Into the Wrong Hands: Chapter 10
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters except Theo and Justin. The country Carthak and all that is affiliated with it belong to Tamora Pierce.
Oo00ooOOoo00ooOOoo00ooOOoo
"Theodora, you must wake," a strange voice was calling. Theo groaned and turned over in the warm bed, hiding deeper into the covers.
"Theodora," the voice continued. Theo's only reply was to pull the covers all the way over her head. "Theodora, it is late. You need to be up, and awake." The voice was harsher now, and someone jarred her shoulder, shaking the last bits of sleep from her body.
"Whadda want?" asked the drowsy Theo, throwing the cover back and glaring at the owner of the voice. It was Lindhall, and he looked a bit miffed at her. She didn't care at the moment. She was tired, and wanted to sleep. "What time is it?" she asked him groggily, looking around the room. It was still as orderly as it had been when she had fallen asleep. The suns rays only slightly penetrating the room, it looked to be still very early. She looked towards the couch that Justin had apparently slept on, and had to grin. Justin was still asleep, half falling off of the couch. That was just like him. He was always able to sleep in any position.
Lindhall interrupted her thoughts, answering her earlier question tartly. "It is half and hour past sun-up already, and—"
"It's what!?" Theo interrupted. "Half an hour… that means its like 6:30!" she practically yelled, and fell back onto the bed, covering herself with the blanket once more. "No descant person gets up at this ungodly hour!" Lindhall could hear her mumble under the blanket. He stared at the lump of the blanket, astonished that someone could sleep so long. He stood back with his mouth slightly open, and then turned to Justin, who seemed to have been woken up by Theo's yelling.
Justin looked back and shrugged, smiling slightly. "She's not much of a morning person," he explained to the confused looking Lindhall. Stifling a laugh, he got up from the couch and stumbled through a door to the dressing room. Lindhall followed, shaking his head.
"I have acquired clothes that you and Theodora can wear in public without causing suspicion as to your origins." Lindhall told him, handing a stack of clothes to the boy. He took them from Lindhall, and held them up to inspect them. Almost immediately, he turned up his nose in distaste at these new clothes. There was a shirt, but it looked baggy, and had full- length arms that flared at the hands. He wasn't sure he was going to like this. Apprehensively, he picked up the pants. They were tight looking, and brown. But I like my baggy pants. He whined inside. What he though, was a small thanks to Lindhall, and went into the smaller dressing room, to attempt to put on these strange clothes.
Lindhall left him to sort the clothes out, and returned to the main room, to see if he could persuade the girl to get out of bed. He went to the edge, and saw that she was still covered by the blankets. He sighed. What was it going to take to get her up? He thought, exasperated. He shook her again, but all she did to respond was groan, and shiver deeper into the bed. After a few more minutes of calling and coaxing and shaking, he was getting frustrated. A noise from the other side of the room made him look up, and smile at what he saw.
Justin appeared from the dressing room, looking like the picture of a scholar at the University. Lindhall had picked out tan breeches and a light blue shirt that spoke of wealth and prestige, but at the same time, told the people that he was a scholar. Justin, however, looked pained. He had an uncomfortable look on his face, and he was shifting in the doorway.
"Is there something wrong?" Lindhall asked him politely.
Justin fidgeted even more, but finally whined, "These are uncomfortable." Lindhal shook his head, and turned back to the challenge of waking Theo. He was interrupted, however, on his first unsuccessful shake.
"No, no, no," Justin said, laughing, but coming to the edge of Theo's bed to help Lindhall. "You'll never get her up like that. She's built up an immunity to her little sisters. You have to kind of, well, scare her into getting up." He grinned at this, and stepped closer to the bed, taking hold of the top of the covers and taking a deep breath. "THEODORA! GET UP NOW!" he bellowed at her, ripping the blanket off the bed at the same time.
