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Chapter XXIX - A Library of Love
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Stolen glances became routine for Claudius and Athena. He followed her around the castle, watching her skirts flowing down the hallway from behind corners. And whenever she could, Athena tip-toed to the Grand Hall to catch a glimpse of his furrowed brow and focused gaze while he read.
Sir Claudius sensed her presence but assumed she was cleaning and didn't wish to disturb her. Athena, too, sensed his presence but assumed he was checking her progress and didn't wish to disturb him.
One shivering morning in late November, while Athena cleaned the kitchens—scrubbing china and drying glasses—she thought she sensed him. Lifting her head, the girl sniffed, making sure it was his firewood scent. Not long after, her eyes smiled, rising at the corners, for whenever Claudius was around, the castle always seemed a bit warmer.
Athena crossed one foot over the other, trotting to the cabinet. She lifted up on the balls of her feet to put the silvery cup away, when, out of the corner of her eye, she saw something gleaming. Two red eyes.
Her stomach split in two and she dropped the cup. A dull thud sounded throughout the kitchen as it collapsed into the stone floor.
The two eyes transformed into Sir Claudius, swooping out of the dark corridor, and striding into the kitchen. One of his scarred arms flew down, picked up the cup, and put it back in Athena's hand. She stood as frightened as a young tree in its first storm.
"'Tis alright, Miss Everleigh. The cup is durable. It comes from the oldest set of dinnerware that I have." He wiped his hands across his black pants.
Athena blinked several times, and after each blink, Claudius's eyes became more and more refined—one moment they were melting metal within an inferno of a furnace, and the next they were silvery-blue stone.
"I'm sorry, Sir." She fumbled around, fiddling with the flowery petals on her pink dress. "I thought you were…"
"Did my eyes turn red?"
"Yes."
"I thought so." Sir Claudius left, expressionless, with no color in his face.
"Oh… oh…." Athena glanced at the ground, then took a deep breath before darting after him. "Did you need something?"
"No, no, nothing at all." He waved his hand at her, sorting his way through the corridors leading back to the dining area. His long cape flapped up-and-down, whipping Athena's skin and turning it blushy and splotchy. Though she did not feel a thing.
"Are you sure?"
He paused, brought his fingers up to his mouth, and squinted his bright eyes, nearly shutting the shutters to his soul. "Actually, Athena… there is something I wanted to show you."
The girl's cheeks ripened. A light gasp exited her mouth, shaking the dust surrounding her. "As you wish, Sir."
The pair marched on. Sir Claudius moseyed through the hallways, batting away a cobweb every few seconds. Athena followed suit, her hands clasped together over her waist. She tried to force her head down but spent more time looking up to avoid stray cobwebs as well as Sir Claudius's cape. And then, after two or more minutes passed, she stopped avoiding them entirely because there was no means to do so in the dark.
"I don't come here often, since I typically read the same books over and over again, and those I keep in my master's quarters," Sir Claudius spoke, leaning his head back, nodding to Athena.
"I figured that you would read millions of books, Sir!" Athena exclaimed. "Only the same few?"
"Hundred. Same few-hundred. They all stay in my room and I'll pick them up again when I feel like reading a particular one."
"Oh! That's more like what I expected." Athena furrowed her thin brows. "Where are we going, Sir?"
Claudius stopped in the middle of the corridor, his black figure enshrouded with more black. Athena had trusted the sound of his deep breaths and squeaking boots to guide her, but in silence, there was no guide.
"It's a surprise."
Athena took a few steps forward. "Really?! Oooh… tell me!" She bumped into his back—a curved brick wall—and immediately flew in the opposite direction.
He chuckled, the sound rich and thick like melted dark chocolate. "Don't be so eager. I cannot tell you, Athena. That is the point of 'surprises'."
The girl regained her footing and huffed. "If you insist."
"Which I do." Once again, he started treading through the corridor, his strides at least a foot longer than her own. "We are almost there, Athena. You won't have to stretch out your needle-thin patience any longer."
Athena gasped. "I do not have needle-thin patience! Nothing of the sort." She crossed her arms and flared her nostrils.
