Nyssa's Point of View

Chapter 27

I woke up as the first rays of sunlight peeked through the window, snuggling closer to Roan to stave off the autumn chill. He was fast asleep and looked so peaceful I didn't have the heart to wake him. We'd gotten back pretty late last night, and he'd worked really hard planning the perfect date for me, so he deserved as much rest as he could get.

I smiled, brushing a stray strand of his hair back, my fingers light on his skin so I didn't wake him. Nobody had ever treated me to something as thoughtful as that date. My entire body felt relaxed, as if the warmth of that hot spring had sunk into my body and released the tension that was building up since I got here.

Today was the most important day this library faced, the final ceremony of the Tales and Tomes Festival. Usually I'd be downstairs frantically making sure everything was perfect, but for some reason, I couldn't seem to pull myself out of bed. More specifically, I couldn't pull myself away from Roan.

I never let people help me, not with anything that really mattered at least. I was a bit too much of a perfectionist for that, but Roan had been helping me since the moment I met him. From buying me all those books, to helping repair the library, to taking care of my well-being, Roan was always there.

"Thank you," I whispered, hoping I could return the care he'd shown me.

When he'd told me about his rough past, my heart had ached for him, and it made me beyond happy to hear that he considered this library home now. He was too good a man to wander the world alone, afraid of getting close to anyone. I wouldn't let him down. I'd make sure he knew exactly how amazing he was every single day.

Roan shifted in his sleep, pulling me closer. A smile tugged at my lips as he wrapped an arm around me. The longer I stayed here, cozy and warm in bed with him, the more I wished he was awake to continue what we'd started in that hot spring.

Which meant I should get up and check on the story spirits or something so he could sleep. There'd be time for all that and more later, because Roan wasn't going anywhere.

My smile turned to a grin at that thought as I slowly got out of bed. Roan sighed, turning onto his side, his hand falling off the bed as if he'd been reaching for me. I shook my head, pulling the blankets up to his shoulders so he'd be warm enough without me before getting ready for the day.

I never thought I'd find somebody like Roan, somebody who would fight for what mattered to him, but was also happy to just curl up with a book or play with the story spirits. His strength gave me the confidence I needed to get this library running again and today was the day it all paid off.

The Tales and Tomes Festival was finally here! Patrons would be filling these stacks in a few hours, filling the library as if we'd never been closed. The story gods would surely see how much this library meant to the town and give it their blessing too and then everything would be perfect.

My footsteps quickened down the stairs, as if I was a child on Frostfire morning rushing to open my gifts. The festival lights were shimmering in beautiful arches and the book well was decorated with bright blue flowers. Everything was ready to go, except, something felt off. I couldn't put my finger on it, but the more I looked around, the more wrong everything felt.

It was the silence. I'd never heard the library this quiet before.

My gaze swept over the bookshelves, expecting to find dragons roosting on them or the golem's head peeking out over one, but found nobody. Were all the story spirits sleeping?

Wait. My gaze flew back to the shelves. Not a single book was on them.

The bookshelves were as empty as when I first got here, as if all the books I'd purchased had just disappeared. I gasped, racing to the shelves holding my most precious books, the ones Roan had bought me, but those were gone too.

The library was empty.

"No, no, no," I whispered in horror as I went from bookshelf to bookshelf, seeing nothing but open shelves. "What happened?"

Silence blanketed the library like an impenetrable fog. This was not happening, not on the most important day of the year! No matter where I looked, everything was empty and gone. As if the story spirits had never been here. As if I had never been here.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

No. This library had been full of books last night and they couldn't just disappear. This was probably just a bad prank the story spirits were pulling on me.

"Very funny guys," I called out half-heartedly, "you can come out now."

Silence. If the story spirits had done it, they weren't coming clean like I'd expect. No playful Cerbie jumping at me, no cocky demon lord gloating about something, and no Lisa helping me put things back together.

Lisa. She'd never have let anyone just get rid of the books.

I searched the library, checking every area I could think of hoping they'd be piled up somewhere, but every door I tried to open was locked tight. I rattled the knobs, trying in vain to open them, but they were stuck. It reminded me of my first day here.