Theo's reaction was instantaneous. She leapt up from the bed, on her feet on the floor in seconds. She was panting, and breathing heavily, when she looked wildly around her. She took in Lindhall, standing a few feet back, looking amazed. Her eyes then moved to Justin, standing a little bit away, holding the blanket that had been on her bed, and laughing quietly to himself.
"I am going to kill you!" she yelled at him, her face getting redder by the second. "Why the hell did you have to go and do that? I was trying to sleep! Do you know what time it is?" she was prepared to rant on longer, but she was interrupted, not by Justin, but Lindhall this time.
"Young lady," he said calmly, looking at Theo. She gulped. Only her father called her young lady, and that was when she was in trouble. She shut up, and looked at him. "I am perfectly aware of what time it is, and it is late. I have a group of scholars coming to my office today, who need only to see two stowaways in my chambers to report it to the Emperor. Now," he said calmly, "do you want that to happen?" Theo shook her head, and looked at the floor, ashamed of herself.
"No, sir," she said quietly. "And I am sorry I didn't get up. I, well, I'm not much of a morning person…" she trailed off, and looked back at Justin again. What she saw made her giggle a bit. "Where did you get those clothes?" she asked him, her amusement more than evident.
Justin's face went red, and he stood straighter. "It's so we blend in," he defended, blushing horribly. Theo giggled again.
"Don't worry, Theodora," Lindhall told her. She made a mental note to get him to call her Theo like everyone else, but listened otherwise. "I have clothes for you also." This stopped Theo's giggling immediately.
"What?" she asked wildly. "I'm not wearing those clothes!" she shook her head, to emphasize her point. There was no way they would get her to look as much of a clown as Justin did.
Lindhall shook his head. "Of course not. I wouldn't put you in those clothes."
"Oh, good-" she started, but was cut off again.
"You can't wear those clothes," Lindhall said, now smiling. "You must wear a dress, as is appropriate for a lady of your age."
Theo stared at him, openmouthed. It was Justin's turn to try and hide a laugh. "A what?" she said finally, but didn't bother to let him answer. "No way! No way are you going to get me into a dress!" the horrible picture of a middle-ages corset came to her mind, and she shook her head forcefully. "There is no way I am wearing a dress."
Lindhall looked put off once more at her audacity. "But you must," he told her, stepping forward. Unknown to Theo, Justin crept closer on the other side. "You must wear a gown, or people here will talk, and bring attention to you. Attention, my dear, is the last thing you want right now."
Theo said nothing, but continued to sputter and shake her head.
"Theo," Justin said quietly from behind her, making her jump. How did he get so close with out me knowing? She asked herself. "Master Lindhall has guests, and you need to be as inconspicuous as possible." He told her, his voice soft and calming.
Theo knew he was right, and hated him for it. Why did he always have to be right about the stupid stuff? She sighed, and resigned, letting Justin drag her to the dressing room door. Lindhall handed her a small stack of clothes from a cupboard to her left, and left her to it. She sighed again, and looked around. There was a mirror next to the sink, but it was small. How was anyone supposed to see their entire outfit? she wondered. She ignored it, though, and went back to her stack of clothes that she held. She picked out the dress, and held it up. It was a cream colored gown, with small, needle point decorations at the top. It really doesn't look half bad, she told herself resentfully. She still didn't want to wear a dress. It wasn't that she didn't like getting dressed up. She always went all out for formal dances and stuff. But when she wanted to be comfortable, all she wore was jeans and a T-shirt. Right now, she didn't wasn't to be dressed up. She wanted to be comfortable and she didn't care if she was raggy looking. Just wear it, she snapped at herself, and began to undress. She slowly figured out how to fit the undergarments on, (There are so damn many! She thought while struggling with them.) and was just tying the last laces in the back of the dress when Justin called from the other side of the door.
"Theo?" he was speaking quietly, trying to hide his annoyance. "Are you going to take all morning?" he asked her.
"Shut up." She murmured back, not caring at the moment. "I am going as fast as I can." She snapped back to him. She finally finished with the laces, pulled on the slightly small boots, and still tying them, opened the door.
