Raven's Strike (Raven #2)(87)

"I expect we'll find out someday when the entire ceiling falls in," said Kissel comfortably. "Hopefully the Sept of Gorrish will be seated under a suitably heavy bit and be crushed to goo."

Toarsen cleared his throat and tipped his head meaningfully toward Rinnie.

"Eh, sorry, lass." Kissel ducked his head in embarrassment that might or might not have been real.

"That's all right." Rinnie hopped off her horse and gave Kissel a mischievous smile. "I'm sure anyone you want smooshed to goo would deserve it."

They tied their horses to a railing that might have been set before the university for just that purpose - or it might have been decoration. Phoran couldn't tell. He tied Blade as far from Toarsen's stallion as he could, though the two horses had learned to tolerate each other for the most part.

Tier, Seraph, and Hennea were talking quietly together. Phoran didn't see either of their sons, but he knew them well enough to know they'd gone off exploring.

" - where the library is in this building," said Seraph.

Hennea raised her eyebrows. "I'm pretty sure this is the library, Seraph."

"The whole thing?" Seraph didn't sound overjoyed about it.

In Phoran's experience if there was anything a wizard appreciated more than a building full of books, it was a bigger building full of books.

"Most libraries are organized," he offered. "Especially libraries run by wizards."

Seraph drew in a breath and gave him a shallow bow of thanks. "I'll hope it is very well organized."

Phoran continued to look at the library while Seraph went over to talk to Tier. As he thought of all the wondrous things he'd seen since they left Redern he realized two things.

The first was that he was almost certain he was not going to be rid of the Memory soon enough to do him any good. He'd been listening to Seraph and Hennea and realized that, for all of Seraph's earlier arguing with Ielian, neither of the Ravens really expected to find the Shadowed here. They were almost certain that he would find them eventually, because he wanted to punish Tier and his family for the fall of the Path and Seraph's killing of the Shadowed's minion in Redern. They didn't expect the Shadowed to find them soon, though: Why would the Shadowed hurry to avenge himself, when he had all the time in the world? The Shadowed would be patient and strike when he felt it was time.

The second thing he realized was that he was glad the Memory had forced him to flee to Tier. Even if it meant his death at the hands of the likes of the Sept of Gorrish when he returned, as he must, to Taela. He would not have given up the opportunity to see Shadow's Fall and the wizards' city for his throne or even his life. He turned from the library and glanced at Tier and Seraph. And the opportunity to be someone other than the Emperor was something he could not begin to put a price on at all.

Lehr came jogging back, having evidently run around the perimeter of the entire building. "I can't find any open doors," he said. "There are some windows up higher that - "

He broke off when the door they were standing in front of opened wide, revealing Jes. "This building is different," he said, unnecessarily. "It's not frozen like the others."

Hennea walked to the nearest wall and put her hand on it. "He's right," she said. "This building is thick with magic, but it's a preservation spell of some sort."

"Like the maps," Seraph said. "Of course the wizards would preserve their library."

"Of course," murmured Tier. "If we couldn't open doors and windows, I bet that we wouldn't have been able to take books off the shelves. I can't see wizards willingly making a library unusable."

Phoran waited until most of the others walked into the building, motioning Toarsen, Kissel, Rufort, and Ielian through ahead of him. Instead of obeying him, Ielian waited beside him.

"Why do you do that?" Ielian whispered.

Phoran slipped through the door, but hung back to give Ielian the illusion of privacy as they talked. He'd learned Lehr and Jes would probably hear every word anyway - but they'd pretend they hadn't.

"Do what?" The entryway to the library was not impressive, Phoran noticed - though maybe this was the back door. There was only a small entrance hall edged in businesslike doors and stairways.

"Let Tier take charge, follow where you sh - could lead? You are the Emperor."

"Sometimes being Emperor is tiring," Phoran answered, then he grinned. "And it's always safer to let the Ravens go first into a wizards' library." He smiled at Ielian. "It's all right. They know who I am. I don't have to enforce protocol among my friends."

The others had taken the central stairway, so Phoran followed them leaving Ielian to trail behind him. The stairs went up only a single flight to a room that was as impressive as the entryway had not been. The ceiling, far above, was covered with decoratively shaped skylights, which illuminated the huge room.

The library in the palace at Taela held five thousand volumes and was accounted the largest library in the Empire. Phoran estimated that this room alone held ten times that number. The entirety of the walls was covered in bookcases, mostly filled with books, and ladders and narrow walkways spiderwebbed around the walls to provide access to the shelves. On the floor of the room were more bookcases, set so closely together there was scarcely room to pass between them.