Cinnamon Bun - Chapter Five Hundred and Twenty-Seven

Chapter Five Hundred and Twenty-Seven

There were two grenoil ladies behind the counter at the entrance of the library, both of them chatting to each other in low, hushed tones. One was much older, with thick spectacles stuck to her face and a walking cane leaning on the counter next to her, and the other was a much younger woman, fresh-faced and bright eyed. 

There were a few more people in the library, but they were either walking the stacks or sitting at one of the desks while studying from a book. The only sounds that carried through were the occasional cough or the thump of a book being put down.

I liked the quiet of libraries. It was a very particular kind of silent. Not the silent of a place where talking was forbidden, but more the quiet of a space reserved for thinking and reading and quiet contemplation.

“So,” I said to my Calamity and Desiree while keeping my voice low. “Do we wander and try to find anything, or do you think we should ask for help?”

“I’m all for looking around and hoping to luck into finding something,” Calamity said. “It’s a lot more fun to hunt that way than to have your hand be held the whole time.”

“More fun, perhaps, but that certainly doesn’t sound like it would be terribly effective,” Desiree said. “We can split up. You search aimlessly and trust in your instincts and good fortune, and I’ll search the library index for any sign of the Black Avatars.”

“Okay,” I said with a nod. “And I’ll ask the nice librarian ladies while you do that.”

Desiree blinked, then shrugged. “Very well. Three methodologies put to the test. Shall we gather at one of the desks in, say, a half hour to compare what we’ve found?”

“Sure,” I agree.

“I can do that,” Calamity said. “Don’t know if the poor desk will be able to handle everything I find, though.”

Desiree eyed Calamity for a moment, then smiled rather smugly. “Do you know what the fox said to the stray cat who wandered too close?”

“No, what?” Calamity asked.

“Delicious,” Desiree replied.

Calamity snorted. “Yeah, you bet I am. But we’ll see who’s better in a bit, smug old fox.”

“Old?” Desiree asked.

“Guys, let’s not fight over silly things,” I said. ‘Besides, we don’t want to spend all day here, right? So let’s get started!”

With that, we split off. Calamity walked at a pace that was just shy of inappropriate for a library while heading towards the shelves at the back, and Desiree ambled over to an area with a large set of indexes. 

I, in the meantime, walked casually over to the two grenoil ladies by the front counter. “Hello,” I said.

“Oh, hi,” the younger of the two said. She smiled at me while her older partner adjusted her glasses and eventually did the same. “Can we help you? Wait... oh, a bun!”

“Uh-huh!” I said. “I guess buns still aren’t that common in Port Royal.”

“No, not at all, but I bet more will be showing up! Did you see the wedding?” she asked.

“I did! I helped a bit with it too. Hi! I’m Broccoli, Broccoli Bunch.”

The girl gasped, and when I extended a hand, she grasped it in both of hers and shook it up and down. “That’s fantastic! Oh, that wedding was so beautiful! You just know it’s going to be the talk of the town for the next... forever. A dragon wedding! And the bride looked so pretty! Did you see her in that dress?”

“I know!” I cheered along with her. “There was a lot of magic on her. I didn’t know anything about makeup magic before, but they really did a good job. Not to say that Booksie isn’t very pretty ordinarily, but she was extra nice in that dress with her skin glowing and everything.”

The little librarian lady bobbed her head up and down. “I know! I’m so envious! Ah, the whole event was very, very romantic. I didn’t know a dragon could even be considered handsome before, but he really stood out.”

“Yeah, Rhawr cleaned up nice too,” I agreed with a nod. 

The older grenoil lady shook her head and then patted her coworker on the shoulder. “Ophelia, dear, I imagine that this young lady isn’t visiting the library to get her fill of gossip.”

“Oh! Sorry, ma’am,” Ophelia said. “I imagine that’s true? Most folk don’t come here to chat about what’s going on in Port Royal, which is a shame. It gets kind of musty in here sometimes. Is there anything I can help you with?”

I giggled, but nodded all the same. “There might be, yeah. My friends and I are trying to track down some information on a group of people that usually show up in fairy tales. I was hoping you could help a little? The library’s kinda big to just wander around and hope to stumble on something, and I don’t know how your index works.”

“Oh, of course!” Ophelia said as she started to move around the counter. “I’d be happy to help. What are we looking for, exactly?”

“Have you ever heard of the Black Avatars?” I asked.

Ophelia’s eyebrows bounced up on her forehead. “The Black Avatars? Yes, I’ve heard of them in passing. They’re not a very popular children’s story anymore. They used to be, however, before either of our time.”

“Is that all you know about them?” I asked. “That they were fairy tales for children?”

Ophelia ran a webbed hand under her chin. “No. Actually, I did read something about them... follow me, we’ll see if I can’t find the book in question.”

“Sure!” I said. “Do you remember what that book said?”

“I do, though I only read it as a passing curiosity, and that was a couple of years ago, when we received it. It was by a grenoil historian out of Deepmarsh. A Mister Celiga. He’s quite controversial for some of his historical opinions. Ah, something of a celebrity in the field of modern history, though I understand that that doesn’t actually make him all that famous. He’s no dragon, or secretive bun princess.”

“I guess not,” I said. I couldn’t remember a single famous historian, and yet I could probably name twenty pop stars from back home. “So, he’s come up with weird ideas?”

“It’s more that his ideas lend themselves to controversy,” Ophelia said. “And he likes to back them up with lively debates. Ah, but that’s besides the point. About three years ago he went kind of silent, then published a new book. Usually his books are the centre of some controversy, but this one was a little more... recent history? It read more like a conspiracy than history.”

“Oh?” I asked.

“Yes! Which made the book very interesting in its own right, but it didn’t strike the same chord as his other stuff. He recently published a book on the history of Deepmarsh’s nobility which included a lot of very salacious details, all backed up by first and secondhand accounts. It even has illustrations. Now that one’s hard to get your hands on, the government threatened to ban the book, and that only drove up sales and interest. I think most people have all but forgotten about his work on the Black Avatars.”

Ophelia led me through the library with an eager bounce in her step, clearly enjoying the opportunity to dig into a subject that wasn’t just old tax records or genealogy charts. I followed along, keeping my steps light on the wooden floors so they wouldn’t creak too much.

She stopped at a shelf tucked away near the back of the library, where the books looked a little dustier and less frequently disturbed. With a glance over the spines, she reached up and plucked a slim volume from the second shelf.

“Here we go,” she said, flipping through the pages quickly before handing it to me. “The Lost Histories of the Black Avatars, by Mister Celiga. It’s an odd book. The author suggests that the Black Avatars weren’t just myths, but real people who left behind traces in history. A little bit of this and that, enough to make you think twice.”

I took the book carefully, running my fingers over the slightly rough texture of the old binding. “What kind of traces?”

“Mentions in old battle records, letters between nobles, stories that get repeated in different cultures with the same details but different names. You know, things that make you wonder if there’s something more to the fairy tale than just a story.”

“That sounds exactly like what we’re looking for,” I said with a grin. “Do you mind if I borrow it for a bit?”

Ophelia clapped her hands together, delighted. “Of course! I’ll check it out for you. But if you find anything juicy, you have to come back and tell me!”

I grinned. “Deal.”

***