A Thousand Year Obsession ✔

48. Read Between The Lines

48. Read Between The Lines

I woke up before dawn, shoving the blankets to my ankles and sitting up. The bed squeaked beneath me, and Eliza stirred slightly in the one to my left. I sat still for a long moment, my gaze flitting to the tall, gold-rimmed bookshelves around me and back to the bed. Then I glanced to my right, at the third bed, empty, and a small smile crept onto my lips.

I'd fallen asleep on the cold stone floor with my arm as my pillow and awoken on a bed the medieval era would dictate was fit for a queen. And there was only one explanation for how that occurred.

Merlin.

I swung my legs round the side of the bed and raised myself to my feet. Eliza let out a soft groan and rolled over, her breath escalating slightly, but after another second it passed and she relaxed back into the blankets. I stared at her for a moment more before I began creeping up the marble stairs. After all, there's only one thing you'd expect the person who woke before the girl that got up at dawn to be doing. Stargazing.

I pushed open the door and slipped out into the chilly early morning air, wrapping my arms around myself and rubbing the goosebumps away. Merlin sat only a little ways away, leaning against a tree, twirling the little red book he'd found in his hands, his back to me. But still, even though I'd managed to keep the door from creaking, he knew I was there.

"Come out to watch the sunrise or are you expecting another 'access your true potential, Morgana' speech?" He didn't snap, but his quiet tone didn't lack sarcasm either. His eyes drooped when he glanced over at me, the grey shimmering in the starlight though exhaustion was evident in every dark shadow lining his cheeks.

I didn't reply, only sat down against the tree beside him. He closed the book and set it on the ground, running a hand through his tangled, shaggy locks.

"Thanks for the beds." I murmured.

He shrugged. "No problem."

We sat in silence for a while more, his head tipped back against the tree, his eyes searching up through the leafy rooftop for a glimpse of the stars.

"Have you been up all night?" I asked softly.

He turned away. "Does it matter? According to Alaric, our only hope is one of them. How can I sleep knowing that the only way either of us can escape them is death? I don't want to run for the rest of my life. I don't want to make Elli run for the rest of her life. She deserves better." His head dropped into his hands and he let out a ragged breath.

I closed my eyes with a soft sigh. "We'll find another way, Merlin." I whispered. "We have to."

His fingers traced the edges of the little red book, his eyes following the lines curling over the spine.

"There is no other way, Morgana." He breathed. "We're doomed."

And something told me he was talking about something much bigger than our Immortal problem. And that scared me more than anything.

° ° °

"Look, Morgana, even if we searched the entire Library twice, we wouldn't find anything." Eliza snapped.

I shoved the book I'd been pulling out back into the shelf and let out a sharp breath.

"The Great Sorcerers were an awful lot, but there was one thing they prided themselves most on. Their honesty." She continued. "Alaric was the Library's keeper. He knows every book that ever touched these shelves, and if he says that Arien is the only way you're going to escape then Arien is the only way you're going to escape."