A silent smile grew on Sir Claudius's face, summoned from the silvery-blue flames of his heart.
Even in darkness, where Sir Claudius could only see the corridor in front of him and Athena nothing at all, music echoed between the two.
The girl sped up, almost running, in an attempt to hear his breaths and the shifting of his clothing as he walked. "How long has it been since you've ventured to this place?"
Sir Claudius's smile leaked, dripping from his beard and dropping onto the floor. "Since the day that Henri went missing."
"Oh…" Rubbing her palms together, Athena choked: "I know you do not like talking about this—"
"This much is true," Sir Claudius groaned.
"But—I appreciate you telling me anyway." Her fingers collapsed over one another and her palms clasped together. "Mother always tells me that it is not good to keep secrets because it is like a boiling pot of water with the lid on top."
"She must not be a good secret-keeper then." Sir Claudius rolled his eyes.
"Oh, she did not mean that everyone must know your secrets. Rather, that only a select few should, or even one person. For instance, she tells me everything." Athena poked her chest out and shut her eyes, proud.
Sir Claudius walked along with no retorts or comebacks—just the sound of his squeaking boots and deep, animal-like breaths.
"And Claudius," Athena whispered, "you are my one."
The man's eyes spidered around the corridor, from the cobwebs to each slab of stone to his black coat, without once glancing at Athena. "I am flattered by your trust in me, Athena, although I'm not sure you've made the best choice in your 'one'."
"And why do you say that?" she retorted, her hands on her hips.
"Because then—" He choked on the words and sped up both in speech and stride. "I have a responsibility to make you my one."
Athena's eyes flashed, a silvery gleam glittering across her orbs. Her mouth hung agape and the corners of her lips lifted upward with each passing shift of her feet. She skipped like a pony to catch up to him, almost reaching out for his shoulder blades. "I would be honored, Sir!"
"That wasn't a request." The man frowned, the corners of his lips melting and drooping. His tall frame bent over the slightest bit.
Athena reached for his cape, grasping onto his tightly, pulling herself closer to him, before singing: "I know."
Thousands of pricks of ashes twinged Sir Claudius's insides—singeing him, taking droplets of blood, stoning him with sharp pebbles instead of boulders. And then those small cinders and ashes became consumed in a wildfire of flames, swooping from his stomach and heart and ribcage and filling the rest of his body—from his black boots to the roots of hair on his head. Athena had his broad shoulders within her small, delicate hands. How, he did not know. And then, as if from an animal instinct somewhere in the heart of his mind, one of his scarred hands came to rest on one of her smooth, soft hands. Why, he did not know.
He stopped, and the girl bumped into his back. Sir Claudius twirled around—as stealthy as a dancer—with Athena's fingers still clasped gently in his palm until he faced her. "We are here… Athena."
"We are?!" she called, looking around the corridor, though her pupils fell on nothing. Sir Claudius watched with dragon eyes as she moved her head around and around. He grinned until her eyes somehow fell on top of him. "I didn't know you could dance, Claudius."
The man clanged his teeth together. "I learned, actually, while in Dublin some years ago."
"Really?"
"Yes."
The pair faced one another, hands touching, as though about to dance—before Sir Claudius broke away. "Here is the door, Athena. Stand back." She retraced her steps several paces, until hitting the shivering stone wall. Each separate slab pressed deeper into her dress.
A suction-cup-like sound reverberated throughout the corridors. Athena faced the sound, but still, there was no light.
"Close your eyes for me, won't you, Athena?"
"What?! It's not like I can see anyway!"
"Just do it, for me."
"Fine."
She closed her eyes just enough so that Sir Claudius would think they were shut tight, leaving only a slight slit open.
All of a sudden, a multitude of light pounded Athena to the ground. She turned away. "Ach!"
Sir Claudius chuckled, pacing toward her. "Now, if you would have just closed your eyes all the way like I asked you to, this wouldn't have happened."
"Whatever." Sir Claudius reached out a hand, but she waved it away. Athena rose to her feet by herself, keeping one hand over her eyes.
"I thought that I was supposed to be your 'one'." He smirked.