Justin looked surprised that she had opened the door so soon, but quickly got over it. He stared at Theo, who was still bent over tying her shoelaces quickly. She stood up, slightly wobbly on the shoes, which were raised a bit, but steadied herself. She looked back at Justin, who now had boots himself on, who was presently staring at her.
"What?" she asked shortly, after a few moments where he said nothing. "Why're you staring at me?" she asked him, suddenly worried that she looked horrendous.
Justin started, and smiled at Theo. "Nothing," he told her, looking amused. "Nothing at all." Theo didn't trust him, but simply walked out to the main room shaking her head. He was being weird again. Theo passed Justin, and walked quickly to Lindhall's office. They found him studying a pack of lizards in one of his glass tanks, seemingly lost for the moment.
"err… Master Lindhall?" Theo asked after a second.
"I must insist you stop calling me 'Master'" he told them, amusement playing on his face. "I have not reached the level of mastery, and therefore do not deserve the title."
Theo grinned. "Then I must insist that you stop calling me Theodora," she told him. "Only my mother calls me Theodora, and that's only when I'm in trouble."
Lindhall grinned, and turned away from the lizards to address the two teens. They looked perfect. Just like two students who would not be noticed in a crowd of people, which was what they needed at the moment. "Thank you both for wearing these clothes. I appreciate it, if no one else will." He winked at Theo, and continued. "I do have other mages coming here today though, and you two cannot be here for the meeting. You will need to go downstairs into the University and spend the day, where you will not be noticed. Perhaps the library will help with some books on spells to transfer people to alternate universes." He said, slightly worried at the news.
Theo was divided. A day to themselves could be helpful. They could sit and discuss what they wanted to do, where they wanted to go, and most importantly, how they were going to get home. On the other hand, they might get lost in this huge city size university, and Theo did not want to spend a day of wandering through a strange country with a very angry emperor on her tail. The experience didn't sound pleasant. Lindhall assuaged her fears almost immediately however.
"do not worry about getting lost, though," he said smiling. Any one you ask will be happy to tell you where my office is, and they cannot suspect anything, because I often have many pupils some to me during off hours to discuss my class. No one will suspect anything." he smiled at them both, and went to the door. "I am afraid that they will be coming soon, so I must show you both to the library, and you can find your way to everywhere else from there." He led them out the door-which shut behind them on its own-and down the hall.
They walked for a while, Theo tripping on the hem of her dress only a few times. It was hard to walk all the time holding part of the skirt up. She suddenly gained a lot of admiration for the women who dressed like this all the time here. They finally arrived, after many twists and turns in the corridors, on the ground floor in a spacious hallway. It was different from the one they had entered yesterday. It had no special decorations on the walls and it looked like it was less used.
On the far end, slightly to the left of them, were two huge doors. As they walked closer in silence, Theo could tell they were made of some exotic looking wood, and were carved with beautiful designs full of animals and many books. Lindhall pushed on an Ivory handle and opened the door into the largest library that Theo had ever seen, even in movies. It was huge. Filled with people of all ages sitting and reading a large volume, or walking around the large rows of bookcases searching for something in particular.
Lindhall led them to a small table in the middle of the room, and they quietly sat down, Lindhall whispered to them, "Good luck. I will need you back at my office at three-o-clock. See you then." And turned back and strode out of the room.
Theo sat, looked around her, appreciating at all the wonderful books that had to be stored here and learning that could be done here. She looked back at Justin, who was sitting in his seat looking glum. "What's the matter?" she asked him in a whisper, leaning close to hear the answer.
"We're stuck in a Library for the next few hours." He whispered fiercely back at her. "What do you think is the matter?" Theo just shook her head and grinned. That was just like Justin. To think he could be bored in a library amused her, but that was always like him.
"Don't be such a spoil sport." She told him sniggering. "I'm sure you can find a nice math book or something here." He perked up at that, and they stood and made their way to a random aisle and started looking at the books. The first ones they saw made Theo's mind implode. They had bizarre titles, most of which she couldn't even understand. Then there was the occasional book that looked to be written in an entirely different language that Common, which was what the university seemed to use for everything. Theo couldn't even begin to decipher those. Justin wandered off to an aisle with the heading, 'Arithmacy' and started looking at books there.
