The Invisible Library (The Invisible Library #1)(62)
‘Ah!’ Singh said, his eyes fixing on the breakfast table.
‘My dear Singh,’ Vale said, springing to his feet and seizing the coffee pot, ‘we must speak a moment. Ladies, Mr Strongrock, please excuse us. Miss Winters, please do invite your friend to some breakfast. We will be back in a moment.’ With one bound he had swept Singh out of the room, taking the coffee with him, and abandoning Bradamant in the process.
‘Would you like some toast?’ Kai said helpfully, rising to his feet.
‘By all means.’ Bradamant furled her skirts and seated herself on the sofa next to Irene. ‘Is our host usually prone to such dramatic moments?’
‘I think he wanted to explain something to Inspector Singh,’ Irene replied. Her feeling of imminent doom was getting worse. She passed the toast and butter. ‘They’re old friends, and no doubt they wanted to discuss things without us listening. Quite reasonable.’
‘Oh, absolutely.’ Bradamant drew off her gloves, picked up a knife, and swiped butter across the toast. ‘So what do we all have to say to each other while they’re out of the room?’
Irene ran through her mental list of languages and their applicability to this alternate. She wouldn’t put it past Vale to be listening to the conversation. Imperial Russia had conquered China and Japan a while back in this alternate, so the odds were against Vale knowing Japanese. However, Bradamant did know it, and all things considered, she rather thought Kai would as well. ‘Last night I told Vale the basics of the Library,’ she said bluntly in Japanese.
The toast cracked and splintered in Bradamant’s hand. ‘You what?’
Irene returned the other woman’s glare. ‘We were attacked by Alberich on our way back here.’ She decided to leave Kai’s contribution out of it. ‘He trapped us in a carriage in the river and left us to drown. We escaped, but after that I had to give Vale some sort of explanation.’
Now she recognized the churning in her guts, the uncertainty in her mind. It was the nervous reaction she always used to get when reporting to Bradamant, decades back, when she had been a student and Bradamant had been mentoring her in the field. It was, apparently, something she still had to get over, if she could figure out how.
Bradamant hadn’t been the type to insist on formality while Irene reported back. No, they’d always sat together or facing each other, as comfortable as one could possibly ask. And every time Irene had tried to explain something, she had been wrong. Always.
Bradamant considered the reply, clearly looking for holes. ‘You could have given him a story about a secret society,’ she said. ‘That’s what I told Inspector Singh.’
Irene was going to answer in the negative again, say something like I didn’t think that it would work or I couldn’t think of a way to make it convincing, when she felt Kai’s eyes on her. He clearly understood what they were saying. He was looking at her with something that took her a moment to identify as trust, as expectation that she could handle things. She had to deserve that trust.
She composed herself, took a firm grip on her cup of coffee, and turned to meet Bradamant’s eyes. ‘I took a field decision that Vale would be more useful and cooperative if he knew the truth – well, some of the truth,’ she said. ‘In this place and time, I am not a courtier to present an opinion to a king, but a general in the field, expected to handle things as they arise for the good of the Library. Vale is a highly intelligent man, well informed on the current situation and trained in noticing discrepancies. Alberich had already made reference to the Library, and I was forced to use my own abilities to break free from his trap.’ Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Kai relax a fraction, leaning back into his chair. ‘An incomplete story would only have roused Vale’s distrust. We have enough enemies in this place and time as it is . . . Belphegor.’
Bradamant snorted. ‘My actions were a valid response to the situation.’
‘Do you still have the books?’
Bradamant hesitated a moment. Possibly she could guess what Irene was about to suggest. ‘I do. Some of them are rarities, you know. They would be appreciated by other Librarians.’
‘I have no doubt,’ Irene said wryly. ‘You have always had excellent taste. But it may be necessary to return those stolen books to their owners in order to secure cooperation.’
Bradamant put down her toast very deliberately, and stared at Irene. ‘You have no authority to order me to do such a thing. Or are you planning to turn me over to your new friends instead?’
‘Don’t be ridiculous,’ Irene said, and tried to ignore the mental voice that pointed out that yes, it would certainly convince Vale and Singh that she was on their side. And Bradamant could easily escape from any prison cell anyway. ‘I am assuming that you were sent by one of our superiors. Why?’
‘To find the Grimm book,’ Bradamant answered. ‘And yes, let me reassure you: I do have orders from one of our superiors to that effect.’
Irene tried not to show her relief. Bradamant was still loyal to the Library. A number of unpleasant possibilities had just been ruled out. Even if there was some sort of internal dispute going on inside the Library about who was supposed to be fetching the damned book, at least she didn’t have to worry about Bradamant being in league with Alberich. ‘It’s possible that our target is one of those books that’s linked to the whole alternate,’ she said. ‘The fact that Alberich’s after it shows just how important it is. And you could only know of my mission from someone highly placed. Surely these factors make it an absolute priority for us to work together to find the book and bring it to the Library? Or do you have some other goal?’