Felitïa spent most of the rest of the day feeling embarrassed. She slept for nearly an hour and her forehead ached when she woke. Meleng was sitting nearby. He had acquired several books and was perusing them. Books on the history of the Nabrinja, he said. She tried to help him go through them, but her headache made concentration impossible, so she told him they should come back tomorrow. She then excused herself and hurried back to her apartment, where she slept for a short while again until the sound of Annai screaming woke her.

The screams brought most people in the nearby apartments running, but it turned out that a goat had nibbled on some of Annai’s hair. Her screams had sent the goat running and screaming too. But there was no other actual danger.

Quilla and Garet came by shortly after that, Garet pushing past Marna before she’d even had a chance to open the door all the way. “So did you go to the library? Did you find out anything?”

Felitïa sat up. “Yes, I went to the library, No, I haven’t learned anything yet.”

“Why not?”

“These things take time, Garet. You could come help, you know? It would make things go faster.”

He stared at her.

“I can come tomorrow, if you’d like, Felitïa,” Quilla said, taking a seat in the only chair in the small apartment. “In fact, I’d really like to help.”

“I’d appreciate that. Thanks, Quilla. See how easy that was, Garet?”

Garet scowled. “So what about this Volg, Agra-dumb or whatever his name is?” He laughed at his own joke.

“I haven’t seen him since I arrived,” Felitïa said.

Garet began pacing back and forth. “I don’t like all this waiting around. I had enough of that on the fucking ship here.”

“What would you have me do?” Felitïa said. “March into the Volg areas of the Nabrinja without any idea what to expect?”

Garet didn’t answer, just growled.

She did her best not to show it, but Felitïa did feel embarrassed over not having anything to tell him and Quilla. She had hoped she’d have a least some progress to report to them. She didn’t understand why the trick with the translation spell had taken so much out of her. It hadn’t felt that strenuous at the time. Would she ever understand her abilities? Or would they keep causing problems and getting her in trouble?

“We have time, Garet,” she said. “Corvinian is still all right and there’s no reason to believe that will change, so we have at least until everyone gets here, and there are still a lot to show, including the Isyar. They have the farthest to travel, so they might be a while.”

“Yeah, whatever,” Garet said.

There was a knock at the door and Marna opened it to admit Meleng.

“What do you want?” Garet snapped.

Meleng gulped. “Oh, I...I’m sorry...I...I didn’t mean to interrupt anything.”

“It’s all right, Meleng,” Quilla said. “Garet’s just being grumpy.”

Meleng nodded and tried to smile. “Oh, okay. I just came to tell Felitïa what I learned at the library.”

“You learned something?” Garet shot over to Meleng’s side and put an arm around his shoulders. Quilla sat forward in her chair, her eyes lighting up.

“Yes,” Meleng said. “I’ve been learning to use the catalogue system.”

“Yes, and?” Garet prompted.

“I know how to use it now. The problem is I don’t know the language and it would take ages to learn.”

Garet removed his arm from Meleng’s shoulder. “That’s it?”

“Basically. We’re going to have—”

“Fucking hell! You’re more useless than she is!” Garet pointed at Felitïa.

Felitïa ignored him. “We’re going to have to what, Meleng?”

Meleng took a few steps away from Garet. “We’re going to have to rely on one of the librarians to translate for us, which means we have to tell them what we’re looking for. We’ll have to let them know what we’re doing.”

Felitïa had been expecting something of the sort. “Maneshka. We’ll tell Maneshka.”

“You’re sure?” Meleng said. “Because the guy I was working with seems—”

“Maneshka. I think we can trust her.” If Maneshka didn’t think they were out of their minds.

* * * * *

The next morning, Felitïa, Meleng, and Quilla arrived back at the library and took seats together at one of the tables. The man who had been there yesterday came over to greet them. He was a tall man, mostly bald, but with a short, grey-black beard. “Good morning, Meleng, Felitïa,” he said and paused.

“Oh, this is our friend, Quilla,” Meleng said.

The man bowed his head. “Ms Quilla. Welcome all. I am Nebrovich. How may I be of service?”

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“Is Maneshka in?” Felitïa asked.

“Not yet,” Nebrovich replied, “but I can send her to you when she arrives.”

“That would be great, thank you.”

Nebrovich nodded. “Is there anything else I can help you with in the meantime?”

“Actually, yes,” Meleng said. “I wouldn’t mind having another look at the same books I was looking at yesterday.”

“Of course. I will retrieve them for you.”

As Nebrovich walked to the far doors, Quilla turned to Felitïa. “I didn’t see it.”

Felitïa had warned her about the translation effect. “It takes awhile to notice. Believe me, you’re better off for now. It makes you really dizzy as your mind tries to fight off the effect.”

Nebrovich returned a short while later with the books and then left them alone. Felitïa grabbed a couple and passed one to Quilla. “They’re not really relevant to what we want, but until Maneshka gets here, we should look like we’re doing something.”

Sometime later, Quilla spoke up. “Have you noticed that picture?” She closed her book, stood up, and went over to one of the paintings on the walls. “What a different time that must have been.”

Felitïa looked over to see what she was referring to. It was a painting of a Volg and a human woman. The Volg had his arm around the woman’s shoulder, and her head was leaning against his chest in a familiar, somewhat intimate manner.