Okay, this was going too far. I hurried upstairs to wake Roan up. He turned over in bed, taking my hand as he snuggled under the blankets a bit more.

"Morning, beautiful." His voice was still husky with sleep, but he cracked an eye open to really look at me. "Why are you already dressed and ready?"

"I need your help. Something's wrong."

His eyes snapped open as he reached for his sword leaning against the nightstand. "What's going on?"

"No, nothing like that," I said, urging him to drop the sword. "It's the library. All the books are just...gone. We need to find them before people start showing up."

Roan sank back onto the bed, rubbing sleep out of his eyes. "What did the story spirits say?"

I swallowed hard. "I think they're gone too."

"Let's go find them then," he said, taking my hand. "If they're back in their books, maybe we can lure them out. I'll get Cerbie's ball, you can brew some of Lisa's tea, we'll find the books, and it'll all work out."

His confidence eased my nerves as I nodded. "You make it sound so simple."

"Simple or not, we're going to make it work." He leaned forward to kiss me, his lips light as a feather, before we headed downstairs.

We searched again, trying the doors I couldn't get into, but they still didn't budge. Luring the story spirits out hadn't really worked either. Their books glowed for a moment, but nothing happened. It was like they were hiding from us, but why would they do that? They cared about the library just as much as I did, maybe more.

So why would they disappear on the most important day?

I sank to the floor, resting my back against a bookshelf as I stared out at the library. The decorations mocked me. No matter how prepared we were, the festival was doomed without books. The library had to realize that.

Unless...that was the point.

I stood up slowly, making my way to the great book tree. The library had been nervous about patrons coming back, so nervous that the story spirits had even chased people away. I thought we'd moved past that, but maybe the feeling of abandonment was too painful to really ever go away.

"If something's wrong, you can talk to me, Misty," I said, resting my hand against the great book tree. The bark was rough beneath my fingers. "Did you maybe hide the books because you're worried about the festival?"

The book tree shivered and a few leaves fell to the ground.

"I'll take that as a yes," I said, leaning my forehead against the tree's bark. How could I not have realized that sooner? Of course the library would be worried after how people had treated it in the past. "But what other option do we have? If we don't go through with the festival, you're going to disappear."

My words were barely above a whisper. I didn't like saying things like that, but it was true. If the Misty Mountain Library didn't get the story gods' blessing this year, it would fade away and be reborn somewhere else where people would appreciate it more. But the library had to realize that we already appreciated it.

That I wouldn't let it down.

"I know this is hard," I said, "but I'm here for you. So are Roan and the story spirits and even Willow. You remember her, right? She's so excited to present her new book today and she chose this library to do it at."

The book tree shook harder as more leaves fell. Putting more pressure on it wasn't helping. Roan joined me, raising an eyebrow as if asking if I needed help. I shook my head. This was between me and the library.

"Look, if you really don't want to participate in the festival, we can call it off."

I took a deep breath as everything in me resisted the idea. I wasn't the one in pain though, so I didn't have the right to push my opinions on the library. I really hoped it would change its mind though.

"Think of the story spirits though," I said, "do you think they'll still exist if you disappear?"

The book tree's branches swayed with uncertainty and Roan nodded like I should keep going. I felt a little bad guilting the library into seeing my point of view though.

"It's up to you," I said, standing up to join Roan. "If you really don't want to go through with the festival, I won't force you. I know that some of the townsfolk hurt you, but that's all the more reason to give them the chance to make it up to you. To show you that they still care, like I do. I'll make sure nobody hurts you again."

"We both will," Roan said, placing his hand on the tree.

I added my hand next to his. "If you're scared, let us protect you. Count on us and we'll do everything we can to make this festival the best it can be."

The book tree's branches swayed softly as the creak of a door opening pulled my attention to a nearby closet. Books tumbled out, like a great wave, floating just above the ground so they didn't get damaged.

"The closet? Really?" I asked wryly. "Okay, let's get everything back on the shelves."

The books flapped in the air, soaring to their original positions. Everything might just work out after all, as long as the town really did show up. A sense of nervousness tightened my stomach, but I chose to ignore it because the library needed me to be confident right now and put on a brave face.

The final ceremony of the Tales and Tomes Festival would be starting soon.