The Kingdom and Its Dark Mage

"Oh, the library. Wonderful." Calfuray said sarcastically, letting out a deep sigh. "Dusty books and stuffy scribes."

She dragged he feet, falling a bit behind Orpheus.

"Can we at least go by the kitchens on the way?" Graciously, she kept her tone light, though a whine was most definitely creeping at its edges.

Orpheus shifted uncomfortably as both of them spoke; the library was one of his favorite places to visit in the castle, and he tended to spend whatever time he wasn't in his room wandering through its shelves. He would have thought that they would have been as excited as he was, but it seemed like they weren't even half as eager as he was to go.

"We can stop there on the way," he said. "The library's actually not that dusty - I, uh, make sure to keep it clean with a spell."

Shuffling his feet, Kynan could feel his ears burning. He didn't want to be rude to Orpheus, but there was something he didn't necessarily want to admit, and he'd have to try his best to find an escape route from that problem. "The libraries I've been to were pretty clean," he said quietly, carefully neglecting to mention that he'd been in a grand total of two, one of which had been tiny. "But, uh, is it just books there? Or are there non-book things? That would be easier to, uh, look through?"

"Well that's good at least. I can cross off asthma attacks to my library anxiety." Calfuray sighed and reined herself in a bit. She knew she was being rude, but it was coming from stress.

"I apologize." She mumbled slightly. "I'm sure your library is just... wonderful. I've had-" she cut herself off before lowering her voice even more. "Bad experiences with my library."

Orpheus looked between the two of them.

"We don't have to read while we're there," he said, ducking his head down. He readjusted his cloak so it was covering more of him. "It's just one of the better places to go in the castle. If it'd be better, we could go to my room. It's closer to the kitchens, anyways, and I don't have to worry about being seen there."

"Well...whatever you think is best." Calfuray commented, unusually demurely, her fingers knotted in front of her. She tried to smile to alleviate some tension, but it came off as more of a wince.

"No!" Kynan shouted, before putting a paw over his mouth. He looked around awkwardly, then moved the paw away. "I mean, I can read, so we can definitely go there. If that's okay with everyone."

"I think my room might be the better choice," Orpheus quietly decided. He had forgotten that not everyone was as fortunate as he was when it came to knowing how to read, and enjoying reading - that was something the gods had always given to their youth.

"Please?" Kynan said, clasping his hands together. "It's where you want to go, right? So can we just go there? I promise you, I can read."

Orpheus studied Kynan for a moment, trying to understand why he suddenly was so insistent on going to the library. Then he turned his attention to his own body language, and the truth quickly became apparent: Kynan had noticed his reaction to them not wanting to go. But rather than interpret it as him being upset because he had been forgetful, he had interpreted it as him being upset because no one wanted to visit the library.

"It's okay," Orpheus reassured him. "I just forgot that not everyone grew up surrounded by books like I did. Besides, I don't have to cover myself if I'm in my room, and we don't have to worry about people questioning your appearances."

Kynan pulled his ears down and snarled. "Don't judge me! It's not something I'm proud of, but it's pretty common w-where I live, and my brother's w-worse at it, so."

Orpheus felt absolutely miserable when he realized how much he had accidentally offended Kynan, but he was beginning to suspect that the topic of the library and reading in general was a sensitive one. "I'm sorry," he said. "I-I wasn't trying to judge you. I just forgot that not everyone can teach their children to read like the gods do for theirs..."

Kynan pulled his ears down his face. "Fine," he said, "Let's go to your room. There's probably books there that I can read, because I can."

"Oh yes, I'm sure you can read perfectly well." Calfuray said reassuringly, patting the hound on the head and succeeding in only coming off as slightly condescending.

"Sounds like a plan, Sir Orpheus." The title felt strange to her, and it was probably incorrect, but she had to adjust somehow. "Your chambers are as good a place as any."

"Oh, uh," he managed to get out, surprised that she had used such a formal title with him. "Just Orpheus works."

Embarrassed by a combination of being referred to so formally, and by having upset Kynan, Orpheus hurried on ahead of the group and led them down the hallways toward his room. It was in one of the more obscure parts of the castle--a safety measure that Kartiel had put in place when he first came to live there. Now that he was more acquainted with the rest of the castle, he could have easily moved to another location, but the room had become too much of a new home to him.

When they finally arrived at the room, he carefully opened the door.

Shelves full of books lined every single visible wall, and stacks of books could be found in corners around the room. He had always been a devourer of books, but he was even more of one now that he had something to study. There was a simple cauldron to the back, a rack of herbs gathered from nearby, and little tiny bottles filled with liquids of all sort of different colors. His bed was pushed to the farthest wall, and even that was underneath a pile of books.

Naturally, his altar was in the center of it all, covered in an array of beautiful gems and herbs.