She looked around. The library of the Scholar's Stair was humble yet glorious. So many old books and scrolls were stuffed into the rickety old bookcases. The library smelled parchments, papers, and leathers. It richly carried the aromas of old wood and ticklish feelings of floating dust. This library was not expansive and intimidating like Nimraph's. Neither was it gentle and cozy like her own. This was the official library of Bree-town, and it had a small yet formal air to it. As the dust glistened in response to the sunlight streaming through the windows, Eira reached for a book. She reached for a book she remembered taking out a long time ago.
She opened a book she remembered reading a long time ago. It was in the Old Forest, an ancient and deep forest bordering Buckland. Eira sighed, gazing upon the pages. She remembered excitedly reading these words to someone, a long time ago.
She blinked, looking over to an empty space near the fireplace. She sadly gazed at the spot that was filled a long time ago. She looked down at the book again and sadly shut it. She placed the book back. She remembered speaking to a friend here, a long time ago.
A long time ago… No. It had only been several months. Yet, so much had happened since then. She had learned to leave her past behind just a bit more. She had made friends and found family. She even fell in love. She was married and pregnant with his twins. She sighed, still remembering one of the very first friends she ever made here. One of the first friends she ever made at all. She looked back to that empty space by the fire, tearing up. She was a wreck, she was a catastrophe. She was pathetic. One or two bad last interactions, and she resorted to hanging back in fear. When this was the friend who had met and helped her even before meeting Egfor and Demlemoth, and Nimraph! This friend knew Eira by her old alias, Tacita. This friend had shown her, a rancorous terror from Mordor, basic kindness and support she never deserved. This friend never stopped being a friend, even during arguments. But what had Eira done? Struggled to hide disappointment in one suggestion she did not like, then outright berate her during a… scene… Then, she just stopped talking. What a fool she was! What a cowardly, dark fool! Terror and sorrow gripped her. Sadness flooded her being as she started to cry in this library. She did not want to lose her friend, but she was petrified that she already had…
Ystava…
She cried in the library. The library she had brought her to when she first came to Bree, a long time ago…