]
Theo was content just to search for a title in random aisles that looked interesting. She finally settled on finding the aisle that had the sign 'Transportation', and looked up and down the aisle there. She went up and down the aisle a few times, trying to find a book that looked even remotely easy to understand. She finally came across a weathered book with a broken spine titled, The Mage Craft of Trans-Universal Travel. This looks promising, she thought, taking it from the shelf and hefting it into her arms. Its heavy! She exclaimed inwardly.
She resolved to settle the massive volume in the crook of her elbow and slowly made the way back to the table, grumbling about weighty books as she walked. As she was passing the end of a bookcase, a steady glow caught her eye.
She forgot about the book in her hands and made her way to the bookcase. There, it was a book, radiating a steady, pale glow. She set the transportation book down on the floor and looked around a moment. There were a few people around her in the aisle, but none seemed to take any notice of the light coming from the book in front of her. Weird, she thought. Defiantly very weird. Her mind raced, and she suddenly remembered speaking to Numair the day before. He had said that she could see magic… Was this a magicked book that no one could see but her? Shouldn't Lindhall know that there was a book full of magic in the Library?
She laughed to herself after thinking that last thought. This was a University of Magic! Shouldn't there be books full of magic in the library? Of course, she told herself, there were probably tons of books here with magic in them. Theo was curious, however, as to what kind of book would need magic in it itself. She bent further to take a look at the title, and received a surprise.
It had to title on the binding. Theo, unthinking, reached down to pull it out of the shelf to look at the cover. The moment her had touched to binding, there was an almighty roar in her ears, and Theo felt the all-too familiar feeling behind her stomach. OH CRAP! She shouted, though she couldn't hear herself. She was falling through a black pit, and her stomach was in her throat. When would it end? Theo was still falling when the darkness overtook her.
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters except Theo and Justin. The country Carthak and all that is affiliated with it belong to Tamora Pierce.
Oo00ooOOoo00ooOOoo00ooOOoo
"Theodora, you must wake," a strange voice was calling. Theo groaned and turned over in the warm bed, hiding deeper into the covers.
"Theodora," the voice continued. Theo's only reply was to pull the covers all the way over her head. "Theodora, it is late. You need to be up, and awake." The voice was harsher now, and someone jarred her shoulder, shaking the last bits of sleep from her body.
"Whadda want?" asked the drowsy Theo, throwing the cover back and glaring at the owner of the voice. It was Lindhall, and he looked a bit miffed at her. She didn't care at the moment. She was tired, and wanted to sleep. "What time is it?" she asked him groggily, looking around the room. It was still as orderly as it had been when she had fallen asleep. The suns rays only slightly penetrating the room, it looked to be still very early. She looked towards the couch that Justin had apparently slept on, and had to grin. Justin was still asleep, half falling off of the couch. That was just like him. He was always able to sleep in any position.
Lindhall interrupted her thoughts, answering her earlier question tartly. "It is half and hour past sun-up already, and—"
"It's what!?" Theo interrupted. "Half an hour… that means its like 6:30!" she practically yelled, and fell back onto the bed, covering herself with the blanket once more. "No descant person gets up at this ungodly hour!" Lindhall could hear her mumble under the blanket. He stared at the lump of the blanket, astonished that someone could sleep so long. He stood back with his mouth slightly open, and then turned to Justin, who seemed to have been woken up by Theo's yelling.
Justin looked back and shrugged, smiling slightly. "She's not much of a morning person," he explained to the confused looking Lindhall. Stifling a laugh, he got up from the couch and stumbled through a door to the dressing room. Lindhall followed, shaking his head.
