Ch. 4

By the time Arthur found his way to the library, it was almost noon. The palace was teeming with life and activity from both the guests giving their goodbyes and leaving calling cards and the servants trying to clean up after them as they went. Horses and buggies were being brought out by the dozen, with stable boys frantically searching around for their owners before they caused trouble. The poor maids were left to clean up the remains of the makeup that the ladies had caked on before leaving, though on occasion one would be lucky enough to find a singular earring or a little ruby ring or something left behind, the sort of trinket that wouldn't be missed, the sort that could buy a large family a small feast in some places.

Of course, Arthur saw none of this. His attention was fixed on the singular task of getting back to the library. When he did stop, it was to ask a maid or butler for directions. The halls of the palace were like a labyrinth to those unfamiliar with it. The various employees seemed to have little trouble at all telling him where to turn right, turn left, which stairs to go down, once he made his way there he was sure he could have gotten directions to which shelf held the history books if he weren't stunned silent by the massive scale of the library. Unlike before, he had all the time in the world to stare on in awe. The shelves really did reach to the ceiling, and every one of them was packed with books until they spilled into heaps on the floor. Books were stacked onto tables, around chairs, behind the desk of the librarian, in corners, there were even a few placed near the fireplace. For what felt like hours he was content to let his gaze wander the shelves, flitting from spine to spine and barely taking in what each one said before moving on to the next, at least until the voice in his head jarred him out of his thoughts.

My word, how you like to stand and gawk like an imbecile!

Arthur blinked a few times before he could clear his thoughts, a scowl tugging its way across his lips. "I rather like books…" he muttered, starting his way through the shelves. They were even more impressive up close, when he could really see how many there were. There must have been hundreds, thousands, maybe even millions-

For God's sake, you're doing it again! Did you come here to read, or just to bulge your eyes out of your skull?

"You know, I didn't ask for your input!" He growled, trekking further into the library. "Where I come from, books are rare and precious. Most of the books we had at home I wasn't allowed to read…"

Why is that dear?

For once, Arthur had nothing to say. He simply went on until he found what looked like a few books on Spadian history and started picking through them. There was an incredible range of books, ranging from big books that were essentially extended timelines of recorded history, to tiny things that were opinion-laced rags that Arthur wouldn't touch. He was sure that there had to be a few gems among them though, somewhere, and he picked out what he hoped were three of them.

It's terribly rude to ignore people when they speak to you, you know…

"Hush." He snapped, glaring at seemingly nothing. "I'm looking for something specific, other than boring old history…" He made his way back to an armchair by the fireplace.

Hold on a moment Arthur.

Arthur paused, glancing around to make sure no-one was watching before he spoke. "What?"

Don't sit by the fire… there's a mirror at the far end of the library, it's covered by a tarp. Go pull the tarp off, go sit over there.

"What?" Arthur's nose crinkled. "Why would I do that? It's cold, I want to sit by the fire."

Just do it, trust me, it will be fine.

Arthur rolled his eyes. He did warm himself thoroughly before leaving the fireside. Sure enough, far in the back of the library where the lanterns flickered and the drapes were shut, something sat under an old tarp. He tugged it away and stared back into his own eyes. "Yes, this is certainly a mirror…" He grumbled. A fine one it was as well. It was a body-length mirror a bit larger than he was, with an ornate brass frame. When he reached to press his hand against it, the frame was still warm to the touch. His eyes were fixed on their own reflections until something waved in front of them. He glanced up and there, eased into an armchair a ways behind him, sat the demon. Arthur spun around only to find the chair empty, though it was still occupied in the mirror. "Wh-what is this? What did you do?"

"It's a brass mirror, I can show myself in those. I'm really here, you just can't see me… don't think too hard on that darling, wouldn't want you to strain yourself. You've got an awful lot of studying to do after all…"

Arthur took his time looking back and forth between the mirror and the armchairs behind him. They did appear to be empty, but every time he looked back into the mirror the demon was still sitting there, his legs draped over one arm of the chair and his neon eyes fixed on Arthur with a look of boredom.

"Will you just come and sit? I want to see some of those books you picked out already…"

"…fine." Arthur kept his eyes on the mirror, taking a seat in the chair beside the demon. The cushions were plushy and soft like nothing he had ever felt before. "But… are you always here like this, or do you just…?"

"You ask far too many questions. That will get you into trouble someday… come on then, let's have a look at those books, where did you put them?"

The demon's reflection glanced around the floor before he picked up one of the books, leaving the others to slide around Arthur's feet. He took the first one and let the demon look over the others.

