Thorindir heard them coming before he saw them. He turned to see Amara, looking harassed, heading toward him while one of the young soldiers jabbered in her ear.

"General Thorindir, I and the lady Amara have come to ask if you will join us for a round of drinks," Liam called.

Thorindir raised a brow. "Really?"

The young soldier laughed. "Please come, sir. The lady claims she will only come if you do as well."

Even more surprised and bemused, he cast his gaze to Amara, who looked as if she were cursing herself. He wondered what answer she was hoping for from him. Probably a refusal. But they needed to become closer with the people if they were to work together in the future. If they were feeling comfortable enough to ask Amara and him to go out for a round of drinks, it would be foolish to refuse.

"I don't see why not."

Amara's mouth dropped open.

"Good man," crowed Liam. "Let us be off!"

They started toward the city, and Amara cast him an indignant look. Obviously she hadn't expected him to say yes. Thorindir smirked, proud to have surprised her.

Liam was back to chattering, and Thorindir followed the two leisurely. A dozen of the soldiers they trained with were already at the tavern when they arrived. Their entrance was greeted with cheers and people calling for drinks. Thorindir saw Amara vanish in a crowd of men handing her drinks from all angles. He laughed, but his smile vanished as the barkeep frowned at him. There were other patrons frowning as well. He gave a grim nod to the unfriendly faces and tensed when a strong hand clapped on his shoulder.

"It is nice to see you out of the barracks, General Thorindir."

Thorindir felt a wave of relief as he saw the owner of the hand was Roland, one of the most friendly men, and also one of the men who had shown the most promise in archery. Thorindir returned the greeting and took an offered cup of ale. Soon he was chatting easily with the men, and questions poured forth about Celeblas and battles Thorindir had been in. They discussed fighting tactics and weapons, and the others who at first had been hostile seemed to relax and ignore his presence.

After a while, Thorindir wondered where Amara had ended up. He looked around and could see Liam and a few of the other soldiers gathered around her. He watched them for a few moments. Amara looked sullen, though she arranged her face differently when they looked at her. She knocked back several drinks as he watched, and the transformation was interesting. Her shoulders relaxed, and her smiles became more genuine. Liam leaned ever closer to the princess.

Thorindir knew all too well the look he wore. He excused himself from his group and crossed the room to where Amara sat. "Mind if I join you?" he asked.

The soldiers nodded and waved him over. Liam, however, did not seem pleased as the elf general slid in between Amara and himself.

"I am very thankful of how welcoming you all are to me. When we first arrived, I thought it would be harder being an elf."

Amara did not comment as she took a long draft from her mug.

A soldier on her other side smiled at them. "Well, you have taught us much. I am ashamed to admit that before you got here, most of us lacked any skill with a bow."

Thorindir nodded knowingly, and this resulted in laughter from around the table.

"Well, it is the least we could do to thank you for helping us. I am still shocked King Alistair opened the library."

Confused silence followed his statement. "Opened the library?"

Thorindir looked around at them. "Well, yes. He told Lady Eramire he would send the elders in several days ago."

Liam shook his head. "I am afraid you were misinformed. My brother is one of the library guards, and he would have mentioned if it had been opened."

Amara had become more alert with the course of the conversation. "Why, that lying—"

Thorindir placed a hand on her wrist and squeezed hard. She gave him a cold glare and tried to jerk her hand away.

"Why is Alistair so hesitant to send his own elders into the library? We have not asked to be allowed to wander its halls unsupervised," Thorindir said as he released Amara's wrist. She remained silent but continued to appear sullen.

The soldiers glanced at each other as if they didn't wish to speak up. Finally Liam answered. "No one can enter the library, unless they wish to never come out."

Amara and Thorindir shared a glance.

"What do you mean, they would never come out?" Thorindir asked.

Liam swallowed. "Because of the monster."

"Liam," scolded one of the men, hushing the young man.

Amara glared at them all. "What monster? What are you talking about?" she asked.