"I have acquired clothes that you and Theodora can wear in public without causing suspicion as to your origins." Lindhall told him, handing a stack of clothes to the boy. He took them from Lindhall, and held them up to inspect them. Almost immediately, he turned up his nose in distaste at these new clothes. There was a shirt, but it looked baggy, and had full- length arms that flared at the hands. He wasn't sure he was going to like this. Apprehensively, he picked up the pants. They were tight looking, and brown. But I like my baggy pants. He whined inside. What he though, was a small thanks to Lindhall, and went into the smaller dressing room, to attempt to put on these strange clothes.
Lindhall left him to sort the clothes out, and returned to the main room, to see if he could persuade the girl to get out of bed. He went to the edge, and saw that she was still covered by the blankets. He sighed. What was it going to take to get her up? He thought, exasperated. He shook her again, but all she did to respond was groan, and shiver deeper into the bed. After a few more minutes of calling and coaxing and shaking, he was getting frustrated. A noise from the other side of the room made him look up, and smile at what he saw.
Justin appeared from the dressing room, looking like the picture of a scholar at the University. Lindhall had picked out tan breeches and a light blue shirt that spoke of wealth and prestige, but at the same time, told the people that he was a scholar. Justin, however, looked pained. He had an uncomfortable look on his face, and he was shifting in the doorway.
"Is there something wrong?" Lindhall asked him politely.
Justin fidgeted even more, but finally whined, "These are uncomfortable." Lindhal shook his head, and turned back to the challenge of waking Theo. He was interrupted, however, on his first unsuccessful shake.
"No, no, no," Justin said, laughing, but coming to the edge of Theo's bed to help Lindhall. "You'll never get her up like that. She's built up an immunity to her little sisters. You have to kind of, well, scare her into getting up." He grinned at this, and stepped closer to the bed, taking hold of the top of the covers and taking a deep breath. "THEODORA! GET UP NOW!" he bellowed at her, ripping the blanket off the bed at the same time.
Theo's reaction was instantaneous. She leapt up from the bed, on her feet on the floor in seconds. She was panting, and breathing heavily, when she looked wildly around her. She took in Lindhall, standing a few feet back, looking amazed. Her eyes then moved to Justin, standing a little bit away, holding the blanket that had been on her bed, and laughing quietly to himself.
"I am going to kill you!" she yelled at him, her face getting redder by the second. "Why the hell did you have to go and do that? I was trying to sleep! Do you know what time it is?" she was prepared to rant on longer, but she was interrupted, not by Justin, but Lindhall this time.
"Young lady," he said calmly, looking at Theo. She gulped. Only her father called her young lady, and that was when she was in trouble. She shut up, and looked at him. "I am perfectly aware of what time it is, and it is late. I have a group of scholars coming to my office today, who need only to see two stowaways in my chambers to report it to the Emperor. Now," he said calmly, "do you want that to happen?" Theo shook her head, and looked at the floor, ashamed of herself.
"No, sir," she said quietly. "And I am sorry I didn't get up. I, well, I'm not much of a morning person…" she trailed off, and looked back at Justin again. What she saw made her giggle a bit. "Where did you get those clothes?" she asked him, her amusement more than evident.
Justin's face went red, and he stood straighter. "It's so we blend in," he defended, blushing horribly. Theo giggled again.
"Don't worry, Theodora," Lindhall told her. She made a mental note to get him to call her Theo like everyone else, but listened otherwise. "I have clothes for you also." This stopped Theo's giggling immediately.
"What?" she asked wildly. "I'm not wearing those clothes!" she shook her head, to emphasize her point. There was no way they would get her to look as much of a clown as Justin did.
Lindhall shook his head. "Of course not. I wouldn't put you in those clothes."
"Oh, good-" she started, but was cut off again.
"You can't wear those clothes," Lindhall said, now smiling. "You must wear a dress, as is appropriate for a lady of your age."
Theo stared at him, openmouthed. It was Justin's turn to try and hide a laugh. "A what?" she said finally, but didn't bother to let him answer. "No way! No way are you going to get me into a dress!" the horrible picture of a middle-ages corset came to her mind, and she shook her head forcefully. "There is no way I am wearing a dress."
