The Burning Page

‘I’ll check with your friend Vale in a day or two,’ Bradamant said. Her expression was perfectly pleasant, as graceful and enigmatic as an Erté statuette. ‘And if he finds anything urgent, I’ll pass it to Coppelia or you. Will that do?’

‘It will,’ Irene said. She forced away her fears. She might not like Bradamant very much, but she could trust her not to betray the Library – couldn’t she? She smiled in return. ‘Thank you. I appreciate that. And if you have any useful thoughts about how to lure Alberich out, then please tell me. But you’re right, we both need to be getting down to work.’

Bradamant hesitated, glancing between Irene and Kai, then inclined her head in a nod and stepped outside. The door closed behind her with a very soft click.

‘Was she seriously suggesting mutiny?’ Kai demanded.

‘Of course not,’ Irene said quickly. ‘She was trying to put a stop to it. You heard her.’

‘On the surface, yes. But she was also sounding you out, to see how far you’d go along with it.’

‘That’s a hypothesis.’

‘I may be a novice in the Library, Irene, but I was raised in my father’s court.’ Kai didn’t even sound angry. He just sounded depressed. ‘As Bradamant said, she knows the political landscape. But I know how these things work, too. In times of war, anyone might rise to power.’

‘We should be going,’ Irene said, trying to steer the conversation back to safer grounds. ‘Priorities, remember? Collecting a book? Before we were sidetracked by . . .’

‘By Bradamant, who wanted to suggest that your superiors were incompetent and you should take independent action,’ Kai said, showing no sign of being steered.

‘You’re not helping.’

‘I’m not trying to help. You’re bending over backwards to be fair to someone whom you have no reason to trust.’ Kai set his jaw stubbornly.

‘She’s another Librarian, and I trust her.’ Irene rethought that statement. ‘That is, I trust her not to be working with Alberich. Look, Kai, do you want me to run to Coppelia and tell her Bradamant was questioning her authority? Especially when Bradamant can perfectly well deny that she said it, or claim that I misinterpreted her?’

Kai tapped his chest. ‘You have an independent witness.’

‘Bradamant would say that you’d lie to support me.’ She saw Kai’s face darken at the insult. ‘Don’t lose your temper at me – it’s what she’d say, and it’s what enough people would believe.’

‘Then what can we actually do?’ Kai demanded.

‘Keep our eyes open and pay attention. And, in the meantime, go and get our book.’ She opened the door. ‘Coming?’

Kai muttered to himself, but let the subject drop. As they were crowding into the transfer cabinet, he asked, ‘Are you going to check the status of any other Librarians? If people have been killed . . .’

‘I checked on my parents,’ Irene said. ‘They haven’t reported any problems.’ And she could hardly go running off to check on them in person. At least Alberich would have no idea who they were or how to find them.

‘And your other friends?’

There was a pause as Kai worked out that Irene wasn’t going to give him a list of other friends. ‘Surely you know other Librarians,’ he said, sounding disappointed.

‘Of course I do,’ Irene replied. ‘That doesn’t mean I’m going to throw a panic fit and run round looking for a list of casualties. What are you getting at here, Kai?’

He shrugged. ‘Your sisters and brothers in arms are in danger. Irene, you went into danger to save me. Wouldn’t you do that for them too?’

This was getting more emotionally fraught than Irene enjoyed. The cramped quarters didn’t help, as they were now standing extremely close. ‘Well, yes, of course I would, but what exactly do you expect me to do here and now? Should I be panicking because there’s a chance that someone I know is . . .’ Dead. She knew a lot of other Librarians as casual acquaintances, even if she didn’t know them well. Coppelia and Kostchei had said that people had died. She didn’t want to speculate. It would be too hard to stop. ‘. . . in danger,’ she substituted. ‘I – we – have a job to do. Gate of B-1165.’

The transfer cabinet jolted into motion, sliding sideways through darkness and cutting off any rejoinder Kai might have made. As it dropped like a lift, Irene was forced to recognize the thing that annoyed her most about Bradamant’s proposal. It was that Irene desperately wanted to do it. She wanted to strike back against Alberich, to save the Library. Putting herself in danger to get the job done was hardly new. But her common sense revolted against the idea of putting herself in danger if it wasn’t actually going to accomplish anything. Bradamant didn’t have a plan beyond using themselves as bait. She just had wishful thinking.

If only they had some way of locating Alberich . . .

The cabinet slammed to a stop, and Irene and Kai staggered out into a windowless room, with barely enough light to avoid tripping over piles of books. There were no warning signs here about current dangers, no threatening posters, and no special seals on the door out of the Library.

‘Ready?’ she said.

‘Ready,’ Kai agreed, adjusting his cuffs.

Irene took hold of the heavy brass handle and shoved the door open, then stepped through into another world. She had to push aside a plush red rope cordoning off their door. There was an Out of order sign in Polish dangling from its handle. Beyond, the room was full of display cases and tapestries. Another place that had once been a true library and now was nothing but a museum.