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‘That’s interesting I wonder what he’s offering them’

‘Power,’ Bradaood narrative’

‘Yes, that would work,’ Irene agreed One way for Fae to gain more poas to obey all the stereotypes of a fictional character Conforthened the chaos within theainst the universe’s natural inclination towards rando the Library would ht sourly Her mind flickered back to Bradaood shape He contracted chaos contaet hih-order world, e have ti Irene’s eyes ‘There is another option, you know’

‘What?’ Irene de that she could do without betraying her other obligations

‘Force hih the full process,’ Bradamant said coldly ‘Increase the level of contamination till he’s full Fae’

Irene stared at her ‘Are you insane?’

‘He’d never agree to it,’ Kai said, as sharply as Irene had

‘Where do you think Fae come from?’ Bradamant retorted ‘And do you want to keep him alive and sane? At least this way he’ll be stable It wouldn’t be difficult Get him to interact with other Fae, or become more of a stereotype He’s a detective Make hiust in Irene’s face, for she took a step back Her expression settled into a bland smile, one familiar to Irene from all the years they’d known and disliked each other ‘I’ood options’

‘You clearly knowthan I do,’ Irene said, before she could stop herself

‘I have my own contacts,’ Bradamant said

‘Oh?’

‘None of your business’ The stateument

Irene took a deep breath and forced herself back fro to be an adult, even if everyone around her felt the need to be children She’d save her fury for the person who actually deserved it ‘All right Thank you for your input, but I don’t think Vale hiree on this information I’ve put the basic facts in an eets back,’ Bradamant said ‘She’s out of the Library at the moment So’s Kostchei So are enuinely astonished By the tienerally old enough and injured enough to merit honourable retirement Elder Librarians didn’t leave the Library, didn’t return to alternate worlds where tier It just wasn’t done She’d only seen Coppelia do it once before, and that ti a war Ifthis step

Brada information From their contacts It’s all very well to know Alberich’s working with the Fae, but if we can’t find hinment, too’

‘That’s rather harsh,’ Bradamant said ‘Yes, she is Just because she plays politics doesn’tto you?’ Irene accused

‘I talk to a lot of people’ The shadoere very deep around Bradas aren’t necessarily as black and white as you’d like to think And not everyone gets good assignood assign punished, rehed ‘Some people pull worse jobs for less reason Just because you haven’t noticed that doesn’t mean there isn’t resentment And no, this isn’t the time to quarrel about it But there’s a reason why other Librarians are talking to Pene at the moment?’

Bradamant hesitated, then lowered her voice ‘The Library is reducing its energy levels to free upthat’s an excuse That the lights are down and the air’s getting stale because the Library’s been weakened She’s saying it’s not siates, but that the whole Library is slipping into entropy And a lot of people have noticed that they can hear a clock ticking’

She fell silent for a moment, and all three of the She strained to hear anything else behind the noise of her own life, but she couldn’t be certain Iround, counting down seconds, but

‘I know,’ Brada, you can’t be sure if you’re i toto Alberich Just possibly Just maybe Just as an alternative to be considered’

‘Just never,’ Irene said harshly