Lindhall looked put off once more at her audacity. "But you must," he told her, stepping forward. Unknown to Theo, Justin crept closer on the other side. "You must wear a gown, or people here will talk, and bring attention to you. Attention, my dear, is the last thing you want right now."
Theo said nothing, but continued to sputter and shake her head.
"Theo," Justin said quietly from behind her, making her jump. How did he get so close with out me knowing? She asked herself. "Master Lindhall has guests, and you need to be as inconspicuous as possible." He told her, his voice soft and calming.
Theo knew he was right, and hated him for it. Why did he always have to be right about the stupid stuff? She sighed, and resigned, letting Justin drag her to the dressing room door. Lindhall handed her a small stack of clothes from a cupboard to her left, and left her to it. She sighed again, and looked around. There was a mirror next to the sink, but it was small. How was anyone supposed to see their entire outfit? she wondered. She ignored it, though, and went back to her stack of clothes that she held. She picked out the dress, and held it up. It was a cream colored gown, with small, needle point decorations at the top. It really doesn't look half bad, she told herself resentfully. She still didn't want to wear a dress. It wasn't that she didn't like getting dressed up. She always went all out for formal dances and stuff. But when she wanted to be comfortable, all she wore was jeans and a T-shirt. Right now, she didn't wasn't to be dressed up. She wanted to be comfortable and she didn't care if she was raggy looking. Just wear it, she snapped at herself, and began to undress. She slowly figured out how to fit the undergarments on, (There are so damn many! She thought while struggling with them.) and was just tying the last laces in the back of the dress when Justin called from the other side of the door.
"Theo?" he was speaking quietly, trying to hide his annoyance. "Are you going to take all morning?" he asked her.
"Shut up." She murmured back, not caring at the moment. "I am going as fast as I can." She snapped back to him. She finally finished with the laces, pulled on the slightly small boots, and still tying them, opened the door.
Justin looked surprised that she had opened the door so soon, but quickly got over it. He stared at Theo, who was still bent over tying her shoelaces quickly. She stood up, slightly wobbly on the shoes, which were raised a bit, but steadied herself. She looked back at Justin, who now had boots himself on, who was presently staring at her.
"What?" she asked shortly, after a few moments where he said nothing. "Why're you staring at me?" she asked him, suddenly worried that she looked horrendous.
Justin started, and smiled at Theo. "Nothing," he told her, looking amused. "Nothing at all." Theo didn't trust him, but simply walked out to the main room shaking her head. He was being weird again. Theo passed Justin, and walked quickly to Lindhall's office. They found him studying a pack of lizards in one of his glass tanks, seemingly lost for the moment.
"err… Master Lindhall?" Theo asked after a second.
"I must insist you stop calling me 'Master'" he told them, amusement playing on his face. "I have not reached the level of mastery, and therefore do not deserve the title."
Theo grinned. "Then I must insist that you stop calling me Theodora," she told him. "Only my mother calls me Theodora, and that's only when I'm in trouble."
Lindhall grinned, and turned away from the lizards to address the two teens. They looked perfect. Just like two students who would not be noticed in a crowd of people, which was what they needed at the moment. "Thank you both for wearing these clothes. I appreciate it, if no one else will." He winked at Theo, and continued. "I do have other mages coming here today though, and you two cannot be here for the meeting. You will need to go downstairs into the University and spend the day, where you will not be noticed. Perhaps the library will help with some books on spells to transfer people to alternate universes." He said, slightly worried at the news.
Theo was divided. A day to themselves could be helpful. They could sit and discuss what they wanted to do, where they wanted to go, and most importantly, how they were going to get home. On the other hand, they might get lost in this huge city size university, and Theo did not want to spend a day of wandering through a strange country with a very angry emperor on her tail. The experience didn't sound pleasant. Lindhall assuaged her fears almost immediately however.
