Oisin and Bel were reading together in the library when a great booming echoed through the palace.
Bel read at a pace Oisin found fantastic. Oisin took ages to puzzle through a single page, but Bel could blaze through an entire book in only a matter of hours sometimes. Oisin had asked if he really was reading it and not just flipping the pages, but he had laughed and promised that he truly was.
Now he looked up from his book with a scowl. “Sun curse it, I have a bell-pull.” He set the book down and rose. Feeling curious, Oisin rose as well and trotted after him as Bel strode rapidly through the halls. He flung open the front door to reveal a man standing on the other side. Before meeting Bel, Oisin would have called him tall and pale. His skin was very fair and his hair golden, and he wa
