Flynn Carson, Librarian, huffed in frustration. They had been trying to carefully open an unknown magical object for days with no success. They had tried all of the known spells, and even some that Flynn hadn't known about until Cassandra had found them in a book he had actually never even seen before. It was good to have multiple Librarians, he thought to himself.
But none of the Librarians- himself, Cassandra Cillian, Ezekiel Jones, and Jacob Stone, as well as their Guardian Eve Baird, or the enigmatic caretaker of the Library, Jenkins (actually the Grail Knight Galahad, Flynn still couldn't quite get over that), had had any success.
Given the context in which Flynn had found the closed vase (suspended by magic in an underground temple in Spain), they didn't want to accidently trip a curse or a trap. Jacob was busy looking up art motifs, Cassandra and Zeke were trying to determine if there was a pattern or code on the vase-like vessel, and Jenkins had been checking old references to magical vases. Having found nothing, he had gone to the kitchen to make tea.
Cassandra rubbed her temples tiredly. "It's almost as if…."
"It's not magic at all, is it?" Ezekiel asked, his eyes growing wide. "That's why we haven't been able to get inside!" He ran his thumb along the lip of the vase, and felt a clasp. "Look!" he said triumphantly, and then ducked as the vase exploded.
Yellow dust filled the air, choking everyone for a moment. "Damn it, Ezekiel!" Flynn yelled, scared and exasperated at the same time. He had no idea if they were all about to die from poisoned gas. This was something he had never seen before.
"It doesn't seem to be harmful. It even smells nice," Eve said, as they all stood up and looked at the shattered vase. "Like…Gardenias and…."
"Clematis," Cassandra finished, eyes closed. Flynn looked at her in wonder.
"That's familiar…I've heard of that combination…" he started mumbling to himself, as he set off up the Annex stairs to find a book.
Jenkins came in with the tea. "What happened?" he asked, inhaling the strong scent and seeing everyone covered in the yellow dust. It troubled him, somehow. He set the tea try down on the table. Everyone gratefully took a cup, the powder still in their throats.
"Jones managed to get the thing to explode, and we got a cloud of yellow flower pollen everywhere," Eve answered.
"Hey!" Zeke complained. "We were all trying to open it!"
"Carefully, Ezekiel. We were trying to open it carefully," Cassie admonished. Zeke rolled his eyes. "Part of the job, Cass."
"Here it is! This is amazing!" Flynn yelled as he bounded down the stairs. "It's always something new around here," he continued breathlessly. "This one I've never seen, because the flower was actually deliberately exterminated in the 11th century."
"What flower was that?" Jenkins asked as he sipped his tea. He had begun to feel…odd…but as he watched the others for similar effects, he saw nothing. He accounted it for not having eaten breakfast, and continued to listen to Mr. Carson.
"Nataliam," Carson answered, reading.
Jenkins' teacup rattled in its saucer. "What!?" Jenkins managed to force out in a hoarse whisper. "No…."
"It's a rather dangerous flower, hence the confinement," Flynn rambled on, not noticing his reaction. "But no worries. It only affects-" Flynn stopped, realization dawning. He looked up and Jenkins, who had gone completely white.
Jenkins put his teacup down. "No..." he whispered again, closing his eyes tightly.
"Virgins," Flynn finished softly. He watched Jenkins crumple inwardly. Flynn blinked and licked his lips nervously, looking over at Eve.
"Well, that just leaves Cassie," Ezekiel snickered.
"Hey!" Cassandra protested, distracted by Zeke's teasing from watching Jenkins' reaction to the news. Everyone else was looking at Flynn looking at Jenkins.
Jenkins stepped back from the table, with a look on his face the team had never seen before: embarrassment. He turned his back to them all, unable to take their new awareness of his very private, very personal life, his distress evident in the hunch of his shoulders.
Flynn's mouth was open as Jenkins confirmed his fear. He felt helpless. He looked back at Eve, and the other three, desperate for an answer, a trick to come to his head to save this man than he had just started to consider a friend.
Everyone was dead silent as realization set in.
Jenkins put his hand to his eyes, as if trying to clear his sight. He inclined his head, turning only slightly so that the others could not see his face.
"You will let me know if you find anything?" he asked so softly, Cassandra almost had to strain to hear him. It was a different voice. Sad. Broken.
"Of course." Carson said. Jenkins stood silent for a moment, as if too stunned to move.
"I will be in my room, then," he finished, and walked with dignity out of the Annex to his private room.
"What was that all about?" Ezekiel asked, confused. "What does the dust do?"