"do not worry about getting lost, though," he said smiling. Any one you ask will be happy to tell you where my office is, and they cannot suspect anything, because I often have many pupils some to me during off hours to discuss my class. No one will suspect anything." he smiled at them both, and went to the door. "I am afraid that they will be coming soon, so I must show you both to the library, and you can find your way to everywhere else from there." He led them out the door-which shut behind them on its own-and down the hall.
They walked for a while, Theo tripping on the hem of her dress only a few times. It was hard to walk all the time holding part of the skirt up. She suddenly gained a lot of admiration for the women who dressed like this all the time here. They finally arrived, after many twists and turns in the corridors, on the ground floor in a spacious hallway. It was different from the one they had entered yesterday. It had no special decorations on the walls and it looked like it was less used.
On the far end, slightly to the left of them, were two huge doors. As they walked closer in silence, Theo could tell they were made of some exotic looking wood, and were carved with beautiful designs full of animals and many books. Lindhall pushed on an Ivory handle and opened the door into the largest library that Theo had ever seen, even in movies. It was huge. Filled with people of all ages sitting and reading a large volume, or walking around the large rows of bookcases searching for something in particular.
Lindhall led them to a small table in the middle of the room, and they quietly sat down, Lindhall whispered to them, "Good luck. I will need you back at my office at three-o-clock. See you then." And turned back and strode out of the room.
Theo sat, looked around her, appreciating at all the wonderful books that had to be stored here and learning that could be done here. She looked back at Justin, who was sitting in his seat looking glum. "What's the matter?" she asked him in a whisper, leaning close to hear the answer.
"We're stuck in a Library for the next few hours." He whispered fiercely back at her. "What do you think is the matter?" Theo just shook her head and grinned. That was just like Justin. To think he could be bored in a library amused her, but that was always like him.
"Don't be such a spoil sport." She told him sniggering. "I'm sure you can find a nice math book or something here." He perked up at that, and they stood and made their way to a random aisle and started looking at the books. The first ones they saw made Theo's mind implode. They had bizarre titles, most of which she couldn't even understand. Then there was the occasional book that looked to be written in an entirely different language that Common, which was what the university seemed to use for everything. Theo couldn't even begin to decipher those. Justin wandered off to an aisle with the heading, 'Arithmacy' and started looking at books there.
]
Theo was content just to search for a title in random aisles that looked interesting. She finally settled on finding the aisle that had the sign 'Transportation', and looked up and down the aisle there. She went up and down the aisle a few times, trying to find a book that looked even remotely easy to understand. She finally came across a weathered book with a broken spine titled, The Mage Craft of Trans-Universal Travel. This looks promising, she thought, taking it from the shelf and hefting it into her arms. Its heavy! She exclaimed inwardly.
She resolved to settle the massive volume in the crook of her elbow and slowly made the way back to the table, grumbling about weighty books as she walked. As she was passing the end of a bookcase, a steady glow caught her eye.
She forgot about the book in her hands and made her way to the bookcase. There, it was a book, radiating a steady, pale glow. She set the transportation book down on the floor and looked around a moment. There were a few people around her in the aisle, but none seemed to take any notice of the light coming from the book in front of her. Weird, she thought. Defiantly very weird. Her mind raced, and she suddenly remembered speaking to Numair the day before. He had said that she could see magic… Was this a magicked book that no one could see but her? Shouldn't Lindhall know that there was a book full of magic in the Library?
She laughed to herself after thinking that last thought. This was a University of Magic! Shouldn't there be books full of magic in the library? Of course, she told herself, there were probably tons of books here with magic in them. Theo was curious, however, as to what kind of book would need magic in it itself. She bent further to take a look at the title, and received a surprise.
It had to title on the binding. Theo, unthinking, reached down to pull it out of the shelf to look at the cover. The moment her had touched to binding, there was an almighty roar in her ears, and Theo felt the all-too familiar feeling behind her stomach. OH CRAP! She shouted, though she couldn't hear herself. She was falling through a black pit, and her stomach was in her throat. When would it end? Theo was still falling when the darkness overtook her.