One of the far doors opened and Maneshka entered the room. She crossed the dais and headed towards Felitïa and the others. “Welcome back. Nebrovich says you wished to see me.”

“Can you tell me about this painting?” Quilla asked.

“Of course.” Maneshka crossed over to Quilla. “All paintings in this room date from before the Great War, but this one draws particular interest. It is from a time when humans and Volganths got along.”

“There’s getting along and then there’s getting along,” Quilla said. “These two look like they’re doing a lot more than getting along.”

Maneshka shrugged. “Perhaps they are. Does it matter? It gives us insight into a forgotten era.”

“It makes me shudder, is all,” Quilla said. “I just can’t imagine getting along with those beasts.”

“Is that not why you are all here? To find a way to get along?”

“Not exactly,” Quilla said.

Maneshka looked over to Felitïa. “Is this what you wished to see me about? Nebrovich could have told you this.”

“No,” Felitïa said.”We’d like your help finding some information. We don’t even know if it’s here. It’s a long shot, really, but we need to ask a favour of you.”

“What sort of favour?”

“No one can know what we’re doing. Even Nebrovich and any other librarians, and especially the Volgs. If anyone asks, we’re just reading up on history.”

There was a bit too much space between them for Felitïa to sense Maneshka’s feelings at the moment—her abilities were going through one of their light phases since yesterday’s incident—but Felitïa didn’t need them to know that Maneshka was uncertain. She took a moment before replying. “So far, no Volganth has entered here. They do not seem to have any interest in the library.”

“Some might come here looking for me or my friends,” Felitïa said.

“Who are you people? Why would Volganths come looking for you specifically?”

“Well, you know our names,” Felitïa said, pointing to herself and Meleng. “This is Quilla, another friend of ours. More specifically, I am Felitïa Asa Folith, a princess of Arnor, but that’s not why...” Felitïa stopped as Maneshka bowed.

“Forgive me, your Highness.” Maneshka directed her gaze at the floor, not Felitïa. “I have been too forward. I did not know. Neither did Nebrovich. Royalty rarely visits libraries. They usually send others in their place, and that is what we assumed with you. Please, forgive us.”

Felitïa just stared at Maneshka for a couple of moments. “There...there’s nothing to forgive.”

“I have been too casual. I laughed with you yesterday. I have not shown the proper respect.”

“It’s fine,” Felitïa said. “Honestly, fine. You’ve done nothing wrong. There’s nothing to forgive.”

“If I had been so casual with a member of the Imperial Family, I would have been punished.”

“Well, not me. I don’t care that you’ve been casual. I prefer that.”

“You are certain, your Highness?”

“Yes. And just call me Felitïa please. I hate the Highness business.”

“You would have me address you as I would a friend?”

“Yes. I kind of hoped we could be friends.”

Maneshka lifted her head. “You do me great honour.”

Felitïa tried to hide a grimace. “Perhaps I should explain what we’re doing here. I don’t suppose you’ve heard anything about someone called the Will-Breaker, have you?”

Maneshka shook her head. “No, I am sorry. I have not. Do you wish to research this person?”

“Yes, and some other things as well. In particular, we want any information there might be about Volgs and their history, their beliefs, and why they might want to kidnap a young boy. This could take awhile to explain.”

So Felitïa began to tell what had happened with the Darkers, the Volgs, and Corvinian. Maneshka listened without saying much, just the odd question of clarification. She remained guarded and stoic the entire time. When Felitïa finished, Maneshka and Meleng went to the catalogue, searched through it, and then went together to collect some possible books from the stacks.

When they were gone, Felitïa buried her head in her hands on the table.

“That was awkward,” Quilla said.

“I’m an idiot,” Felitïa said with a sigh. “I should have asked Cerus what he knew of Endorian customs. I had the whole damn journey to do that. In the last couple of days, I could have asked Adranaska, or hell, I could have just told her who I was right from the start.”

Quilla sat down beside her. “You couldn’t have known.”

“That’s my point. I could have found out. One thing I’m grudgingly learning since returning to royal life is that, despite my anti-royalty beliefs, some people put a lot of stock in it, and changing their minds isn’t easy. There’s still too much of the rebellious child in me. Don’t tell Garet I said this, but he’s right about one thing. I could be a bit of a brat when I was a child.”

Quilla grinned. “Your secret is safe with me. Don’t worry. She’ll come round. She seemed nice.”

“She is. I don’t doubt that. She just needs time. I like her though.”

“I noticed you were very eager to bring her in. You never gave Meleng a chance to recommend the other guy.”

“Didn’t I?” Felitïa sighed. “I suppose you’re right. I didn’t, did I?”

Quilla shook her head. “That’s your prerogative though. You’re the princess after all, right?”

Felitïa rolled her eyes. “Right. Thanks for pointing that out to me and how I botched it again.”

Quilla laughed. “My pleasure. Don’t worry. I think Meleng’s forgotten about it. He’s too interested in the books. Did you see him? He was practically devouring them.”

“Yeah, that’s Meleng. Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For trying to cheer me up. Honestly, thank you.”

“My pleasure again. And let me thank you for everything you’re doing. I appreciate it more than I can say, and believe me, so does Garet. He’s not good at expressing it, but he really is grateful.”

They sat there and chatted awhile longer until Meleng and Maneshka returned with a pile of books. Then the real work began.