"What's this then… a history of Spades, boring, and then you've got a book on what, heredity? And then there's… a book on magical lineage?"

In the mirror Arthur could see a devious yet curious look on the monster's face. Arthur slumped back into his chair.

"Just things I find interesting…" he muttered. "Nothing you need to know about, I assure you."

"Don't be like that! As long as I'm up here, your business is my business. If you don't want to tell me I'll just go digging through your memories later, and I can't guarantee I won't make a mess."

Arthur scowled, flipping open the book in his lap. Its pages were printed with innumerable family trees, some made up in tiny print just to fit in entire lineages up to whenever the book was published. One such family included that of Alfred, showing his mother and father- the previous King and Queen- as well as his mother's parents, King and Queen before them, and his mother's grandfather as King before that…

"My, it looks as if that boy you're married to has quite a bit of family history here, hm?"

"It would appear so…" Arthur muttered, flipping past those pages. "But I'm not interested in him, I want to find my family." He glanced at the seemingly empty armchair beside him. "M-my mother once said that her mother and father had each lived here in Ten. I just wanted to see if I could find them in here." The demon's laughter rang in his ears.

"Why would anyone move from glorious Ten to dinky, disgusting little Two? That's quite the costly step down, and I for one can't imagine ever wanting to leave this place."

Arthur rolled his eyes and went on searching. They had only just passed Alfred's lineage, so he couldn't imagine that his would be far behind if it was there. "…I found it. Page eighty-seven, Kirkland." He held the book towards the opposite armchair. Whether it was a trick of light or not he wasn't sure, but the demon's reflection looked startled, almost stunned.

"…shows what I know about humans."

Arthur scoffed, putting on a proud smirk. "I'll have you know that my father's family was quite high-up before he decided to leave Ten. Look, there he is right-" Arthur cut himself short, staring at the place where his father's name was written. Unlike the others there was no little portrait, only a name beneath an empty little frame. It was connected to his mother's frame, though her last name had been scratched out. It showed only two of the six Kirkland boys, Arthur's two elder brothers. They went without names, only listed at boys. Then again he wouldn't have been able to tell if any of them had at one point been sketched, for all of their frames were completely burned off. He could still see black on the edges of the paper, and the beginnings of a line where his own name might have once meant to be connected. He could practically feel the demon on his shoulder, peering down at the book and taking everything in.

"So what's that then, you've got a couple of brothers? They both look older though, what happened to that one you were hallucinating about?"

Arthur felt some part of him twitch internally at that little remark, but he tried not to snap back. "He probably wasn't born when this book was published. Nor were the twins by the looks of it…"

"Twins? For hell's sake, how big is your family?"

"There's six of us kids, all boys, and then mum and dad." Arthur scowled and shut the book, letting it slide to the ground. "Lots of people in Two have big families, that's just how it is. I come from a whaling family, so my father needs a lot of extra hands to help out on the ship…"

"A rather interesting way of acquiring extra labor…"

Arthur scowled. "It's just how we did things. Nobody in Two can afford to hire help, we can barely even afford to buy food. I-I'm positive that they're better off with one less mouth to feed…" What was his mother doing right now? Where was his father? How did his brothers feel about all of this? "It's funny, I-I can barely even remember leaving now… it's only been a few weeks, but I can't even remember how they reacted…"

"Is that so? You humans are such odd little creatures, aren't you?"

Arthur rolled his eyes, setting the book down and snatching another from the demon's invisible hands. "No more so than you beasts of hell…" he grumbled. "We will say no more of it. I want to read up on this Spadian history like that Manus character said I should…"

"Why to you trust that man anyway? Isn't he just another politician to you?"

"Maybe, but he's from Two. My father says he's a fine man, and we share a stance on Clubs, so… I suppose I can take his word." Arthur opened up the book. Before him lay a wide index of topics, ranging from what he could only imagine was the start of most history books- a general 'start of the world' spiel- to the little detailed things. Other chapters featured significant figures in history, significant Kings and Queens, great wars, trade, and the longest chapter; traditions.

"Goodness what a lot of words, how do you know where to start?"

"…I don't." Arthur stared at the index page. To him, it was little more than a jumble of words, places, and events that he had never heard of before. There were pages of each generation or royalty, each King with his Queen and Jack, and some other column that was always left empty but had the label scratched out on every page. Probably nothing important anyway. For a while he resigned to simply flipping through the pages, reading up on whatever he could. He could feel the weight of the demon on his shoulder and while he would occasionally shoot a glare in his general direction, he knew that he was still there. "Do you mind?"

