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And then she saw that there was a fine cage around it The steel h for her to exalow to escape, but it certainly wasn’t wide enough for her to slide the book out There wasn’t even an obvious lock, let alone a key Words in the Language orked into the nize them: they were a vocabulary that she had never learned

‘Ray!’ Alberich called Irene looked up and saw hi through the air on a bridge of books that turound as he passed

It was the first tihout the whole wild chase He was tall, and painfully thin – assuinal one, and not just another stolen skin The hooded black robe that he affected (really, how clichéd) was draped over his gaunt fraes and dust alike across the landscape of bookshelves His brown hair was streaked with grey and was thinning like athose books from under him and let him drop, but that seemed too obvious Besides, he could siain She’d never duelled like this before One needed to strike in a way that the opponent couldn’t sie as if it washer ‘Yes?’ she called back Could she order all the cages to open, so that the books would fly out? But taking the tiive Alberich a full sentence in which he could strike back

He stepped off the bridge of books onto one of the further staircases, a good twenty yards away from her and five yards further up ‘Have you quite finished with your adolescent rebellion?’

‘No,’ Irene retorted She reached out to touch the cage, but yanked her fingers back as she felt the prickle of chaotic power in the ironwork ‘Come closer and I’ll demonstrate’ Could she order the metal stairs to bind him? What could she say that Alberich couldn’t counter?

‘I want to tell you one thing’ His sentences were shorter now, more clipped Was it in case she counterattackedto find them You have inconvenienced me They will pay for it’

It was a petty, spiteful threat But the sheer malice contained in it, the absolute viciousness of his tone, cut at Irene and ing sideways along a horizontal stretch of ay Perhaps she couldif she reached the clock

‘Oh? Really? I’ve had centuries of life I’ood at what I do’ Alberich kept his distance, but started to trace a parallel course to hers, clearly planning to keep between her and the clock

Irene laughed It wasn’t a very good laugh, but it bolstered her spirits ‘You don’t understand My parents are Librarians They can run from you forever!’

To her surprise, Alberich actually stopped walking ‘They’re what?’ he said

‘Librarians Like you or ed to unsettle him ‘So, you see’

Then she saw his face clearly, and her words ran dry in her mouth He wasn’t shocked or unsettled He was ae, and they had left lines of cruelty etched around his e itself His voice was full of a horrible good huirl That simply isn’t possible I should knoo Librarians can’t have a child’

Irene blinked That statement didn’t make any sense ‘But you said you have a son’

‘That’s how I know’ He began to walk again ‘You have no idea what it took I had to take her deep into chaos tofrom me’ His mouth opened impossibly wide, and his tone deepened to a roar ‘So don’t insult me with such stories’

‘Believe what you want,’ Irene snapped She was closer to the central clock now Unfortunately, said closeness involved a vertical drop of about five yards before she could edge any further on a horizontal level Manageable with caution and with the Language, but less welcos up ‘I know--’

‘You obviously don’t know anything,’ he cut her off ‘And nobody ever told you No doubt to spare your feelings and keep you loyal Are you soe brat, Ray? Or were you stolen fro time with the clock ‘If it wasn’t for the inconvenience you’ve caused ht even feel sorry for you I know all about how it feels to find out your whole life was based on a lie’

‘Really? So as yours?’ It was a poor comeback, but it was the best Irene could do The rest of her mind was flooded with the concept that she wasn’t what she thought she was For every sensible objection of he’s lying and why should I believe hiuenuinely surprised when she’d said she was the child of two Librarians She would swear it hadn’t been faked

Did it make any difference if she wasn’t the child of the people she’d called parents? If the fact of her birth was a lie, then was it such an important lie?

‘The Library claims to preserve the balance between chaos and order But that’s a lie That’s what children get told to keep them quiet and obedient’ They were on a level with each other now, and he stopped to look across at her ‘If you join le" style="display:block" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7451196230453695" data-ad-slot="9930101810" data-ad-format="auto" data-full-width-responsive="true">