Unquestioned Answers

Loren not afraid to use every trick in the book Loren had indeed grabbed the first volume he’d reached for, but even as he took it down from the shelf another had caught his eye. This one, Beasts of the Hollowed Ground, actually seemed more relevant to the Launceleyn at this time. After all, it appeared that there were quite a few dangerous—or just weird—creatures that lived here that he needed to know about. Given that most of the other outlanders had a full year to get up to speed, the summoner had a lot of catching up to do. Given how much of a burden he’d already proven to be, he wouldn’t impose himself on anyone else ever again, not if he could help it. Holding both books in a familiar position in the crook of his elbow, he scanned the shelves for anything else that might prove useful or interesting. He was so wrapped up in his search that he completely failed to hear the woman approach behind him. When she spoke, he glanced over his shoulder, then turned fully to face her. “Hello.” His own voice was barely above a whisper. Which was good, because he wasn’t sure how it would come out if it was anything above that. He’d gone through so much in just a short time back that he was never quite sure what feelings would bubble up at any given time. Mostly, though, he was tired: the dark circles around his eyes underscored that, and his already sharp cheekbones and skeletal frame looked even worse, if such a thing were possible. The emotional upheaval was eating away at him from the inside, and it showed. So the once over he gave the woman before him was sluggish and unfocused. Perhaps that’s why she looked familiar, because for the life of him he couldn’t place her. Still, her approach had been friendly enough, something he wasn’t used to these days. Even better, it looked like her research was similar to his, if the titles he could half spy were anything to go by. “Looks like we’ve got similar interests.” He held up his own tomes for her to see. Then, because he’d been a librarian once upon a time (and still was, in his heart), he decided to see if he could be of use. That’s all he really wanted these days. “Can I help you find something?” Of course, even as he spoke (still in a whisper) he realized he didn’t know the classification system they’d made here. But he could figure it out.