Chapter One

Today was the first day that a friend of mine would start working in my library. At 19 I was given a library by a family friend. In this world, there are those who can use magic and are in tune with what is often called the Olden Arts or what is better known in the mainstream as the Darkened Arts. I am trained in night and oracle magic because my mother was trained in night magic and passed down her traits to me. Mine came about really early in my childhood, around five years old. Most people who have magic in their veins see signs starting at ten and latest twenty. It's said to be connected with puberty when other changes are happening to help hide. I was mastered by age fifteen.

Now at twenty, I was living and running a library that doubled as a safehouse for those who needed to stay somewhere while on Council business. The first and second floor is where the books and some computers were. The top three floors were where the living spaces were. My apartment was on the third floor and gave a good way to keep the safehouse out of sight. The top two floors were for men and women, those who were just seeking refuge for a home slept on the fourth floor and those who were a bit more important in terms of the government of the Olden Ways slept on the top floor to keep them hidden and to help hide those who needed the help. The floors that housed people looked like boxes of extra books to the naked and untrained eye. But if you had an ounce of active magic in your veins, you could see that there are about thirty beds on each floor. The bottom floor is where the real storage is and all the books are protected by another spell in case the basement floods or gets too damp.

Currently, I was finishing a business letter to the Council to let them know that all my beds were open and if I had anyone in the last two months. The answer was no, I live in a small town that really shouldn't have it's own safehouse but since it's not in a big city the government doesn't think to check it.

Just as I finished packaging the letter, my friend Lance came in. I had hired him so I could have a break sometimes if he was home. The good news was college gets out really early in May so I have him until August. It was the middle of May and his first day.

"Good morning." He said

"Good morning, ready for training?" I had asked him to come early so he could learn everything before we opened.

"Never been more ready in my life." He responded and got settled in. After a minute, he was ready to go.

"So first we are going to start with the register, it's very simple. The program never gets closed and shuts off when the computer is off. The clock in button is over on the second tab." I clicked on it to show him. I started to just have him record the hours on a program that calculated his wage so I knew what to transfer into his account. I am not the best at math but I can write and talk my way out of anything.

"You just write your name and the rest is just magic. If you work an early shift you get a lunch break at 12. Most of the time it will be just you and me from open at 10 am to close at 6 or 8pm. On the days we are open until 8, i will open and then take my lunch when you get here at 2pm. Since we are closing at 6 tonight, we will just have lunch here in the main room. Lunch during these days is unpaid and a half hour long. Today is training so you are going to clock in at 10am and then after I demonstrate how to close. Tomorrow we are open until 8, so I will see you at 2pm. Any days you prefer to have off just write on a pad of paper in this drawer." I opened a small drawer under the computer.

"Next is ringing a book." I grabbed a test book that I was reading this morning. "You take the book, wave it under the scanner that is plugged into the base down here, then it should pop up on the screen. They swipe the card through the pad down on the table if they have one. If they don't, the computer will prompt you to ask for the base fee. The paper prints, you put it into the pouch in the back of the book. Ask them if they want a bag, then move on. For the first few weeks, I will have you working the register only then we will move on to opening. After opening, I will start to teach you the layout of the library. What you need to know is on a diagram on the left of the computer if you are asked where something is, you can point them in the right direction." He took what I said and processed it.

It was 9:45, so for ten minutes I had him run the practice book with an unmarked card that is the register card for overriding something if needed, or if the visitor doesn't have one. After a while he got used to it and I had him do the first few customers. We had a few returns which I did and explained how to do when we had down time. Soon he felt confident to do it on his own, so I started putting books away. As the day went on he got really good with the register and helping visitors. I was up in the shelves when he called me.

"Yes?" I answered.

"I couldn't find you but there is someone here for you." He said, I could hear him. I looked down and saw him standing behind one of the bookshelves watching the person looking for me.

"I'll be down in a couple seconds." I hung up and watched him wait. I rolled my eyes, I found the ladder. I realized he didn't hear me talking. I got on and slid down. He heard my feet hit the ground and turned to me.

"That's where you were?" He said

"Yeah, I rotate the books when they are returned so the ones at the top get taken out too. What else can you expect from me? I have run this place by myself for the most part, so I have to give the other books a chance." I explained while walking out of the bookshelves. Lance followed close behind.

"Roslyn, you always have the most interesting ways to run things." My friend Cat said. I smiled and nodded. The two of us hugged and Lance returned to the desk. He watched us as we talked for a bit.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I asked. Cat worked for the council and was a scout. She and I had trained together in high school and we were the two highest students in our class for our respective Master Skills.

"That's what I need to talk to you about, can we go somewhere private?" She asked and I knew it was Council business.

"Yeah, you know where my apartment is. Head on up, I'll be there in a few." I said, With that she nodded and waved goodbye to Lance and headed off. I turned to him, "Look I am sorry to leave you like this but she needs to talk. If it's important enough she traveled an hour to get here then I have to see what it is." He smiled at me.

"Go, she needs a friend and you are the best on the market. I'll be okay, if I need you I'll call.`` I nodded and ran upstairs.

"Sorry, he had a few questions about the register." She knew I was lying and shook her head. I cast a quick seal over the door so no one would hear or could listen from down below. My apartment took the entire floor. And it was huge. The living room and kitchen alone was the size of a single apartment in a regular apartment building. I had three guest rooms, two bathrooms, my bedroom, and an office. They all were reasonably sized. "Office or kitchen table?" I asked depending on where we sat, that would determine how serious it would be.

"Office." She said, we made our way there. I had a desk, a bookcase, a computer with two monitors, and three other chairs. She took her seat across from where the computer was. She started to pull papers out, it had to do with the government.

Ever since the Salem Witch Trials, the government was secretly hunting down magic users to get rid of them. Little did they know that we caught on quick and went into hiding. They diminished our numbers significantly though. Even with the freedom of religion, magic was banned. There was no written rule but it was implied until about twenty years ago. Suddenly, the government came down hard on anyone who didn't follow common traditions. Even atheists were questioned. However, Since the magic community was already in hiding we just became trickier to find.

Currently , the numbers for the government's funding for hunting us down is so much because we are so good. