Ezo felt the breath leave his body at the thought of another repository, like he’d found at Riverkeep. He walked down the hallway and found two doors on the right, one on the left, and one at the end. He opened both doors on the right and found bedrooms. He was disappointed to find a kitchen and communal dining room at the end of the hall. When he reached the st door on the left, he felt jitters in his stomach.

  Kammon watched him. “You knew about this pce?” he asked.

  “Yes. No. I mean, I found something while I was traveling. Not this pce, but I thought it might be simir when I saw the locked door.”

  “What is it, Ezo?” Remec asked.

  Ezo looked at the door in front of him and pushed it open. When he stepped inside, he was facing a long table and chairs. The room was rger than all of Riverkeep combined. The walls were lined with books, except where a door or firepce blocked the way. To the left of the table was a set of half walls, spaced far enough apart for spell work and practice. Past that was another table.

  Ezo walked toward it and realized the room turned down the other side, and a series of bookcases filled the end corner. This section alone housed as many books as Riverkeep.

  He felt Kammon beside him and turned to watch as his lover pulled a book from the shelf. “How is this here?” he asked. Ezo knew it wasn’t a question for him, but he had wanted to tell Kammon about Riverkeep since he’d found it. The situation had just never been right for the telling.

  “When I was looking for you after I left the Pyers, I found an old book. The man told me he found it in the ashes of an old castle. When I went there to look, I found a simir cavern. It was a cave system that led to the back of a waterfall. The word carved above the window overlooking that waterfall was Riverkeep. It’s not as big as this, but I had a few weeks to study the books there. The book I carry with me was from that library,” he told Kammon.

  “Why would Jacob go to the trouble of keeping this?” Remec asked. “What is so important in those books?”

  “I don’t know about these, but I can guess they were the same as what I found at Riverkeep. It’s history. Magic. Books that are uncensored and unedited by the men who rule this country. They’ve tried to take our magic from us. I didn’t have time to learn much, but there is a wealth of knowledge that someone is protecting.”

  “And you think Jacob was the caretaker of this pce?” Kammon asked.

  “I think Jacob was. And I think he wanted me to care for it when he was gone. Keeping me local. Keeping me away from the University where my loyalties might have been split. It makes more sense if he wanted to keep me here because of this.”

  “There’s only one way to find out,” Kammon said.

  Ezo nodded. “We need to look through the books to see what they’ve got here.”

  “And you need to read your uncle’s journal,” Kammon said. “It’s time to see what Jacob was doing. Did he pn for this all along? Or are we just lucky that you remembered the path that brought us to Mountainkeep?”

  “This is a lot to go through.” It was daunting, but there was a sense of excitement coming from his lover that Ezo eagerly matched.

  “I’ll get the fire going to give you better light,” Kammon offered.

  “It looks like I’ll be on supply duty,” Remec offered. “If we’re going to be here a while, I’ll check the kitchen and get our supplies.”

  “Once I get the fires going, I’ll help you find a pce to settle the horses. We need to get them off the road before someone decides to take them or see where their owners are.”

  Remec nodded before he headed out. Ezo wiped at the dusty seat at a smaller table on the side of the bookshelves and opened his uncle’s journal. He didn’t know what Jacob would teach him now, but he was tired of questions without answers.

  He just hoped the journal answered more questions than their journey had raised.

  ChrisBannor