On an especially bright morning, a fancy-looking carriage left Mountainend and drove towards the forbidden forest. Its exquisite carvings coated with silver details in the form of flowers and trees were a strange contrast with the dirt road and pale withered landscape. Soon, an unremarkable three-stories building appeared by road and the carriage stopped.
“We arrived, madam.” The driver said in a respectful tone while he moved to open the carriage door.
From inside, a slender hand adorned with a few inconspicuous jewels appeared and accepted the help of the driver. The flawless white skin shone in response to the early morning sun as a tall figure exited the carriage, gracefully. The figure looked at the door and gave a kindly constrained smile before entering.
***
Anne was particularly satisfied with her recent performance. She had got the place running, established a route to get more books, found someone to map the mountains, and an eager customer to send her some silver. The six new pages were just a consequence of these achievements, but leveraging Spring out of them was also the credit of her abilities.
The new helper was giving her a headache, but learning the shores slowly. She expected as much, anything different and she would suspect to be dreaming. Her amateur cartographer\hunter came by every afternoon in the hopes of finishing the syllable and starting the reading of the beastiarium. Although he could also do so at home, it was a nice sight to see him trying so hard.
Manager Dorgh, on the other hand, had only returned two times in the past week. After buying a simple copy of ‘Kasar’s compendium of mystic brewing’ he had been struggling to find proper ingredients and thus didn’t have time to visit the bookstore.
Anne was a little tempted when he offered a couple of gold to buy the original book, but her professionalism spoke louder. The book was also a codex and as such, would require annual restoration. Besides, she couldn’t bear to part with it without having a similar piece.
Of course, the dwarf was welcome to read it in the bookstore at any time. The prospect of a stable income from lending helped soothe her pained heart that had missed some gold coins. Still, she diligently offered him a simple copy for meager 30 silver. The copy was unmagical but enough to serve as a reference and guide, after all, the recipes recorded inside were very valuable.
Since her mornings were still free and Spring could already dust and scrub the building by itself, Anne would use the time to do research and restore some books. The bookstore was open, but she was resting behind the counter, focused on her reading until she heard someone coming in.
“Welcome to the bookstore!” She said calmly. A visit wasn’t expected at this time, but her training kicked in, so she could say a greeting without sounding surprised.
The potential new customer was a tall elegant silver-haired woman dressed in sober blue. At a glance, Anne noticed the pointy ears gracefully embellished by modest golden earrings, an elf lady. Not a lady, but a madam. The bookmancer quickly correct her thoughts as she studied the woman’s face. The skin didn’t have any wrinkles but presented the bearing of a mature elf instead of youth. Her eyes, deep sky blue eyes.
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‘A noble?’ Anne thought without letting it show in her expression. The elegance and beauty were befitted of elven nobility, but not the clothes. The silk spotless robe was sophisticated but far too simple for nobility. Even the golden headband inlaid with flowers wouldn’t match that status. The discrepancy had already given the storeowner an idea of the character.
“I’m the storeowner, Anne. May I offer you a cup of tea, madam?” She offered professionally.
The visitor examined Anne for a second before nodding and moving forward. She was pleasantly surprised by the girl’s posture and didn’t bother hiding it. As for the matter of addressing her as an elder, she was satisfied since it was a sign of respect. People, mostly humans and beastkin, would often confuse the age of elves and treat them as youngsters. Although their race considered it disrespectful, she wouldn’t hold it against others. Ignorance was sad, but not a crime.
“Thank you, Ms. Anne. I’m Ailen of Mountainend.” She said gracefully while sitting by the counter.
Anne doubted she was ‘of Mountainend’ but this could be considered as setting the boundaries of their exchange, so she would respect it. She waited for the other to sit before serving the tea. Facing such a person, she couldn’t behave as she did with Dorgh.
“Wonderful tea.” Ailen stated politely after taking a sip. The words carried her appreciation but she didn’t sound surprised or excited. So, Anne only thanked her for the words and waited for her to procced.
“I’m glad you chose our small town to open a bookstore. When I heard from my husband, the mayor, I knew I had to come by to see it and congratulate you. I didn’t think I would see such a place again…” The elf said kindly while appreciating the tea.
“You have been to a bookstore before?” Anne faltered for the first time. Then, she quickly corrected herself to avoid being impolite. She didn’t expect to find someone who still knew her craft this far into the border.
“Yes, I long time ago… Unfortunately, modern times have mistaken your job as antiquate. I never expected to see it again. It is Ms. Anne…?” She explained calmly and asked.
“Anne Wordkeeper.” Anne answered. The word still brought some painful memories, but she was proud of it.
“Wordkeeper, I see… I think met a young Darius Wordkeeper before.” The elf commented. Her eyes were sharp but kind, which was the combination Anne feared the most.
“Darius was my grandfather.” The bookmancer said with a loving smile. The old man would definitely leave an impression on anyone he met.
“At that time, he was an eager bookmancer trying to fight off the magitech advancement… Well, seeing you here, I might say that he succeeded in a way.” Ailen offered some kind words.
“Thank you, madam… What do you think about books?” The girl asked trying to move on from a sad topic. Judging by the elf’s words she should have had some contact with it.
“I just love reading. It’s a lovely way of communicating… Sadly I haven’t come across any new books for decades, so I just occasionally re-read my small collection.” Ailen seemed to truly appreciate the craft.
Then, the two women started to discuss Ailen’s collection in detail. The elf had a humble collection of 22 books, ranging from biographies, history, fiction, and a couple of compendiums. From what she understood, the woman was interested in history and biography mostly. As for hobbies, she was fascinated by jewelry crafting.
In the end, Ailen bought two books for 32 silver coins, the ‘Ancient northern kingdoms’ and the ‘Mastery of golden carvings’. The first recorded the history of the northern part of the continent and the last was a compendium of golden carving patterns of several styles. Anne also insisted on gifting her the ‘Master Inu of Calener’. A biography of an unknown jewelry master from the previous era.
She had a strong feeling that the elf would become one of her best customers.