A Princess of Landover

books, hadn’t you?” The cat regarded her with luminous eyes. “How are you going to do that, by the way?”

It was a good question. She couldn’t very well carry all those books back again, even if she could find a way to do so without being discovered. It would take days, maybe weeks. She could ask Thom to help, but even the two of them wouldn’t be enough.

“I can use magic,” she announced after a moment.

“Can you?” asked the cat.

She ignored him. “Maybe I can shrink the books to the size of pebbles, put them in a sack, and carry them out all at once. Then I can enlarge them when they’re back in the Stacks and put them back where they belong.”

“An excellent idea,” Dirk announced. “Except for one small problem. You can’t use magic on those books because they are protected by magic of their own and will resist your efforts if you try to change them in any way.”

She gave him a look. “How do you know this?”

He didn’t exactly shrug, but almost. “Cats know these things because cats pay attention. Also, fairy creatures know that certain rules apply in all situations. That books of magic are unalterable is one of those rules. You’ll have to find another way.”

Of course, I will, she thought irritably. She thought about it some more. Maybe she needed to talk this over with Thom. But if she did that, she would have to tell him how she’d found all this out, and that would require telling him who and what she was. She couldn’t explain why, but this seemed like a bad idea. It would almost certainly change the nature of their relationship, and she didn’t want that to happen. Besides, what could Thom do that would make a difference in things?

Nevertheless.

“If I brought Thom down here to help me, could you … ?”

“Haven’t we had this discussion?” Dirk barely gave her a glance. “Shielding you is hard enough. I am not without my limits.”

She wasn’t sure that she believed that, but she didn’t care to challenge him on it. Anyway, the possibility of bringing Thom into the mix was gone. She would have to do this by herself. She thought about it anew. She couldn’t use magic to change the books. Could she use it in some way to move them?

“What if I made the books lighter?” she asked Dirk. “You know, took away all that weight so that I could …”

“You are not paying attention,” he interrupted rather irritably, enunciating each word carefully. “You cannot use magic. Not any kind of magic in any way. Not on these books. Am I being clear enough?”

She wanted to smack him. She forced herself to think of something else. Okay, she couldn’t use magic on the books—she got it. She paused suddenly in her thinking. But even if she couldn’t use magic on those books, maybe she could use it on some of the others.

And on the book thieves.

“Are the Throg Monkeys demons?” she asked Edgewood Dirk.

“They are not. They are a species of troll, brought down out of the Melchor Mountains. Why do you ask?”

She ignored him. “His Eminence brought them here?”

“He did.”

“Are there a lot of them?”

“Dozens.”

“And they answer strictly to him?”

“They do. What is it that you are thinking of doing?”

“Patience. Can I use magic on other books in the Stacks—ones that aren’t books of magic?”

“Yes, yes. What are you up to?”

“How long can you keep me from being seen while I’m down here? Can you do it all the rest of tonight?”

The cat was watching her closely now. “I can shield you for as long as you like, if it doesn’t involve you trying to carry out books for endless days. You’re not going to suggest that, are you?”

“I’m not,” she agreed. “I’m going to suggest something else.”