54. The gilded book's summons

                                    

                                          
Past the steps engraved with Old Fae was a wooden door, the first true door that Ada had seen in the Stone Circle's underground settlement. A simple slat bound the door to its frame, which Edmere slid aside before ushering Ada into the room beyond. She jumped when Edmere closed the door behind him, and the walls seemed to circle slightly closer in the quiet.
                          
The room was round and cramped, with even less space between its stacks of books and sheaves of papers than there had been in the previous antechamber. It was a study of sorts, with no corners for shelves or bookcases, but with a ceiling high enough for a large copper ring to have been suspended and lit with tens of candles. Wax dribbled down the candles onto the copper, but seemed to cool and harden before it could fall, instead forming strange and malformed bubbles and baubles all around the ring.
                          
Edmere shuffled to a desk placed in the centre of the room. More pieces of paper were scattered across it, their ink faded to flourishes of purple, though Edmere gathered them together before Ada could make out their words. He took a seat behind the desk and motioned for Ada to sit on a low stool across from him.
                          
"First of all," Edmere began in a soft but steady voice, "I should tell you that there is no need to worry about my knowing your name, Adalyn. I am not here to control you, or to restrain you."
                          
"I know how you have my name," replied Ada, glancing up at the ring as a candle flickered above her. "You have magic, like Min does. The wind told her my name before we met, and that's why we brought her to you. We thought the Stone Circle could protect her."
                          
Edmere knitted his fingers together, his brow wrinkling up. "Min? That is the young child you came here with, I presume?"
                          
"Yes, the Hounds attacked her. They attacked a whole group of people in a marketplace earlier today. We only just managed to get her away, but the Hounds burnt the place to the ground."
                          
"Ah, yes." Edmere nodded sympathetically. "They destroyed the Este Lyceum. We did hear of their plans to do so. A very great tragedy that it came to pass, very great indeed. Of course, we shall do all we can to help the poor child."
                          
"You knew the Hounds would burn it?" said Ada, aghast. "But then, why didn't you come to help? I saw the night sky the Stone Circle conjured, those dark clouds and stars you made down by the canal only a few days ago. It could've blinded the Hounds, or helped people to escape!"
                          
Edmere waited patiently for Ada to finish, and only when silence fell again did he speak. "We can help your friend, but we cannot help those who have already suffered and perished. The deed is done, and magic can only do so much in the face of death. It is a sad event, truly, and one that will not be forgotten. I can assure you of that, at least."
                          
"But you knew! You could have done something!" Ada repeated, growing angry now as Edmere continued to sit across from her, his pale eyes unblinking in the candlelight.
                          
"Yes, we knew, but if we had done something, it would have posed a far greater threat to a far greater number of fae. The Stone Circle is not here to fight, Adalyn, it is here to survive. A growing number of the Circle dedicate their time to disturbances and reconnaissance, as you witnessed with their alchemical night sky, as well as their work to recover the Hounds' reports of magic in the city. But you must understand, that is not our purpose here.
                          
"I am sure you know by now that many years ago there was a terrible massacre of this valley's faekind, in which those that were gifted with magic were hunted and killed by the one who now calls herself the Lady of Wysthaven. Few magical families were able to escape her tyranny. Those who were fortunate fled the city to become free folk of the valley, but those who were less so gathered here, beneath Wysthaven, where it was safe to practice their magic. Thusly was the Stone Circle was created. It is true that we grow stronger by the day, but each contact with the city above brings us closer to the very ruin that destroyed us before."