Death is immortality.
Death is your second chance.
Velian Terrashine belongs to a classless society of equality, art and democracy; a land full of creativity and mindfulness. It is in that perfect political system that one wrong movement, one carele...
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DENFER WAS GONE and Amanda was in her room. At least that was what Jersen had told me when he'd entered my room almost an hour ago, an apologetic smile decorating his face, daggers hanging from his pants. I hadn't asked him why he was armed or why he'd been the one to apologize for the way Amanda had spoken to me earlier. We'd just talked about the weather and our favorite foods to eat, the music he liked and the books I enjoyed reading. And then he'd left, murmuring something about being exhausted and sleep-deprived for three days.
But even though it was long past midnight and the lights had faded away to provide the tired with a restful sleep and the insomniacs with restless thoughts, my eyelids never closed. Hovering around my bedroom, occasionally checking the corridor to see if anyone was about to enter my room, I didn't bother thinking about my conversation with Amanda. I knew she was right and that every word that had escaped her lips had been the uncovered truth, clear and honest, presenting itself in front of my eyes.
I wasn't so stubborn to ignore it or try to pretend I'd been deeply hurt by her threatening monologue and the sharpness in her stare. That was why I was now heading to the castle's library, hoping I remembered exactly where it was. Denfer had told me my first night here about all the different rooms and areas of the Castle of Sunlight and the one that I'd mentally marked as the most important was the library.
If I wanted to learn more about this world, everything that I craved to know was in the ancient books of this room, the first one Denfer had shown me the day I'd come here, probably a few weeks ago.
A black rucksack was hanging from my shoulders with clothes and bandages in case something went wrong. My plan was simple: get away from the Castle of Sunlight, as Amanda had advised me, and try to build a life for my own.
The corridor was long and the sentinels many. Yet no one went out of their way to ask me where I was heading to, or to stop me from walking toward the library.
The sight of the door being wide open made me smile grimly as the memory of Lantra's policy to keep the libraries forbidden for the public crept in. Here they didn't want knowledge to be a valuable secret, something that had to remain hidden in fear of the horrible truths it might reveal. That was good, that was hopeful.
I didn't wait a second to pass through the door and enter the room, my ankle boots drumming on the floor.
The wooden shelves, full of hardcover books and dust, were the first thing to catch my attention. There were only certain areas of this castle that reminded me of the world that existed outside of it, the unpaved streets of rain and poverty. And the library was without a doubt one of them. There wasn't a carpet to cover the marble floor, not a chandelier hanging from the ceiling, only a few dwindling candles.
In the center of the room, there was a reading area with two desks and four armchairs that seemed rather comfortable. I didn't bother to sit in either of them. Not when I could grab a few books and run away, not when Amanda was in her bedroom, giving me the perfect opportunity to leave without saying goodbye.
