Secrets of the Swords, Book 1

Chapter 6: Late to Rise

The next morning, Suthe awoke to a beam of sunlight hitting her eyes.  She squinted and groaned before rolling over on her side with full intent to go back to sleep.  She had stayed up too late poring over the other books she had borrowed from the library, translating them as best she could with a Montese-Noth dictionary, but had still found nothing.  Her late start to bed, combined with a restless sleep, had left her feeling drained and muddle-headed.  If she could fall back asleep before the traffic outside got too loud, maybe she would be able to have another half hour...

The sound of rumbling wheels and a trolley bell made Suthe furrow her brow.  Why was the trolley running already?  She pulled the blankets over her head in an attempt to drown out the muffled sounds of pedestrians and clacking spider carriages outside.  It was so unusual for it to be so loud this early...

"Oh!" The realization had Suthe bolting upright with a gasp and scrambling to shove the covers off.  Just how long had she slept in?

Alaera had already left for work by the time Suthe threw on some clothes and stumbled into the kitchen.  Swearing under her breath, she hurried to make a quick breakfast and rushed out of the apartment, heedless of the racket she was making on the stairs.  The cantankerous tenant of the second floor cracked his door open just an inch to watch as she clattered down the steps, but Suthe didn't pay him any mind.  She had to get to the library!  If she made it before the scholars' tour at eleven, there would still be enough study rooms available for her to stake a claim on one for the day.

As Suthe hurried to the trolley station, she tried to keep her hopes up.  The book she had found yesterday had been the closest she'd come yet to finding more information about druiths.  Surely, she was close to uncovering answers.  Today could be the day.

The sun was hot and bright, and Suthe held up a hand to shield her eyes from the light as she anxiously waited for the little green Rust District trolley to trundle into view.  Briefly, her thoughts turned to Alaera, and Suthe forced herself to ignore the twinge of guilt in her stomach.  Alaera thought that Suthe was touring the city and visiting the library for maybe an hour each day, but the reality was that Suthe was too preoccupied with getting home than to have time for sightseeing.  Her hostess had been so hospitable to a stranger--and a foreigner at that--but Suthe couldn't risk telling the truth.  She could only imagine how that encounter would go.

"Alaera?  I'm actually part-druith and used my magic to escape arrest in Montmyth.  I've been using my time here to learn more about my abilities and find out why the government has decided I'm a criminal.  You don't mind, do you?"

"Oh, not at all, Suthe.  Just one moment while I inform my brother the magistrate and mother the diplomatic envoy.  I'm sure they'd love to meet you."

Suthe stifled a snort of laughter as the scene played out in her head.  What a terrible encounter that would be.  She doubted that she would be able to escape arrest twice.

The chime of the trolley bell interrupted Suthe's musings, and she turned to look down the street.  Finally!  The sun was still in her eyes, and it was difficult to tell just how close the trolley was yet.

"Come on, come on..." Suthe shifted on her feet impatiently.  The clock tower hadn't chimed yet, but it had to be drawing close to eleven, and consequently, the scholar's tour at the library.

Then, for just a moment, the trolley became fully visible through the glare as something flitted overhead and cast a brief shadow.  Startled, Suthe turned to look up, but was met with only rooftops and empty sky.

It must have just been a bird, she reassured herself.

She looked around at the other pedestrians waiting to board, but no one else seemed to have noticed the sudden shadow.  Still, the incident left Suthe feeling wary, and she boarded the trolley with a final glance over her shoulder, just in case.

She ended up sitting next to a petite, gray-haired woman, who cast a hesitant smile at Suthe before adjusting the brim of her large black-feathered hat.  Suthe perched on the edge of her seat, careful to avoid any wayward feathers, and restlessly waited for the trolley to reach her stop.

Five more stations.  The trolley slowed its speed to adjust for the late-morning traffic.  Carts, carriages, and pedestrians eventually moved out of the way, and the trolley finally resumed its speed.

Four more stations.  With a clang of its bell, the trolley lurched into motion again.  Suthe agitatedly tapped her fingers against her book bag.

Three more stations.  Judging by the rust-red brick buildings around them, they had finally entered the Rust District.  The trolley's wooden doors shuddered open and, after what seemed like for too long, closed again.

Two more stations.  The woman beside Suthe stood up to get off at her stop, and her spot was replaced by a middle-aged bearded man who had just boarded.

One more station...

Suthe bounded out of the trolley as soon as the doors were open, towards the coppery green dome of the Choraport Grand Library that could be seen just above the rooftops.  She was only two blocks away when the clock tower began to sound out the hour.

Eleven bells.  I'm late!

She quickened her pace and hurried up the library's brick steps and through its double-doors to the librarian's desk at the front.

"Woo-jin mar'ee-cray-uh?" Suthe blurted to the man, panting to catch her breath from the run.  It was one of the few Noth phrases she had learned during her stay. 

Unfortunately, the man didn't seem to understand her accent.

With a frown, the librarian set his elbows on his desk and leaned forward.

"Maree?" he echoed, without a flicker of recognition.  Suthe looked behind him and tried to ignore her panic upon seeing a cluster of at least thirty robed scholars gathered in the library rotunda.

"Woo-jin," Suthe repeated, holding up one of the books from her bag.  "Book."  Then she gestured to the library around her.  "Ee-cray-uh.  Room.  I need to reserve a study room."  The lady yesterday had understood her poor Noth!  Why couldn't this man?

"Oh!"  The librarian nodded.  "Woojin mar'icreya."

Suthe nodded.  Yes, yes, whatever, just can you reserve one?

The man checked the log on his desk and shook his head.  Suthe felt her shoulders slump.

"Oh.  Tashim."  Suthe muttered the thanks and turned away.  Without a study room, it would be a tiresome process of defending her spot at a public table from other library patrons, and making sure her books weren't reshelved while she went on food or bathroom breaks.  Most of all, however, she worried that without the privacy of a study room, people would be more likely to notice and become suspicious of her research topic.  She couldn't afford for anyone to start asking why she was so interested in druiths, especially when she so obviously was from Montmyth.

Maybe it would be better to take a day off from studying, anyway.

Suthe slipped out of the library with a sigh, but on a whim decided to turn right instead of head back to Shoreshire just yet.  Maybe she should do some sightseeing for once, if for no other reason than to add some truth to the "down-on-her-luck tourist" lie that she kept up with Alaera.

Suthe picked one of the narrower side streets to peruse, as it was too small for any of those monstrous spider carriages, and besides, there were several very pretty window boxes filled with flowering shrubs and vines.  Laundry lines criss-crossed overhead, and Suthe only passed one other person on the street.  It was a nice change, she thought, from the loud bustle of the main roads.

But then another shadow--no, the same shadow from earlier--darted across the rooftops, and Suthe began to have doubts about choosing one of the more deserted avenues.

Maybe it would have been wiser to stick to the busier streets, after all.

~~

Uh-oh!  Any guesses about what this shadow could be?

I don't blame Suthe for struggling with Noth.  The Montese language is much more sensible and straightforward.  And I apparently like to make things difficult for myself by coming up with complicated language rules.  XD  Is it too much?

Dedication to Continets!  Thanks for reading and your comments.  I really appreciate the support!