"Not at all. Go on, keep reading, this book is turning out to be quite the comedy. I like this chapter."

"This is the chapter about that big war Alfred was talking about!"

"Well I think it's hilarious, just look at those uniforms! They might as well paint targets on their backs!"

"It's not funny! People died in this war, lots of people! Millions of people! I didn't even know there were that many people in the world until now! It's not something that should be laughed about!" Arthur flipped through those pages just to spite the demon. If he weren't so bent on learning all of this damned history he might have just shut the book all together.

"Oh what, now you're going to skip by that bit? Fine, I'll leave you alone. Have fun with your chapter on witch trials, mister Queen of the world…"

"Witch trials?" Arthur looked back to the book, letting the demon do what he would elsewhere. Sure enough, he had landed on a rather small chapter about the strong rejection of magic so common throughout Spades. It features sketches of accused witches with their hair cut short, teeth pulled from their bloodied gums, and a photograph featuring a person hanging on a post over a climbing fire. The text skimmed over everything from the names of some 'witches', to their supposed crimes, to other things that Arthur couldn't even bring himself to describe. Without a word he shut the book and set it down, resting his head in his hands. By the time the demon noticed, Arthur's face had taken on a color paler than the pages of the old books at his feet. He set down the dusty recipe book in his hands and retook his seat by Arthur.

"What's the matter human? You look a bit… peaky."

Arthur didn't speak. His eyes were fixed down on his boots and the cracks in the old wooden floor. His fingertips dug at his scalp. Even the icy touch of the demon's fingers couldn't snap him from his thoughts immediately.

"Come on, out with it. What's gone and gotten to you like this?"

The creature picked up the dusty old book, flicking through its pages. Wars, winters, witchcraft, wailwoads, he couldn't see anything that would have upset anyone. Those things certainly didn't upset him at least. Without warning Arthur stood up, kneeling to scoop the other books up in his hands. The demon watched him, placing the history book on top of his little stack.

"What, you aren't even going to look at that last one? I was so interested to learn about the magical heredity of humans…"

"I don't want to talk about it." Arthur murmured, setting the books at the bottom of one of the great heaps. "Not right now, and not to you. And no, I will not be looking at that book right now, I can't stand to. Magic is a touchy subject in my family…"

"You and the whole country by the looks of it."

"I told you, I don't want to talk about it."

"Not even to me? Why, what do you know about magic?"

"Please just leave me alone."

"You're acting awfully strange you know, if you aren't careful people are going to get the wrong idea…"

"I said leave me ALONE!" he screamed, fingers clenched in his hair. Of course there was no-one to shout at, and it looked even more like no-one as the demon suddenly fell silent. From far across the library a young lady looked up from her place high atop a shelf ladder where she was putting away books, staring at him. He stood stalk still, staring right back until the remembered her place and went back to her work. Arthur beat a hasty retreat from the library, his head low and his eyes on the ground. He wanted nothing more than to just curl up in bed with Alfred again, even without Alfred…

Perhaps with Francis then?

He stopped in the middle of the hall. Well, good to know that he still had the damn demon in his head. "…perhaps." He grumbled. Francis was awfully kind… no, what was he thinking? He would probably get in trouble for even thinking of such things, and whatever would Francis think?

I am almost positive he would reward these sorts of thoughts with exactly what you want him to…

Arthur scowled, speeding up a little in the hopes that nobody would see the pinkish color spreading across his cheeks. He puffed a little sigh, gradually loosening his grip on his hair. "I need something to calm my nerves… I need some tea…"

Or perhaps some brandy? Alcohol does do wonders for those pesky senses you know.

"Yes…" A little loss of sense did sound tempting, something to make the world melt away and usher him into a good, long nap. His feet seemed to carry him back to his room on their own. Odd, it seemed like time had either slowed or sped up while he was reading. How long ago was noon, and that meeting with Alfred and the other strange men? On that note, where was Alfred? Where had all of those men gone? Where was Manus? He had reached his room by the time he realized that he didn't care.

What, you're just going to sleep now? That's a rather dull way to end a chapter…

"What are you on about now?" Arthur rolled his eyes, taking a seat on the edge of the bed and removing his boots.

Never you mind dear. Have your sleep, see if I care. Perhaps you'll be more interesting a little later…

"Oh, well, sorry for boring you…" He muttered. "I wasn't aware that I was merely a source of entertainment." With that, he flung himself back onto the bed, dozing off within the hour.