As he held her, he felt the shock steal over her. Her breathing grew short and ragged and her skin cooled beneath his hands. Her lips, always so rosy, were now white.
"Alarick," she whispered against his chest.
"What is it, my love?" he asked.
She only said one word. "Please."
Alarick's detached brain thought it odd how the same phrase uttered at different times could have completely different meanings. Last night she had said, "Please," as she begged him to take her, to bring her pleasure. Now she was begging him to end her life, her suffering.
Keeping one arm around her, he removed his wand from his coat pocket. He hesitated, mind willing but body unable to perform this final act. Leaning down, he kissed her bloodless lips once and pointed the wand at her chest.
"Exstinguo," he said, and a burst of red light enveloped Elissa.
In the half moment before she died, Alarick could have sworn she saw him, that something in the spell renewed her sight at the end. Her eyes focused on his face and there was a glimmer of recognition before the hand of death snuffed it out.
She lay silent and still in his arms, her blood pooling around them on the floor.
In the silence he could still hear his father's voice chanting unlocking spells at the door. Some of the locks had likely already been undone. Alarick didn't know how many still stood between him and his father.
Suddenly, it did not matter. There was a great groaning sound from above, as though the entire castle was in pain. He looked up, expecting the roof to come crashing down upon them, but instead it changed.
The fan-vaulted ceiling with its roof bosses of tiny dragons was erased, replaced with what looked like smooth, black stone. Alarick didn't think it could really be stone because it flowed like liquid, but stone was the only substance that came to mind. It never dripped. Instead it flowed in a solid sheet, following the angle of the roof, and then running down the walls. The black material solidified on the walls but slid behind the bookshelves, leaving nothing of the original masonry behind. Black stone covered the windows, plunging the library into suffocating darkness. Alarick quickly conjured a couple of light orbs.
Even the door was erased as though it had never existed. The sounds from outside abruptly ceased. Alarick heard no more of his father's voice, the cannon blasts, or the smashing and grinding of stone as pieces of the castle flew apart.
The black flow hit the floor and spread toward him, sliding beneath him but not touching him. The intricate compass pattern of the floor disappeared, leaving Alarick sitting on stone as smooth as glass.
It was over in less than two minutes. The library had sealed itself, just as Elissa had known it would.
Gently, he laid Elissa's body on the cold floor and, beckoning the light orbs to follow him, investigated the room. He began with his private section of the library, releasing the protections he'd placed upon it. When it was revealed it, too, was covered in the mysterious black coating.
Alarick pointed his wand at one wall and shouted, "Dirumpo." Any normal, non-magical substance would have burst into pieces under that spell as though blasted apart by cannon fire, but the wall held firm. He grabbed the fireplace poker and hit the wall again and again, but he left not even a scratch upon the shiny black surface.
Alarick was entombed within the space. There was no escape. Even if he were inclined to cry for help, his cries would never be heard. He was going to die here; the only question was how.
He returned to Elissa's body and cradled her in his arms once again. He had only two real choices. Wait until he died of lack of oxygen or dehydration, or kill himself. Dehydration and suffocation were likely to take several days.
The options for suicide were limited, however. He could try throwing himself off the top floor of the library, but as it was only three stories, he doubted he'd do anything but seriously injure himself. He had the sword, but he didn't know if he had the fortitude to stab himself. He knew roughly where some of the largest arteries were in his legs, neck, and arms, but doubted whether he could hit any of them accurately enough to cause himself to bleed out quickly.
There was the option to stab himself in the belly, or aim upward and hope to hit his heart or lungs, but again he wasn't certain he could do so accurately. The way his luck was running, he'd probably die a long, slow, terribly painful death from infection before he died of blood loss.
Frustrated, he opted for suffocation. Or dehydration, whichever came first. He knew that in a space this large, with him the only one using up the oxygen, it would likely take a few days. The first thing to do was to make the space as small as possible to hasten the process.