"You are! Just not for trivial things like this."
"Here, keep your eyes closed and give me your hands." Athena gripped onto his large knuckles and tight muscles. He pulled her forward. Sun rays flashed on her golden hair, turning it a fiery yellow. Sir Claudius listened to the pretty music flowing from her locks. Although he had almost forgotten what instrumental music sounded like, Athena reminded him. Soon enough, her shoes, flowery dress, and entire form became enveloped in the sun's rays.
"You promise you're not looking, Athena?"
"I promise. I'm blind already."
One of the corners of his mouth rose. He let go of her hands.
"Do I open them now?"
Sir Claudius glanced about, checking every corner of the room for anything that would alarm Athena.
"Yes."
Eyelids quivering, Athena faced upward. Her immediate gaze fell on Sir Claudius, who stood with one arm clutching the other. He faltered under her eyes. "It hasn't been cleaned in over twenty years, Athena. I apologize for that— But I thought perhaps you would still like to see it."
Perplexed, one eyebrow higher than the other, Athena's gaze flew up from the tallest man she had ever seen and to the tallest room she had ever seen.
She sucked in a quick breath of air, before clutching onto her heart.
Before her, with over fifty immaculate shelves of books, was the grandest library she had ever seen. Books of all sizes, shapes, and colors—scrolls with varying degrees of decay—at least ten tables and writing desks—and hundreds of pens, papers, quills… they were all here. Flowing down from each shelf were multiple pieces of fabric as well as tapestries—obviously made by Henri—with depictions of red and black dragons swirling in the air. Below the dragons were hoards of books, guarded by the dragons.
While Athena remained in mid-thought, galloping around the room, going from shelf-to-shelf and tapestry-to-tapestry, Claudius interrupted with the words: "I did not want the grandest castle of all time, Athena. Although, I had the gold to do so. I still do." He scratched his head. "But, I did want the grandest library of all time. It is actually what takes up most of the space in my castle."
"How many books are in here?!" the girl yelped, pirouetting about and about and yet each time only finding more and more books. As she gazed harder, she found there were other rooms besides just the one. She sprinted to the other sections of the library.
Sir Claudius followed, taking smaller steps. He crossed his arms. "I've lost count by this point. I've collected so many over the years." He walked over to one of the maroon shelves, feeling of its wood and taking in its tall stature. Sliding one of the books off of the shelf, he read the first page, yawned, and slid it back in.
"Have you read all of these?!" Athena fished through several rows, running her hands over all of the dust-bound spines.
"Yes, at some point. Most of them don't hold any interest for me anymore though."
"Aww…." She pouted. "Why not? How can you possibly lose interest?!"
"I just… did, I suppose. The minute I thought I was responsible for Henri's death… I stopped being adventurous in reading. I haven't stepped foot in here in over twenty years, nor have I purchased another book." Scratching his beard, the man spoke, "For that reason, the library is yours."
Athena dropped the scroll in her hand, the metal clanking onto the stone ground. "Mah—mine?!" Her mouth hung wide open and tears bubbled beneath her eyelids. "Oh, Sir, I can't! This is your library!"
"I'm content with the books I have stored in my master's quarters. You may have all of the ones in here. Take them home with you…." He faced the ground, sifting his boot across the dust-ridden floor. "You may want to clean this place first though."
"Oh, yes, Sir! I will clean it right away, Sir!"
"I'll leave you to it, then. When you walk back, it's a straight shot to the corridor outside of the kitchen. If you want, take one of those torches on the walls." Sir Claudius sucked in air and then a flame of fire exited his throat, lighting the torch on the wall. Athena watched in surprise and abject horror. She shivered.
"Good day, Miss Everleigh." He bowed, then paced toward the exit.
"Wait, my supplies?" She reached out a hand.
"I must have forgotten. I'll bring them to you." He didn't even look her way.
"Thank you, Claudius." She tugged at her hair.
The man locked his palms upon the doorframe and, slowly, turned to face her. "You're welcome, Athena."
And then, he was gone.
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Author's Note
There will be a present for whoever is the first to guess what movie scene I modeled this chapter after!