There was a knock at the door.
Li Ming moved to answer it. ‘I’m afraid you have the wrong room—’ he began.
‘I don’t think so.’ It was Coppelia’s voice. Coppelia, here. Irene felt as if she could suddenly draw a breath. ‘My name is Coppelia, and I am an elder of the Library. I request audience with his majesty the King of the Northern Ocean.’
‘She may enter,’ Ao Shun said, before Li Ming could even turn to consult him. ‘I welcome the advice of an elder of the Library.’
Coppelia stepped into the room, neatly dressed in a dark velvet gown and cape suitable for greeting royalty, the wood of her hand hidden by her gloves. And though she was rigidly straight-backed, she leaned on a silver-topped cane as she walked. Her arthritis is playing up again. Inside the Library, she was a teacher and friend. Outside the Library, it was harder to forget that Coppelia was an extremely old woman, who’d accumulated years of injuries as a Librarian in the field.
‘Your majesty.’ She gave Ao Shun a half-bow, having to support herself on her cane. ‘Please forgive my lack of formality. I’d have curtseyed properly, if I were as young as these children.’
‘No forgiveness is necessary,’ Ao Shun said. The rain outside was slacking off. ‘Your presence is most welcome. Will you be seated?’
He’s treating her as a respected ambassador, so definitely a step above me, Irene decided. But thank god that Coppelia showed up.
‘I’m only here briefly, your majesty,’ Coppelia said. ‘I’ve come to collect my colleague to answer a formal inquiry. I hope that won’t be inconvenient?’
Irene felt the colour drain from her cheeks. So she had to face a penalty for what she’d done. She tried to convince herself that she’d expected it all along, but it rang hollow. She wasn’t ready at all.
‘I have no reason to complain about her actions,’ Ao Shun said. ‘She has acted properly throughout, and I owe her my gratitude for what she has done.’
‘Madame Coppelia, you can’t do this!’ Kai had his jaw set, and the metaphorical bit between his teeth. ‘Irene did everything she could to get me out of there. It wasn’t her fault that I was kidnapped. If anyone should be blamed for this, it’s me.’
‘Kai.’ Ao Shun slapped his open palm on the arm of his chair. ‘Silence!’ But he seemed more astonished than angry that Kai should actually have had the nerve to speak. ‘If this is an internal matter, then it is not your place to interfere.’
‘I’m still an apprentice to the Library,’ Kai said, his skin starting to take on a draconic cast too. ‘Unless and until I am removed from that position, which was agreed by my father himself …’ He let it trail off meaningfully.
Irene tried to interpret the sudden look of baffled frustration on Ao Shun’s face. Kai’s father was his older brother. In terms of the draconic respect for hierarchy that she’d seen, this suggested that Ao Shun couldn’t contradict his orders. The situation was rapidly degenerating into a no-win one. Someone had to take responsibility.
‘Of course I’ll return to the Library,’ she said. Ao Shun and Kai broke their mutual glare to look at her. She addressed Coppelia. ‘I admit I broke Library rules in visiting a high-chaos world without permission. I also acknowledge that I failed to properly supervise an apprentice who was under my charge, which resulted in him being kidnapped by individual Fae, and might even have led to war.’
‘These are serious charges,’ Coppelia said. Her voice was as severe as a hanging judge, but there was a glint in her eye that Irene recognized as approval. ‘Your majesty, I must ask for your permission to leave. Irene and I need to return as soon as possible.’
Ao Shun was frowning. He had Kai’s trick of glowering, now that Irene thought about it. ‘Is it necessary for her to return? Perhaps some detached duty could be arranged? I would not see her punished for her actions. I would even be glad to have her in my own service.’
‘Your majesty is too generous,’ Coppelia said. ‘Her actions are very serious. I’m sure that she herself wouldn’t want to avoid due process. Would you, Irene?’
She could throw herself on Ao Shun’s mercy and take up his offer. But then she’d also have to say goodbye to the Library - just as devastating as if the elder Librarians cast her out. Either way, she lost. She might retain Kai as a student that way, but she still lost.
Or maybe there was a way out of this that wasn’t quite losing. It depended on whether Ao Shun really did feel some sort of gratitude for her actions, and just how far that extended.
‘I’m not going to abandon my duty now,’ she said firmly. ‘My actions and my neglect could still cause war, threatening hundreds of worlds. I submit myself to whatever punishment is required.’
Vale seemed about to say something. She caught his eye and desperately stared him down, with a tiny shake of her head. If this huge gamble was going to work, then the threat to her had to be genuine.
Coppelia nodded. ‘I would expect nothing else. Come, then.’
For a moment the room was silent, then Ao Shun said, ‘Wait.’
‘Your majesty?’ Coppelia enquired.
Ao Shun’s expression could have been carved from stone. ‘I request, as a favour and in the interests of justice, that this Librarian not be judged too harshly. I can say with some confidence that there is no immediate risk of war.’
Irene took a deep breath of relief for those human worlds - and for herself. The sudden lifting of weight from her shoulders was dizzying. There wouldn’t be a war. She could survive a penalty - and it might not even be that bad, given what Ao Shun had just said. But then she considered the unbending nature of Library discipline, and her heart sank.
Coppelia gave a dignified half-bow. ‘Thank you, your majesty. This will be taken into account in judgement of her. Irene, if you have any farewells to make to your friends, please do so.’
Irene turned to Kai and Vale. ‘I’ll be back if, and when, I can,’ she said. ‘Don’t do anything stupid.’ It might not be quite the language that one should use in front of a king, but her control was slipping. And the shadow of the inquiry still hung over her.