She had just begun to unroll the scrolls. Tarrin was lounging somewhere between sleep and wake, letting the harmony of holy ground lull him with sensations of security and peace, when Keritanima's ragged gasp startled him out of his reverie.
"What is it?" he asked in the unspoken manner of the Cat.
She gave him a strangled look. "Do you know what this is?" she demanded in an almost hysterical voice, a voice that had Allia awake and instantly alert. Miranda gave Keritanima a calm, assessive look.
"No, tell me," he replied calmly.
"This is a primer!" she said almost exuberantly. "It's a key for learning the language of the Sha'Kar!"
Tarrin gave her a stunned look, then jumped off the table and changed form. "You mean-"
"It'll take some work because this scroll doesn't have a guide for their written alphabet, but this is what the Lorefinders have been looking for for a thousand years!" she declared. "With this, and alot of work, we can read what's in the books in the library!"
"What's on the other scrolls?" Allia asked immediately.
Keritanima unrolled another one. "It's the same," she said, and then she was silent until she went through them all, leaving her friends in a state of quiet, nervous anticipation. "This is a comprehensive guide to learning the language of the Sha'Kar!" she finally said. "The priests have been sitting on the one thing the Tower has been hunting for for a thousand years!" She gave Tarrin a triumphant look. "And you thought we may not find anything useful!" she declared with a laugh.
The Sha'Kar. Books written in that ancient, mysterious language were all that were left now, and nobody could read them. The language had resisted every attempt to decipher it, even magical attempts. And now they had found the one thing that could break that ancient language, a series of instructional writings on learning it.
But why was it so easy? That information should have been ferociously defended, and the church should have used it! Did the church truly not know that they had it? That passage and area were run-down and unkempt…could they have forgotten that it was there over the years? That seemed unlikely, but there was a simple truth staring at him in that they had it. Maybe they did forget it. Maybe a high priest had ordered the room sealed, and over the years, the memory of it and what it had once held had been forgotten, lost in the musty old tomes of history kept by the church historians. There to be found, but lost among the sea of old lore accumulated by the church over the years.
Keritanima was actually jumping up and down, twirling in circles with a scroll to her breast. "This is it! This is it!" she squealed, acting like a little girl who had just been given a pony. "I couldn't have asked to find anything better than this!"
"Highness, you're about to tear the scroll," Miranda said soothingly.
Keritanima's face became horrified, and she instantly calmed down, though her tail was absolutely writhing behind her. "We have to get started, tonight!" she said excitedly. "Miranda, I want you to do something very important for me," she said. "Something that you may not like."
"What is that, Highness?" she asked.
"I want you to transcribe the scrolls into a book," she said. "I know how fast you can write."
"That's going to occupy a great deal of my time, Highness," she said after a moment. "I do have other duties."
"You'll have to make time, Miranda," Keritanima said happily. "I'll help, but I'll be spending most of my time studying these. And I'd like to have a backup copy. Just in case."
"I won't say no, Highness," Miranda sighed. "I will get to work on it today. May I take the scrolls from the courtyard?"
"No," Keritanima told her. "They stay here, where they're safe."
"It isn't going to be easy to explain why I spend hours at a time in the maze, Highness," she said calmly. "The scrolls must be removed."
Keritanima took on an agonized look. "You're right," she sighed. "Alright, you can remove the scrolls, but no more than two at a time. And they're to be heavily guarded at all times. Either Binter or Sisska have to carry them when you don't actively have them in front of you." She gave Miranda a blunt look. "I'll impress them with how absolutely vital the scrolls are. They are to defend them to the death, if necessary."
"Yes," Miranda agreed calmly. "You have class in about an hour, Highess," she reminded.
"Already?" she said plaintively. "I guess so. We'd better sneak back to our rooms. Please get started on this as soon as you can, Miranda. It's important."
"I will be grouchy today," Allia said as she sat up. "I can do without sleep, but it always puts me on edge."
"Then stay away from me," Tarrin said absently. Allia glared at him, then laughed. "I should get going too," he added. "I have no idea what they'll want me to do today. I'm in limbo until they decide how to go about training me."
"You should go, Highness," Miranda said calmly. "I'll pack up the books and organize the scrolls. You go and get ready for class."
"I-yes, yes," she agreed. "We have to keep up appearances. I have no doubt that my veneer as the Brat is already starting to show thin. If I'm not careful, my secret will be out. Is it safe to leave?"
Miranda nodded. "I have people keeping the other people away."
"Good. Come on, Allia. I think we could use a bath before class."
"Yes, a night's work does tend to linger," Allia said. "Coming, brother?"
"In a minute," he said. "I'll help Miranda pack things. No reason leaving her with all the work, and I don't have to be somewhere."
"Alright. I'll see you tonight?" Keritanima asked.
"Of course," he smiled.
Keritanima and Allia filed out, chatting warmly with each other. Those two had really came together.
Miranda knew precisely how to arrange the books so that they had a very logical order, and she directed Tarrin as they put them all back in the chests. Tarrin had a strange feeling that Miranda had something to say. That was why he remained behind. The cheeky, almost criminally cute mink Wikuni was an enigma to Tarrin, and something about her struck at him on a level that he couldn't understand. It was almost like a kin-closeness, though it was not the same feeling he had had with Allia, or Dar, or even Keritanima. Miranda was different. Very different. But he had no idea why, or how he knew. It was as if he was instinctually drawn to her.
"You're staring at me," Miranda said with that cheeky smile.
"I am?" he asked. "Sorry. I'm just trying to figure something out."
"What?"
"You," he replied. "Keritanima absolutely adores you, but she doesn't seem to treat you that well. Why do you stay?"
"She treats me much better than you'll ever understand, Tarrin," she replied calmly. "If you're wondering why I ended up with these tasks, remember that I am her maid, after all. It's my job to do things for her. Did she control herself in the cathedral?"
"She stayed to her plan," he replied calmly, setting a stack of books into a chest and closing it. "It went very smoothly. I was surprised."
"I think you two are a good influence on her," Miranda said smoothly. "She's usually much more erratic. Brilliant, but erratic."
"How long have you been her maid?"
"For six years," she said. "I was only a girl when I was put in her service. They felt that if she had a maid her own age, it would help her. She was a very…lonely girl. It had to do with her situation."
"She never talks about that," Tarrin said, taking another book from her. "Would you?"