy. He yawned one last time before he fell asleep. He ended up being far too exhausted to dream at all. Thankfully, Gaia let him sleep.