"Pull harder!" Celno commanded.
Anelle pulled the corset ties until her knuckles turned white. She braced her foot against the bed and pulled with all her strength. The ties strained around the corset as it tightened. She secured a firm bow and released her grip.
Celno let out a breath, smiling as her chest ballooned over the top of the corset. She ran her hands over her impressively thin waist.
"Is there anything else?" Anelle asked, her tone pleasant, hiding her suspicion and disdain of the woman standing before her.
"No, you can leave." Celno said dismissing her.
Anelle swiftly exited the room and made her way down the corridor.
"Anelle!" Yulin shouted down the hall.
She turned.
"Dame Luel is looking for you. She's outside the main hall." Yulin said, making her way to Anelle.
"I still need to help Iva and Hano dress." Anelle said.
"I can finish for you," Yulin said, she leaned in and whispered, "She is not in a good mood, go now."
"Thank you." Anelle responded as she started heading towards the main hall.
Dame Luel was waiting as Anelle rounded the corner. She wore a floor length burgundy gown so dark it was almost black. The fabric hugged her thin frame. She looked Anelle up and down before handing her a shawl.
"Cover yourself and follow." Luel said, as she turned and gracefully walked away.
Anelle threw the shawl over her shoulders, covering her chest, and quickened her steps to keep up. The Dame guided her through the halls, past Moreal's chambers to a large wooden door with wrought iron bars across the front. Dame Luel reached into her pocket and pulled out a set of keys hanging on a long chain. She flicked through the keys and placed one into the door's lock. Luel looked over her shoulder at Anelle.
"Everything that happens past this door is to be taken to your grave. You can ask Moreal any questions you may have. But ensure no wandering ears hear you, understood?" Luel asked.
"Yes, Dame Luel." Anelle responded, focusing on her Ealrian pronunciation.
Satisfied Luel turned the key. The gate and the door opened, allowing Anelle to walk through. Luel locked the gate and the door behind them.
They stood in a thin service corridor. The space was devoid of any windows. Sconces dotted the passageway every few metres, lit with tue stones. Shadows pooled in every crevice the light couldn't reach.
The faint sound of talking and clinking of utensils drifted from the end of the hall. Dame Luel started heading towards the sound.
The passage opened into a small dining room with a large kitchen leading off from it. At the head of the table sat a burly man with only a few dark hairs combed over the top of his head, in an outdated gentleman's evening suit. The woman to his left wore a grey working woman's dress and her speckled brown and grey hair was pulled back into a bun. Down the table sat a middle aged woman in a similar grey dress with a maids apron on and two young gentlemen in footman's livery.
The conversation died as they entered and five sets of eyes turned to them. Anelle pulled on a neutral mask, her body wanted to shrivel up and disappear from their disapproving looks.
"Good evening." Dame Luel said. "Sorry to disturb your dinner but I wished to catch you before you all set off to bed for the night."
"What can we do for you, lady Luel." The butler at the head of the table grumbled as he went back to eating his meal.
Dame Luel's lips thinned, the only sign of her disdain.
"I wish to introduce our new Wyrish in training, Anelle." Dame Luel waved her forward and Anelle performed a curtsy.
"It is a pleasure to meet you all." Anelle said.
"Lord Castellac has given his permission for Anelle to use the library. She will come and go as she needs." Dame Luel continued.
The older woman laid down her cutlery and addressed Anelle.
"A pleasure my dear. My name is Mrs Corda, the head maid," she gestured to the man at the head of the table, who was now fully ignoring them as he ate, "Mr Demas here, is the butler of the house. You may use the library as you wish but I ask you only do so at night to ensure that you are not seen by anyone." She turned her gaze to Dame Luel, "Can she write?"
"She can." Dame Luel responded.
"Good. Then make sure you check out each book you take. His lordship is very protective of his literature." She finished turning her gaze back to Anelle.
"Of course." Anelle responded.
Mrs Corda turned back to her meal, finished with the conversation.
Dame Luel led the way out of the servants' dining room and through the maze of passageways within the walls of the old house. A thin door opened into the main house.
The room was small and cozy with high ceilings. Ten foot tall windows lined the exterior wall with cushioned velvet window seats. The room was an antechamber to the library. Glass double doors led into the dark stacks. The waning moon's light cast shadows through the windows.
Dame Luel opened a cabinet and pulled out a metal candle holder and matches. She lit the candle and held it out in front of her as she entered the library. The warm orange light cast a small circle around them.
Shelves filled with books from floor to ceiling covered the walls and a balcony on three sides of the room allowed access to the higher shelves. Free standing shelves as tall as a single story stood proud in the centre of the room. The top of the shelves had stone creatures lounging across them; a great lizard; a lynx; and a murder of crows, guarding the books.
Dame Luel walked over to a lectern stationed in front of two large wooden doors that rose almost to the ceiling. The doors had the same spiralling script of different phy symbols that adorned many doors over the city.
Luel pointed to the lectern. "Mark in here what book you take out of the library and when you return them."
"Yes, Dame."
"The door back to our side of the house will be left open for two hours, make sure you are back before then."
Anelle nodded as Luel handed her the candle holder and exited the way they had come.
Anelle felt excitement bubbling through her veins. She was surrounded by books. Thousands of stories; hundreds of hours she could spend escaping from reality. She smiled wide at the prospect of slowly making her way through all these books.
