Welina-Grace and the Forest Uglies

WG - Chapter10 - Library Secrets

“Zinah, tell me, the cloudberries the cook prepares for me. Where did he get them?” Queen Dessa asked

“I gather them near that Troll village” Zinah answered

“ OK, gather what you need and mix up a batch of the sleeping tincture” Queen Dessa commanded

“Your Majesty, you are asking for a large amount of tincture to knock out all the trolls of that village” Zinah explained

“Yes, so how long?” the Queen asked, irritated with Zinah

“Well, the berries wonʻt come into season for another week, then another week after that for it to ripen. Once Iʻve gathered and soaked….” Zinah was trying to explain

“Child! I need to know how long! I donʻt give a damn about ripening, process, or whatever! Tell me how the f**k long!!” the Queen bellowed

“3 months,” Zinah said

“3 months! Too long, we need to figure out another way. I need that village gone asap! You both have 1 week to come up with alternative plans that could work. Now get out!” the Queen screamed

Zinah had no idea what had the Queenʻs panties in a bunch but she left the room quietly thinking when did she now become part of the military regime, planning out pillages of villages! “F**K!!!” Zinah thought

Zinah continued with her day while still trying to think of something. As she made the corner of one of the halls she bumps into Gorak.

“Well, if it isnʻt the 2nd General” he hisses

“That is NOT what I am nor what I want to be” Zinah replies sassily 

“Well have you thought about what you can do?” Gorak says

“What I CAN DO? What YOU can do! YOU are the General, you ass!” Zinah grumbled

“Hey, I donʻt know all that tincture, sleep sh*t, thatʻs all on you. I know brute force and smash everything. Soooo if you come up with anything and need my help in brute strength lemme know” Gorak says as he turns on his heels and walks away

Zinahʻs eyes narrow as she huffs at the sight of his back as he leaves. “Jackass” she mumbles

When Zinah is finished doing her daily work, she and Crimson make their way to the castle's library. Maybe she can find something there that can help with the Queenʻs plans. They are the only two there so Zinah allows Crimson to explore near her. As tiny as she is, Crimson is already walking and repeating everything she hears. Zinah makes sure to watch her language around Crimson. Zinah also makeʻs it a point to read to Crimson every day, she doesnʻt know why, but something in her memories knows that itʻs important and something she loved when she was small. Maybe her real mother or father read to her when she was small. She sighs at the thought. 

Crimson immediately goes over to the books and started to pull some out from the bottom shelf that she can easily reach and begins to pretend to read. I do need to find more information on Ifritʻs because Crimson is growing faster than Ogre babies do, but then again Ifritʻs are more intelligent, Zinah thinks and immediately feels guilty as she thinks about Duskin and how smart he is. 

Soon the library has books scattered all over the floor. 

“Crim, you need to put those back when youʻre done okay?” Zinah says to her daughter who looks at her mama, smiles, and goes back to looking for more books to ʻreadʻ.

Zinah has found a book on plants in the area and wonders if there is a way to use Valerian in a way that it doesnʻt need to be tinctured. Tincturing helps to make medicines in concentrated form. Hmm, more reading for Zinah. As Zinah looks up for Crimson, she seeʻs her little legs sticking out of one of the shelves while trying to reach for something way in the back. 

“Mama, hep me! Mama, hep me!” Crimson calls

“Ok hunny, Mamaʻs coming,” Zinah says and walks over to see what it is that Crimson is set on getting

“Lemme see Baby” Zinah says as Crimson scoots out to let her mother help her get a book that has fallen in between to shelves and the wall. As Zinah shimmyʻs her body into the shelf to reach the book she notices that there is a hidden door behind the shelf. She looks at it carefully before grabbing several books that have fallen, bringing them out. Crimson grabs a couple of the books that she is interested in and Zinah sets the others on her table while going back to investigate the hidden door. 

Zinah continues to look for a latch or something that would open the door and canʻt find anything. Zinah wonders if the shelf was placed there to block the door. Sheʻll try again another time. In the meantime, she heads over to Crimson who has settled on the round pelt and inquisitively looking at her book. Zinah lies next to Crimson as Crimson gives the book to her and they both settle in for an evening of reading “the Little Train that Could” and “Love You Forever”. When they were done, Crimson was fast asleep. Zinah gathered the books on the desk as well as Crimson's books and placed them in Crimson's book bag. She gathered her sleeping babe and headed to her room.

After putting Crimson to bed and showering, Zinah settled in bed to finish what she was reading before Crimson called for her. As she dumped the books on the bed she noticed 3 books that she realized were from behind the shelf. 

One was a small book that said Maps, as she opened it, the folded pages opened up to larger sheets that showed the entire forest. Upon closer examination, Zinah found that it also hi-lited the villages of supernaturals within the forest. One, in particular, caught her fancy, in the higher elevations read Isleh-Land of the Ifrits. Zinah stared at it for a while and tried to get her bearings as to where this place was. She looked at the castle where she now lived and came to the conclusion that it was located to the northwest of the backside of the castle. Her room was at the backside of the castle. She went to her balcony and stepped outside in the chilly night and looked northwest. In the moonlight, she could make out the towering mountain and she remembered it being called Old Goat Mountain but on the map, it is listed as Waputik. Zinah realizes it was probably itʻs original name. As she looks at the mountain then at her sleeping babe, she wonders why would anyone want to hurt her or her true family. Getting heated from the thought of someone hurting Crimson, Zinah realizes her hands are ablaze, she breathes deeply to calm herself to distinguish the flames. 

She goes back to her bed and grabs the second book. On the cover it says Afreet. Zinah opens and reads the first few pages and realizes itʻs a book of Ifrits. Something sheʻs been wanting to learn about since she found Crimson. This book will come in handy and Zinah decides to read it later and hides it behind a loose stone on the wall. She doesnʻt need the Queen finding her book and asking a bunch of questions.  

The third and last book does not have a title on it, just an insignia of some sort. It was circular with the sun in the center and what looks like a maze around it. 

Zinah looked at it for a while and wondered what it could be. She closed her eyes and levitated her hand over the insignia to see if she could feel anything emanating from it. When she opened her eyes, she was surprised to see that the book was open and there on the left page was a picture of her and on the right writing that was foreign. She traced the lines of her picture and could feel the tracing on her face. Wherever she placed her finger on the picture, she felt it on her face. Zinah was drawn to the words and the more she concentrated on them, the more her head started to spin. Darkness started filling the room and Zinah felt herself falling back onto her bed before darkness finally consumed her. Zinah fell fast asleep.