The smell of books all around. Tira was not the most avid of readers but she did occasionally come here. Their country as a whole was not all that given to the literary arts, and only a few people were devoted to booklearning.
Still, Serendiah's palace had a decent collection of books in the library. The best in the country, though other countries probably had better ones.
She had come here to return some books. For her and her brother, and to pick up some more for their reading. It was one of the perks of being rangers directly in the queen's employ: they were allowed access to the castle and even allowed to borrow books from the library.
Tira always volunteered to get her brother's books for him. She enjoyed coming to the library and had a slight fondness for the dusty smell of it.
As she walked among the shelves looking for a book that Lowks might like she saw someone slip from climbing on one of the shelves. Without even thinking of it she moved to catch the falling man.
Kuryzan landed in her arms rather heavily, making her stumble back a bit. But her hard training made her more than able to carry the slight elven man after the initial stumble from catching him.
She set him on his feet as he flushed palely in embarrassment, "Thanks, Tira…"
She raised an eyebrow at him and could not resist teasing him, "Climbing bookshelves now? You aren't really skilled for that."
"… I can't find Quorpas. So my spells aren't working…" He sighed. "Cats, even familiar cats, are hardly all that easy to keep track of all the time."
She laughed at him, then calmly asked him, "Which book was it? I can get it for you."
"Really?" His face brightened up, "Derian's Codex on Mystical Energies and How to Use Them. And if there is a small – kinda tattered – nameless paperback volume right next to it, can you get that one too? There is a spell in there I want to learn."
She nodded, and then scrambled up the bookshelf easily, somewhat conscious that her friend was looking up at her as she did so. She felt proud as she found both books and came down holding them out to him.
The elf was all smiles as he took them from her. "Thanks! You're a life saver!"
Kuryzan was one of the few people in Jarenkul who was totally caught up in booklearning. A bit strange that he was the closest thing they had to a prince really. And that despite this, he pretty much had become the castle's librarian.
"Anytime." She laughed, "So, do you know where any books are that you think my brother would appreciate?"
"Still the same tastes in literature? Yeah, come this way." He led her enthusiastically.
Following him, Tira let herself appreciate his figure. He was wiry, just not really trained. Or that is – he was half-trained but his heart had always been with the arcane rather than on more traditional focuses. No matter how much his different guardians had tried to cajole him into learning proper things for the ward of the royal family.
But magic was useful at times. And Serendiah had let him pursue his interest without interjecting any other plans on him. Their relationship was honestly a bit odd. For much of Serendiah's life they had been like siblings, with him as the older brother even, and now she was supposed to be his mother figure. But they were genuinely fond of each other and still acted much like the siblings they still thought of each other as.
"There you go, Tira." He stepped back and gestured at the shelf beside of him.
As she went to pick out a book for Lowks, she was aware that the Throne's Ward was staring at her. She smiled at him, "Is there something the matter?"
"No, not really." He looked quickly away. Then he muttered almost to himself, "Have you gotten prettier since I last saw you or is my eyes messing with me?"
She stared at him for a moment and then blankly said, "Did you just actually flirt with me? Aw, and here I thought you would never get up the boldness to do so."
His cheeks flushed all the way, and then his eyes shot to the ground. "Uh, forget I said anything."
"If you asked me out I would say yes." Tira laughed as she spoke.
"You would?"
"I like hanging out with you. You're rather nice."
He was smiling now, a hint of shyness on his face. But also a bit of happiness. "Ah, well. Uh… Then would you like…?"
She nodded at him, just a little bit. As if it was not something she had really been wanting. She looked away trying not to show just how happy she was he had finally said something. Oh, she had already known he liked her that way, but she had wanted him to say it first. Because with there differences in races, and social standing, it was better that he took the first step. So she had forced herself to be patient with him.