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Library [2/10]

Cassidy was sitting at the desk and there were several books about Valentine's Day spread around her. Of course, completely out of place was the books on Tai Chi and the book on sword fighting.

Only to Cassidy would these three things seem to be related.

Every so often one of the books on Valentine's Day would move a little and she would reach out and hold it down without looking up from her reading.

So far? This coming holiday made very little sense to her. Or maybe it was the way the island was celebrating that had her all confused.

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"Did you have the books with the ... revealing covers and strange titles showing up everywhere, too?" Cassidy was blushing at that. Not that she had read any of them.

Okay, maybe she read one. Two at most!

"Is that a usual happening for this holiday, as well?"

Ender had probably doomed Wesley and Katniss to death by Karla's cooking by virtue of accidentally turning her recipe book into a gay romance novel. Sigh.

"The books changing?" Ender asked, "Definitely not normal. That never stops the island from making a nuisance of itself, though."

"Having one of my Craft books turn into..." She blushed again. "... well, I had never expected anything like that -- or even seen it happen." She shook her head. "The island really has a strange way of reminding us about things, doesn't it?"

"Often whimsical, sometimes dangerous," Ender agreed. "Though my futile hope is that this won't go on all weekend long."

Somewhere, fate was laughing at him.

"Oh I hope not," she said in agreement. "But, I mean, it can't really do more than it already has, right? It's been drowning us in its own version of romance this week. It has to almost be out of ideas."

"Usually, that's just the point where it starts getting creative," Ender said, then paused. "And it's proof that I've been here too long that I'm now talking about it as something sentient."

"But it is alive," Cassidy said. "I can feel that when I'm out among the garden and the preserves. Like all lands, it has it's own life."

He didn't mean it like that, Cassidy.

"Sentient," Ender repeated, gently, "Not alive. I've known Karla for too long to presume the land isn't a living organism on its own."

"I think that's a word I'm not familiar with," she admitted. "I apologize though, the land is something I'm very attached to. It's in my blood." She gave him a shy smile. "Karla! Oh she's great, isn't she? I was so happy to meet another person here from Kaeleer."

"It means thinking. Conscious," Ender said, lightly. He didn't sound offended. "But I can see it must've been a lot easier coming here with someone familiar around."

Cassidy wrote that down on her notebook, meaning to check the spelling of the word later.

"I didn't know she was here when I was sent here," she confided. "It was a nice surprise. It made it a little easier to have someone who I could ask questions about this place."

"I know she had a hard time when she showed up here the first time around," Ender said. He stole an idle glance towards Special Collections, but decided privately that that wasn't a good idea right now. "What's surprised you most about this time and place?"

"Everything?" She answered cheerfully. She chewed her bottom lip in thought for a moment. "Trying to figure out when I was supposed to use Protocol and when it wouldn't make any difference whether I did or not. I've been taught Protocol my entire life, so to be in a place where there wasn't Protocol in place for every nuance of life has been an interesting challenge. That and the fact that males here don't get all snarly and protective over what I am." She grinned. "You have no idea how much fun I've had trying things that would make my brother and my cousin become hysterical if I ever tried back home."

He smiled a little. "A lack of Protocol doesn't mean a lack of fussing around here," he warned her, gently. "But you're at about the right age to let loose a little. They'll live."

Cassidy decided she liked Ender. He wasn't making her feel foolish about the things here she didn't quite understand.

"Oh, I don't know enough people here to warrant fussing," she said confidently, and quite possibly naively. "And really, Aaron overdid it the last time we were in Kaeleer."

Because he wasn't expecting to meet a younger version of you, Cassidy.

"If you listen to my brother, then I'm at the age where I need to stay inside in case I get hurt."

"He's an older sibling," Ender said. It was a guess, but an educated one. "He's probably terrified of losing you. Which doesn't mean you can't make fun of it behind his back."

She gave him a small smile. "But I'm a Queen, and we're supposed to be there for our people, not hiding where it is safe. I love my brother and my cousin, but they don't accept that they can't protect me from everything." She rested her chin on her hand as she looked at him. "I'm learning so much here that I hope to one day be able to use in whatever village I'm the caretaker of."

He gave her a quick nod in understanding. "Which Territory are you from?" he asked.

"I'm from a small village located in Dharo." She was delighted to be asked. It was obvious she was very proud of her home Territory.

"I've read a few things about it," Ender said, thinking back on all of Karla's books, "But not a lot. Mind filling me in on life in Dharo?"

"I'm from a village called Weavers Field," she said with a great deal of happiness. Her enthusiasm never faded as she proceeded to fill him in on the different day to day happenings or how Dharo was so lush and green.

It definitely served to paint a more faithful picture of what life in Kaeleer was like, at least outside the areas where things were going horribly wrong. Ender paid attention enough to absorb most of it, even if his treacherous mind kept slipping back to wondering whether he was just imagining things and letting his dreams get the best of him.

"You sound like you miss it," he said, when she was done. Snapping himself back to the here and now.

"I do. It's home and I'll be serving the people there one day." Her smile saddened just a little. "I know why I was sent here, even if I don't understand everything that is going on in places outside of Dharo. But last time I made the mistake of telling Karla that I wasn't a powerful enough Queen for anyone to worry about, well, she wasn't happy with me."

"You're still a Queen," Ender pointed out, gently. "Even a ruler lower in rank is still an intricate part of the puzzle, controlling lives and determining the future. She's not wrong."

She nodded. "Rationally, I do understand that. The people and the land rely on Queens no matter what our Jewel because we're the caretakers of the land and the heart of the people." Her expression was thoughtful. "I think it was just hard to realize that even wearing a lighter Jewel some would still see me as a threat. It was enough of a shock to find out that Queens were even in danger and that there were ones who were not as good and caring as they are supposed to be."

"You thought everything was safe and orderly," Ender guessed, "And then you got shaken."

She nodded, grateful that he seemed to understand. "Exactly. I don't think I will ever settle from that realization."

"I think you will, eventually," Ender said, "Most people who get shaken like that do. It's how the human mind works. The awareness you might not lose, though, depending."

"It's frightening sometimes, Ender," she admitted. "Because now I'm aware of it and how much my people will need me to be there for them. Before, I never knew that there could be fighting wherever I rule. I know that now and it makes me more determined to be a good Queen and take care of my people. But, it's also scary."

"It'd be more worrisome if you weren't scared," Ender replied. "Because that would mean you wouldn't care enough, and you wouldn't watch your steps enough, and people wouldn't be able to rely on you seeing danger before it comes. It's healthy, as long as it doesn't own you."

"And I do care a great deal," she said softly. "I care so much about them -- especially since I've met a Warlord Prince and a Healer from where things are so much worse than I could have ever imagined. I want to be able to make a good difference for them."

"I think you might be on the road, though I don't know how bad Dharo's gotten," he said. "It sounds like things haven't been as bad as in Glacia."

She shook her head. "No, from what I understand and from what Karla has told me, Dharo hasn't gotten as bad as what she has seen or has had happen in Glacia."

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Library [2/10]

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