the end furthest from the main doors. She did not hesitate, but led him straight to a particular shelf where she proceeded to run her
index finger along the spines until she found what she was looking for.
‘Here’s one . . . and here’s another,’ she said, tipping each out in turn and passing them to Reynik. ‘There should also be some more over here. Yes, here we are.
There are several more here. Hmm, that’s odd!’
‘What?’ Reynik asked, his ears pricking immediately. ‘What’s odd?’
‘Two of these have been tagged, but I’ve never seen tags this colour before.’
‘Tagged? What does that mean?’ he asked, sensing potential trouble.
‘It’s part of our library administration system. Normally a tagged book has particular handling restrictions. For example if this were a blue tag, then the book could only be handled
in the presence of a librarian. If it were a gold tag, then the book is regarded as so rare as to be priceless. Those books may only be viewed in a locked side room. Books with gold tags are
obviously not kept out on the general shelves, but you get the idea. I’ve been working here a couple of years now, but I’ve not noticed any books with a black tag before. I’d
better go and check what the handling restriction on these books are before I let you look through them, if that’s all right.’
Reynik regarded her for a moment, looking for any hint that there might be more to the tags than she was letting on. Either she was telling the truth, or she was an extraordinarily accomplished
liar, he thought.
‘That’s fine,’ he said, putting his discomfort down to unwarranted paranoia. ‘Go ahead. I’ve plenty here to be getting along with.’
Reynik took his stack of books across to a nearby table and shuffled through the volumes before choosing which one to begin. The tome he picked was thick and looked to contain a lot of detail.
He had barely skimmed the preface before the librarian returned.
‘Sorry about that,’ she said, her face a little flushed. ‘The tags were old; left over from a previous indexing system, I believe. I’ve removed them now. Here you
are.’
He thanked her as she handed over the books and she gave him a weak smile before beating a hasty retreat. There was something strange going on here, he realised. The librarian had seemed
perfectly organised and confident before finding them. It was true that no one liked to look the fool. Maybe she felt her lack of knowledge about the tags made her look unprofessional in some way.
Regardless of the reason for her fluster, he determined to keep an eye on her as best he could whilst reading the books. He knew he could not be too careful whilst in the heart of Shandrim.
Reynik placed the two books on the top of the stack and returned to his first choice of text. He was not a fast reader. This was going to take some time. Opening the front cover with a sigh, he
began reading. Within a few minutes the text drew him in such that he forgot his intention of monitoring the librarian.
At the other end of the library the young woman sat down at her desk, pulled out a piece of parchment and, with shaking hands, swiftly scratched out a short note. She signed it, folded it and
sealed it with the city library seal. She glanced nervously across the hall at where the young man sat reading. He looked oblivious to her, lost in the pages of the book in front of him. She rose
silently from her table, crossed the short distance to the main door and slipped outside. The grand entrance steps between the twin columns led down to a small square.
It took less than a minute for her to find a boy willing to run an errand for a few copper sennuts. As she watched him race off down the street clutching the letter, the librarian wondered what
would happen next. The instructions in her desk on what to do if someone asked for those two books had been strange. The administrative notes had led her to a sealed letter placed on a high
index finger along the spines until she found what she was looking for.
‘Here’s one . . . and here’s another,’ she said, tipping each out in turn and passing them to Reynik. ‘There should also be some more over here. Yes, here we are.
There are several more here. Hmm, that’s odd!’
‘What?’ Reynik asked, his ears pricking immediately. ‘What’s odd?’
‘Two of these have been tagged, but I’ve never seen tags this colour before.’
‘Tagged? What does that mean?’ he asked, sensing potential trouble.
‘It’s part of our library administration system. Normally a tagged book has particular handling restrictions. For example if this were a blue tag, then the book could only be handled
in the presence of a librarian. If it were a gold tag, then the book is regarded as so rare as to be priceless. Those books may only be viewed in a locked side room. Books with gold tags are
obviously not kept out on the general shelves, but you get the idea. I’ve been working here a couple of years now, but I’ve not noticed any books with a black tag before. I’d
better go and check what the handling restriction on these books are before I let you look through them, if that’s all right.’
Reynik regarded her for a moment, looking for any hint that there might be more to the tags than she was letting on. Either she was telling the truth, or she was an extraordinarily accomplished
liar, he thought.
‘That’s fine,’ he said, putting his discomfort down to unwarranted paranoia. ‘Go ahead. I’ve plenty here to be getting along with.’
Reynik took his stack of books across to a nearby table and shuffled through the volumes before choosing which one to begin. The tome he picked was thick and looked to contain a lot of detail.
He had barely skimmed the preface before the librarian returned.
‘Sorry about that,’ she said, her face a little flushed. ‘The tags were old; left over from a previous indexing system, I believe. I’ve removed them now. Here you
are.’
He thanked her as she handed over the books and she gave him a weak smile before beating a hasty retreat. There was something strange going on here, he realised. The librarian had seemed
perfectly organised and confident before finding them. It was true that no one liked to look the fool. Maybe she felt her lack of knowledge about the tags made her look unprofessional in some way.
Regardless of the reason for her fluster, he determined to keep an eye on her as best he could whilst reading the books. He knew he could not be too careful whilst in the heart of Shandrim.
Reynik placed the two books on the top of the stack and returned to his first choice of text. He was not a fast reader. This was going to take some time. Opening the front cover with a sigh, he
began reading. Within a few minutes the text drew him in such that he forgot his intention of monitoring the librarian.
At the other end of the library the young woman sat down at her desk, pulled out a piece of parchment and, with shaking hands, swiftly scratched out a short note. She signed it, folded it and
sealed it with the city library seal. She glanced nervously across the hall at where the young man sat reading. He looked oblivious to her, lost in the pages of the book in front of him. She rose
silently from her table, crossed the short distance to the main door and slipped outside. The grand entrance steps between the twin columns led down to a small square.
It took less than a minute for her to find a boy willing to run an errand for a few copper sennuts. As she watched him race off down the street clutching the letter, the librarian wondered what
would happen next. The instructions in her desk on what to do if someone asked for those two books had been strange. The administrative notes had led her to a sealed letter placed on a high
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