Her smile fell as she remembered Kae taking her to the church library. Her stomach pulled tight. She blinked back tears as she remembered Kae and his love for learning. Back then she had no longer felt such a strong pull to escape into stories. Her new found freedom had given her the hope to plan her own story but now she was trapped again. The chains that bind her life were far colder now she had dared to dream of a life and love of her choosing.
Anelle shook off the memory and looked around the library. This was her chance to find answers to her strange dreams. In the second dream her parents' bodies had been sitting on white stone thrones. Anelle shuddered at the image of bodies. She had been a princess. The place to start would be looking at the Athon royal family and seeing if there was any information on white flames. Perhaps then she could look up the word 'Enfir' as well.
A shelf on the right side of the room took her interest, the bottom two shelves lay completely empty. She began meandering down the aisles wondering where to start.
Moreal's words on medicine came to mind. A Wyrish was the only physician the courtesans were allowed. A book or two on herbal remedies and modern medicine would be helpful to pick up.
The main doors opened. Anelle stopped in her musings and waited for someone to walk round the end of the shelf. She held her breath, feeling like a child about to be caught out of bed after lights out. Soft footsteps made their way down the other side of the shelf Anelle had been pursuing.
"Is someone there?" A deep male voice asked over the stacks.
"May I inquire as to who's asking?" Anelle quietly asked back.
A soft chuckle sounded as a gentleman rounded the end of the shelf.
"It is not often I am asked to explain my presence in my own house." He replied.
Lark Castellac had dark hair and angular facial features that the dark shadows loved to hide in. He wore a long silk robe over a plum sleep shirt and pants.
Anelle averted her eyes, lowering her head.
"Please accept my apology, Lord Castellac. I…I was not thinking when I spoke." Anelle lowered into a deep curtsy, holding the candle out steady.
"Think nothing of it. I told Mr Demas I was turning in for the night. You could not have known I would be here."
"I will leave you in peace, my Lord." Anelle lowered herself into another curtsy before turning to leave.
"Please stay. I am only here to pick out a book."
Anelle hesitated a moment then went back to looking at the shelves.
"Thank you, my Lord."
"Are you Moreal's new student? What was your name?"
"Anelle, my Lord."
"Ah yes. You are a foreigner and still learning Ealrian."
"That is correct, my Lord."
"Well along the back wall on the first floor is a selection of medical books, my grandfather was fond of collecting those. He claimed he would have been a physician if his father had allowed it. Moreal has found them useful over the years."
"I will make note of that. Is the rest of the library organised by genre?"
"No, this library had a rather unorthodox system. My great grandfather created it when he inherited the title of Lord. He wanted to leave something for future generations to build upon. He filled most of the northern side. My grandfather filled the back wall with medical journals. My father built and filled the shelves in the centre of the room with history. I was left with most of the southern wall that is before you."
He ran his finger tips over the book spines absent mindedly. Anelle raised the candle to help him see.
"Thank you. You may wish to use the women's library through that door," He pointed at a small door between the shelves. "You may enjoy those books more than reading about herbs and long dead kings."
"Thank you, my Lord. However, I can assure you, my gender does not dictate my taste in literature." Anelle replied, her tone harding on the last word.
"I fear you have misunderstood the context of my words. Shall we say romance novels, that are more popular with the fairer sex, will provide more examples of modern conversations and help you improve your vocabulary, far more than the war logs from General Talbert during the battle of Yrsin."
"Please forgive my assumption, my Lord." Anelle apologised. She turned away to hide her embarrassment.
The Lord pulled a navy blue book off the shelf and opened to the first page.
"I have kept you far too long, I will leave you in peace. Goodnight." He said as he closed the cover.
Anelle quickly bobbed into another curtsy as he passed. She picked up the book she had been eyeing and headed over to the central shelves.
*****
Anelle balanced her stack of books and made her way down through the halls. She weaved her way through the house, keeping to back corridors to avoid any customers. She turned the corner to her room and listened for anyone close by.
All was quiet.
She opened her door and paused, looking down at the books in her arms. Worry creeped into her veins at the thought of these precious and no doubt expensive books being ripped apart or damaged.
Anelle looked around the corridor. Maybe she could leave them in Moreal chambers? Across the hall was a cupboard door. Anelle looked inside. It was a linen closet with an old sheet on the floor. It hadn't been used in some time; cobwebs were intricately laced across each corner. The multi legged weavers lay in perfect stillness for their prey.
A clunk sounded down the hall.
Anelle duked into the cupboard and quietly closed the door. She peaked through the wooden slats across the hall.
Another clunk sounded, followed by hushed whispers.
Celno came into view followed shortly by Ekia and Hano who were struggling to lift a bucket of dirty water.
"Come on," Celno whispered, "we do not know when she will return."
"Then maybe you should help us!" Ekia spat back.
"Stop your complaining, we are here now." Celno replied as she opened the door to Anelle's room and gagged. She covered her face against the smell. "That fish still smells awful." With one hand over her face she began pulling out Anelle's spare clothes and bedding.
Ekia and Hano lifted the bucket and poured most of it over the floor, saving a small amount for the bed.
Celno stepped outside, taking deep breaths of untainted air. She smiled at her new creation.
"Let's see how that bitch sleeps tonight." Celno laughed.
Anelle revelled in the rage that coursed through her body. Anger gave way to feral revenge. Now that she knew who to target she would begin planning.
A savage line cut her face at the thought of what she would do to them.