He dragged two of the sofas into the scriptorium, then lifted Elissa's body onto one of them. He placed her wand in her left hand and interlaced her fingers together, laying her hands over her breast. Finally, he kissed her lightly one last time and covered her beautiful face and body with a blanket. It was far from the last rites she deserved, but it was all he could offer.
Summoning the light orbs to follow him again, he wandered around the library. At least he had plenty to read while he waited to die. He spent several hours choosing books from the shelves and piling them on the floor of the scriptorium next to the unoccupied sofa. Knowing that in a couple of days he would lose the strength to even stand, let alone climb ladders, he wanted to be certain he had plenty of books within arm's reach.
He also picked up the blanket from Frances' bassinet and draped it over his shoulder. Her baby scent still permeated the fabric. It was comforting to think she was out there, somewhere, alive and happy.
Satisfied everything was in order, he entered the scriptorium for the last time. After pulling the door closed, he cast a spell to seal the gaps around the door, blocking any more air from entering. He stretched out on the empty sofa and picked up the top book from the closest pile. It was Spenser's The Faerie Queene. He began to read, not at the beginning, but at a verse he'd marked long ago, after Marius had told him of it.
* * *
For whatsoever from one place doth fall,
Is with the tide unto another brought:
For there is nothing lost, that may be found, if sought.
* * *
He read aloud so that Elissa, wherever she might be, could hear him. And he waited to greet Death, hopeful that if there were such a thing as an afterlife, his love for Elissa and his work on this library would erase his past sins. Perhaps absolution awaited after all.
* * *
THE END
About the Author
Jennifer is a freelance writer and novelist. As a freelancer, she writes everything from technical manuals to articles on personal finance and European-style board games. Her interest in storytelling began when she was six and her parents gave her a typewriter for Christmas and agreed to pay her $.01 per page for any stories she churned out. Such a loose payment system naturally led to a lot of story padding. Broken Fate, her first novel, earned her $2.80 from her parents.
Jennifer lives in North Carolina and, when not writing, can often be found reading, trawling the shelves at the library, playing board games, watching sports, camping, running marathons, and playing with her dog. You can visit her at her official website: www.JenniferDerrick.com.
Also by Jennifer Derrick
Threads of the Moirae
Book 1: Broken Fate
Book 2: Avenging Fate
Book 3: Hunted Fate
* * *
Legacy of the Book Mesmer
Book 1: Library of Absolution
Acknowledgments
Library of Absolution is a story about books, the people who love them, and those who believe that knowledge can change the world. So I think it’s fitting that these acknowledgments pay special tribute to all the book lovers who dedicated their time and resources to making me a reader and writer. Every single one of them has made this journey possible.
It begins with my family, who took the time to read to me and take me to
the library. You never complained about the weird stuff I wanted to read, and always made time for books and words in our house. Thanks also go to all the librarians over the years who taught me how to research, helped me find obscure information, and introduced me to books I might not have otherwise met. And my English teachers, who despite forcing me to read some stuff I’d rather not, still taught me to appreciate the power and impact of words. Finally, I owe thanks to everyone who ever read anything of mine (no matter how awful) and encouraged me to keep trying.
Thanks also go to the fabulous folks at Crimson Tree Publishing for taking this project on. You’re a special group of book lovers, doing amazing things and bringing awesome books into the world. Special thanks to Marya Heidel for another gorgeous cover, and Kelly Risser for her editing prowess. Also to Melanie Newton, who never fails to answer a question and who offers the best book recommendations.
And special thanks to all the readers who make writing so much more fun and rewarding, not just for me, but for all authors. You are the ones we write for and the fact that you choose to spend your time in our worlds means more than you can ever know. Thank you for loving books!
Thank you for reading Library of Absolution; I hope you enjoyed my book!
Want to be the first to know when I release new books? Here are some ways to stay updated:
Sign up for my email list so you can find out about new releases.
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Visit my website: www.jenniferderrick.com
If you loved Library of Absolution, please tell your friends about my book and consider leaving a review. Reviews are like potato chips; you can't ever have enough of them. Thanks for reading my book!" ~Jennifer Derrick
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