Again Liam opened his mouth, despite the dark looks of his companions. "It's said that Alistair closed the library after a shipment of scrolls and books came. There was an egg hidden among them, and when it hatched, a fearsome creature emerged and took the library as its lair—but not after killing the elders who handled the shipment. Now the library is locked, and no one has been in since."

"No one knows for certain. Others say some of the books had poison in their pages and that the library is now contaminated. There are other rumors as well. All we know for certain is that whatever tragedy befell the library, rendering it unusable, was caused by a shipment of books from Celeblas."

Thorindir felt all eyes settle on him. He felt a swell of resentment well up, and he wanted to vehemently defend himself and his people, but he kept his mouth shut.

Amara, on the other hand, let out a harsh laugh. "That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard. What would the elves have to gain by sending you poisoned books or dangerous creatures?"

One of the soldiers sneered. "The elves have always been jealous of our home and the riches it has yielded."

Thorindir could feel the tension and once again grabbed Amara's arm. She again tried to pull away, but he held on and stood, dragging her up with him. The lost princess swayed as the drinks she'd had began to catch up with her, and he caught her by the waist.

"Thank you for a good time, but I think we should say good night."

The men nodded quietly, and all the camaraderie between them seemed to have faded. Thorindir gave a remorseful look around the table and herded Amara from the bar.

"Did you hear that?" she slurred slightly when they had reached the street. Her steps were a little unsteady, and he kept a hold of her hand.

"Yes," he replied grimly.

"That lying son of a—" The lost princess tripped, cutting off the foul curse.

"Why on earth did you drink so much?" he asked, steadying her and rolling his eyes.

She struggled to get away from him, but to no avail.

"We have just discovered that not only has Alistair been lying, but he couldn't let us into the library if he wanted to. Besides, you would drink too, surrounded by a bunch of squawking jays," Amara said.

Thorindir laughed. Amara glared at him. He looked down, and the moonlight brushed her face. Her pupils were dilated in the dark and from drink.

He said the only nice thing he could think of. "They like you better than me, at least."

Amara huffed. "Sure. They like me." She motioned sarcastically with her free hand. "They like me about as much as you do, I imagine."

Thorindir shook his head. "I like you well enough."

Uncertainty crossed the lost princess's face. She looked down at her hand still clasped firmly in his. She pulled it away, and he allowed it. They walked the rest of the way in silence.

***

Eramire was surprised when Thorindir and Amara walked in. "Where have you been?"

Earwen was looking at them with a peculiar expression. Before Thorindir could answer, Faleon entered behind them. He took one look at Amara, smirked, and continued past them.

"We were out with the soldiers," Thorindir replied. Amara stumbled into the villa and sank into a chair with a disgruntled sigh.

"Obviously you had a good time," Eramire said, looking at Amara.

Thorindir chuckled. "We had a fine time." His face sobered. "But we also found out something that will greatly impede our task here in Taiman."

Earwen, who had just fetched water for Amara, looked up in question. "What do you mean?"

"We are in dealings with a liar," Amara snarled, ignoring the cup offered to her.

Eramire, confused, looked to Thorindir for an explanation.

"One of the men's brothers is a library guard. The library hasn't been opened. And it would seem that there is no intention for it to be opened, because there are rumors that the elves of Celeblas sent something dangerous with a shipment of books years ago that rendered the library too dangerous to enter."

Everyone fell into concerned silence except Amara, who was still refusing to drink the water Earwen was pushing toward her.

"What are we going to do about it?" Earwen asked, again sliding the cup.

"We are going to confront that conniving snake and demand he explain himself," Amara snapped, slapping an open palm on the table.

Faleon laughed. "I forgot how you get when you drink."

She turned dark eyes on him. "I haven't forgotten how you get."

The amusement of the scene vanished, and the atmosphere was suddenly very uncomfortable.

"I will ask Gideon to get me another audience with the king. Perhaps it is just a misunderstanding," Eramire stated.

"And if it isn't?" Thorindir asked.

"I don't know," Eramire replied, shaking her head. "One thing at a time."

Thank you so much for reading! <3 

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