CJCJCJCJCJCJCJCJCJCJCJCJC
Jenkins entered his room slowly. He was in shock. He had given his life to the Library, and yet this was now his fate.
He slowly undressed and took a very, very long shower. He knew the effects of Nataliam. And he knew the consequences.
He sat down in front of his fire after dressing. For hours, he simply stared at the fire. He didn't put on his jacket or his tie. He couldn't be bothered.
But he knew what was most likely to come - he was certainly not going to look like a slob.
His heart hurt with the knowledge. He was already starting to feel the effects of the dust. A tear slid down his cheek.
It was not fair.
A soft knock on the door prompted him to startle in his seat. "Who is it?" he asked rather gruffly.
"Charlene," said the distinctive voice of the Library's "accountant." She was hardly just that.
Jenkins squeezed his eyes tight. He couldn't do this. Somehow, slowly, he pulled himself together, and opened the door.
The First Guardian and the Immortal Caretaker stared at each other. The history between them spanned centuries, and a choice made.
"Can I come in?" she asked, in the softest, most caring voice he had ever heard from her. He filed the sound away, to cherish forever.
"Of course," he tried to keep his roiling emotions from his voice. "Would you care for something to drink?"
"Brandy if you've got it," she quipped, making Jenkins smile, if only a little. God, how he loved this woman!
He poured two brandies, and brought a glass to her. He held his in the air as if to make a toast, but the words wouldn't come. What he possibly make a toast to?
"Down in one," Charlene said, clinking her glass to his. The rich liquid burned brightly on the back of his throat.
"I've told everyone that I wanted to come, because of how long we've known each other," she started, looking at him. But Jenkins couldn't take the scrutiny, fidgeting with items around his room.
"I'm not sure what you mean," he said, with his mind racing – What does she mean, she doesn't know-
"I can't give you a child, Galahad," Charlene's voice was so quite now. He turned and looked at her. Her eyes were bright with tears. "I would if I could. I know…." She heaved a sigh, and continued, "I've always known you exiled yourself to the Annex not because of a silly disagreement between you and Judson…but because I chose Judson, because you loved me."
Jenkins was frozen, staring at his love, having her say everything that was in his heart. He felt naked, exposed, in front of her. And somehow, he did not mind.
"However this works out, I want you to promise me something," she began again, somehow holding back the tears. "Promise me you'll give yourself to her fully. Don't hold back. Don't resent her. Give her the Knight I know you still are."
"Charlene…." he whispered. She came closer, and reached up to kiss his cheek. He held his hand there as she left.
Jenkins poured himself another drink.
He was close to having one too many several hours later when he heard another soft knock at the door. He turned in his chair to call "Come," not really wanting to bother getting up. It was Cassandra balancing a tea tray with her hip as she opened the door. He instantly stood up (hundreds of years of chivalrous conditioning) and took the tray from her.
"Miss Cillian, please let me help," he said, but Cassie didn't miss the tears that he had quickly wiped from his eyes. She gave him a shy smile and said "Thank you" quietly as he arranged the tray of sandwiches and cups on his small table.
It had been morning when the Nataliam was discovered, and now it was the late afternoon. The sandwiches were a welcome sight, but he was unsure about Cassandra. She was fidgeting back and forth.
"Would you care to join me for tea, Miss Cillian?" he asked. He refused to think of what her presence implied. He could smell her perfume, and it made his heart beat faster.
They must not know the effect she would have on me, he thought. Surely they wouldn't have sent her, otherwise.
"Yes, thank you. Flynn said this tea would help…." Here she looked down, blushing slightly.
"Ah. Well, thank you. He…ah, explained, then?" Jenkins tried to not look at her, busying himself with pouring the tea, going for a clinical approach to salvage his dignity.
"Yes," she said simply, but continued on quickly, "But in a way, I'm not sorry. I mean, I am, because this isn't really your choice, but I am because this might be my only chance to tell you…."
"Miss Cillian," Jenkins sucked in a breath, setting down the teapot before he dropped it, shocked at the implication of her words. Charlene, at least, was somewhat closer to his real age…this, this was….
"You can't possibly be saying… that… you…me…." He trailed off, unable to continue. He felt so unlike himself, unable to articulate the insane, fantastical thoughts flying around in his head.
They stared at each other, trying to figure out how to say what had to be said. Cassandra looked away first. "Flynn was a bit worried you'd say no. He said you might… not like girls," she wrung her hands nervously. "But I was worried that you…might not like…me." Her voice got so very small at the last word.
"Miss Cillian," Jenkins said, finding his voice after a moment of staring, "Cassandra." He said again, making Cassie look up at him. He took a breath.
