To Drown In Icy Depths

Lord Merikh's library

I wake the next day, not to the chorus of chirping birds that I am accustomed too, but to the quiet gurgling and rushing of water. If you're really quiet you can hear this strange sound, even through the thick walls of Lord Merikh's palace.

I have hazy memories of the previous night, the dinner where I met Letti. I seem to recall that we talked for quite some time, and she introduced me to one or two of her flamboyant friends, one of whom could not stop flirting with me, much to my exasperation and embarrassment, and much to Lord Merikh's frustration and anger.

"And this rascal here is Janus," Letti tells me, pointing to the boisterous man who's just approached us, a mischievous smirk curling his lips. He's young, maybe seventeen or eighteen, and with hair as red as the clown fish that I occasionally glimpse swimming in shoals outside the window.

"So you're Lord Merikh's latest bride!" He exclaims.

I nod, not exactly sure how to respond to this.

He takes my un-gloved hand in his and places a soft yet lingering kiss on my knuckles, his green eyes looking up at me imploringly as he does so.

"You know," he says casually, "Should you ever get bored of your husband Elide..."

He smirks, and he doesn't need to finish the sentence, the rest of what he was going to say is insinuated in that leering, cheeky grin. Letti wasn't exaggerating when she sad he was a rascal.

"I'm sure he will be able to entertain me enough so that I don't get bored." I smile.

Janus smiles back, tilting his head to the side as though he's evaluating me.

"Well," he says, "I should have known someone as pretty and refined as you would refuse my offer, but just in case you should ever want" he stops abruptly. I feel a hand on my shoulder, a pale hand with elegant fingers like a pianist.

"Just in case she should ever want what Janus?" Asks Lord Merikh.

"Just in case she should ever want a friend" Janus replies.

"A friend?" Echoes my husband.

Janus nods vigorously. Lord Merikh only smirks, drawing me closer to him.

"I should warn you not to flirt with my wife Janus," says Lord Merikh coldly, "We mustn't play with things that don't belong to us."

What a crude analogy of me, although I suppose it's half true...

"Yes my Lord." Replies Janus respectfully.

Of course Janus hardly heeded this warning, although he did always stop in time when Lord Merikh came his way.

Today though, today I must focus on my everlasting vow. I need to go to the library and read every book that might contain anything about the Abluvion stone.

I haul myself out of bed and, not wanting to wait for Cordelia, dress myself in a simple dark green watered silk gown. I braid my long hair down my back, fastening the end of my plait with a matching green ribbon.

Now all I have to do is find the library.

I wander through a maze of corridors, trying every door that isn't locked. It's a pretty stupid idea and if Lord Merikh found me he probably wouldn't like it, but luck is on my side because the tenth door I try is the one to the library.

I push it open and I'm met with the smell of crisp pages and hardcovers. The library has a high ceiling painted with dolphins and fish, and the book shelves stretch up almost infinitely. There are tall brass ladders on wheels everywhere and at some levels of the shelves there are small balconies with armchairs and desk lamps. It's spectacular.

At the far side of the tall room are three floor to ceiling windows that give a view of the city and the sea creatures. The light sifting through them is pale and watered, but the crystal chandelier over head shines radiantly.

I realise I've been standing in the entrance, gaping, and I start walking towards the nearest bookcase. Plucking the first book I see off the shelf, I begin to flick through it's pristine pages.

I stop on a random chapter and read the first few paragraphs;

"Oh Humphrey!" Cried Charlotte, "Don't leave me here all alone!"

Humphrey turned to face her, his face impassive.

"Is that the only reason you wish me to stay with you?" He asked her.

Charlotte pursed her lips. Humphrey turned away from her and made to leave.

"I love you Humphrey!" She told him through her tears, "I love you and I can't live without you! Please don't leave!"

I snap the book shut. I've never really been into reading daft badly-written romance. It's not to my taste.

I notice a label on the shelf that says 'romantic fiction' in elegant spidery letters. The next label along says 'fantasy fiction', and the next 'horror fiction'. I walk past the fiction books and towards the non-fiction. Trailing my finger along the shelves, I read each label; 'flora and fauna dictionaries', 'History', 'Geography' until finally I come to 'Legends and folktales'.

I scan the titles on this bookcase, looking for something that might help me. Eventually I've made a large pile of books on a table of all the books I think might be useful for me; Nàæta prophecies and their meanings, Abluvion mythical artefacts and treasures, Abluvion myths, Folktales, Dissecting the stories of the past, and most promising of all; the Abluvion stone. This last book is thin, but hopefully the little pages that it has will contain all the wisdom I need. Hopefully.

So as not to arouse suspicion of anyone comes in, I hide all the books I've found in a small nook behind one of the book cases and take 'The Abluvion Stone' with me to read at a small table near a window.

After a couple of minutes in which the only sentence I've digested is; 'Most know of the infamous Nàæta prophecy that foretold the fall of an Abluvion' because I keep looking up to see if anyone is coming in, I switch the book jacket of 'The Abluvion Stone' with the book jacket of 'Abluvion society and traditions', which seems like much more innocent reading material.

I'm just in time as well, because as soon as I've sat down to continue the door to the library opens, and Lord Merikh is standing next to the bookcase labelled 'romantic fiction'. And he doesn't look happy either.