All Roses Have Thorns // One-On-One // CLOSED

Angelique stood up carefully. "Shall we go, then?" She suggested.

"Yes, I suppose we should," Aeryn smiled thinly, standing up as well. "The library is on the other side of the castle. There is a bit of a walk to get there, but it shouldn't take too long hopefully."

"Lead the way, then," Angelique gestured to the door. Hopefully we can find some good information.

"Follow me," Aeryn said, moving out of the room. She led Angelique and Adelaide around the castle, up some stairs and down others. The simple grey coblestone walls looked old and dull, but were filled with centuries of history.

Angelique looked around the castle, enraptured by the drastic differences between this castle and hers. Her family had remodeled their castle every 20 years or so, and Angelique had absolutely no clue what the place had looked like originally. She much preferred this place, where she could see original architecture.

"The library is just on the other side of this hallway," Aeryn said, picking up the hem of her dress. "However, the hallway is downhill and iced over. I did it when I was a child, and the staff enjoy it so much that I leave it that way. What I'm trying to say is that you're gonna have to try and keep your balance."

Angelique blinked. "Oh, ah - " she ooked down at her heels uncomfortably. She wasn't good at keeping her balance even on solid ground. "Wonderful."

"Yes, sorry about it. I, truthfully, wasn't expecting to have to come this way, but it turned out to be the quickest route from the sitting room." She slid down the ice, using the balls of her shoes rather than the heels.

Angelique managed a weak smile, and clung to the wall, sliding sideways down the ice and still almost falling. "Well, that's certainly a -" terrifying "- lovely addition," she laughed when she stopped sliding.

Aeryn walked into the library. It was larger than one would expect, spanning three levels with thousands of books. "It's not much," She said. "You probably have many more books in your own library."

Angelique blinked, turning in a full circle. "Ah, no, actually. My family never liked to read, so ours is only one story, and - I haven't been able to buy books because we've had to pay our soldiers - this is incredible," she grinned, looking around again. Then her face fell. "Won't it be difficult to find anything specific in a place this large?"

"No, actually. My grandmother enchanted the library before her death. It's filled with leftovers of her magic." She walked over to a book stand. "Great War of Seralia and Traedia!" She called out, and books began to float down.

Angelique let out a small gasp. "That's incredible," she repeated softly.

A total of ten books floated down to the trio. "This might take us a while to get through, so we should start now." Aeryn grabbed a book and moved away a little. She created a cushion of snow and sat on it.

Angelique plucked a book out of the air and leaned against a wall to read through it. Adelaide nodded and followed suit.

A book dropped into Aeryn's lap. It was a journal. She opened the pages to see a message written in Gaeilge. "Maidir leis an sliocht a theastaíonn uaidh. Seo scéal fíor an chatha. Úsáid an fhaisnéis go críonna."
"This was grandmother's journal? This is her handwriting. And it's in Gaelige. 'For the passage he needs. This is the true story of the battle. Use the information wisely.' Interesting."

"That seems rather promising," Angelique remarked. Her own book seemed much less so, as she could only read half of it.

"Oh, yes. I forgot that many of our books are in Gaelige. It's the countries original language, but it's since been forgotten by everyone not in the royal family. It's been so long that we don't have the accent originally associated with the language."

Angelique nodded. "It's fascinating, how cultures evolve like that," she mused, flipping through the book.

"It is, isn't it?" Aeryn added, more to herself. Then she turned back to her grandmother's journal, flicking through it.

Angelique bit her lower lip, concentrating. "This passage seems interesting, though I can't entirely tell what's happening." Her voice was almost lost as she trailed off.

"Is it in Gaelige? If you could, you could try and read it to me. I can translate it for you."

"Er…" she stared at the paper for a few seconds before going to Aeryn and showing her the page. "I'm afraid I'd massively botch the pronunciation."

"Is é Seralia cúis fíor an chatha. Bhí King Lukas bródúil agus feall ar King Traedia. Ní mór an mícheart seo a shocrú." Aeryn's eyes widened. "It says: 'Seralia is the real cause of the battle. King Lukas was proud and betrayed King Traedia. This wrong must be set.' I knew it."

Angelique gasped softly. "I would never have thought that Seralia started the war; my ancestors were… unpleasant, to say the least. What does this mean for our plans to end it? What do we need to do now that we know?"

"I always expected that Seralia was to blame. He's the one that Gaius got his entire personality from, despite never meeting him. It was something my grandmother always told me. Her father was an angry man, and she was truthfully surprised he ruled so long."

Angelique nodded. "I suppose that makes sense; I haven't heard much about my great grandfather."

Aeryn perked up. "Wait." She stood up, moving to a particular bookshelf. Instead of using a ladder or the enchantment of the books, she used a platform of ice to take herself up.

Angelique watched, intrigued. "What are you doing?" She asked with a quiet laugh.

The platform was less a platform and more a flat topped spire, with Aeryn at the top. She moved around a little, more ice sprouting towards her with each step she took to compensate. "I'm looking for my grandfather's old journal."