"While I believe…I would prefer women… it truly doesn't matter in this instance. Did Mr. Carson explain further? Did he tell you want we would have to do? For months?" The pitch of his voice rose, his indignation evident. How could Carson send this beautiful young woman into this!
"Yes, he did," Cassie looked at him squarely. She had made up her mind. There was no going back.
Earlier, after Jenkins left the main hall
"Damn. This is serious. And we don't have time to figure out how to counteract it." Flynn had started pacing the length of the hall.
"What does it do?" Eve asked.
"Jenkins is a virgin? Really? I thought he was like, hundreds of years old!" Ezekiel asked incredulously.
"He's Galahad. He's the Grail Knight. Of course he is," Jacob said, thinking out loud. "Purity of the body as well as the spirit was required. Sex was considered a distraction. And sex outside of marriage was considered extremely taboo in the time he grew up."
"So, this flower just makes people have sex?" Eve asked. "Honestly, it can't be that bad, can it?"
"No, not just sex. That's why the flower was completely wiped out. It makes people have sex until they smell their own progeny. That's why it doesn't work on anyone except virgins. Your biochemistry changes after sex with another person."
"It does?" Cassandra asked, skeptically.
"Most of our marriage rituals still today stem from the use of Nataliam." Carson continued, full-on lecture mode. "Honeymoons, mistresses that aren't meant to produce heirs, even the idea that it's bad luck to see each other before your wedding, all arose from its effects. Bachelor parties, even. It's not a consensual feeling, it's an uncontrollable compulsion. Jenkins is probably already feeling it." He raised his eyebrows a bit, so that everyone would take his meaning. They all looked at something else, embarrassed for their gentlemanly friend.
"What, effects, exactly?" Eve managed to ask in a few minutes, giving everyone time to process. "We need to know."
Flynn sighed heavily, skimming the book he had brought down. "He'll have to engage in some sort of sexual activity pretty much every four to five days, but intercourse is the best way," he read. "If he doesn't, the pollutant builds up in his bloodstream, causing mental anxiety, manic mood swings, violent behavior, and eventually high blood pressure that can cause a stroke or heart attack." He looked up at the group. "Basically, it forces the victim to feel desire. If that desire isn't physically diffused regularly, he'll get violent. Eventually, he'll die."
They all stared at each other. "Wow." Jake answered for them.
"So, this makes you have sex until a woman gives birth to your baby?" Ezekiel summarized. "I mean, what if you're gay? Could Jenkins be gay?" He looked a little more interested in this topic than perhaps was appropriate, given the seriousness of the situation.
Eve rolled her eyes at him, though Flynn took the question seriously. "Honestly, I don't know. Jenkins could be asexual, for all I know. But it doesn't matter. This isn't magical, it's biochemical. He's going to have to do this, with a woman, get her pregnant, or else he will have one horrific death." Flynn's expression became thoughtful. "If he can even die."
Jake answered, "Some of the legends of Galahad say that God granted him the right to choose his time of death. If this thing is as horrible as that, it could actually make him want to die."
Everyone gave that some thought. Eve sighed in frustration. "I mean, his is hundreds of years old," Eve said, grimacing as an apology. "What if he can't… make babies?"
"It talks about that, too." Flynn said, running his finger down the page. "It's one of the reasons the plant was exterminated. It was strictly used by the ruling class in ancient times to guarantee offspring, which limited deaths from infertile couples. But if you really were infertile, hopefully your sister wasn't, because the biochemical traces of your sister's child could also end the effect. That's why so many cultures trace ancestry through the sister."
"That makes sense, actually." Cassandra said, look up into space, clearly lost in her own thought projections. "The biological marker must be mitochondrial DNA, which is inherited from your mother. This plant evolved…It was probably recognized as an aphrodisiac thousands of years ago, and then it gradually changed with use." She closed her eyes and breathed deeply. Living with a tumor as a time bomb in her head, some days were better than others.
Flynn kept reading. "But over time, it started to be used not just by the ruling class, but by families that wanted to guarantee offspring, and as a 'virgin detector'. Blood lines became trackable this way, and therefore became valuable for the first time by ordinary people. But the Church disapproved of its use, and the last time in recorded history it was used…." Flynn look up from the page, green with nausea, "was in the ritual mating of King Arthur to his sister, Morgan."
"Oh, how awful," Cassandra said. "Jenkins' friend. He probably remembers how much Arthur didn't want to go through with it."
"So… now what?" Eve asked, though they all knew the answer. "I mean, this is going to sound pretty rude, but, you or me, Cassandra?"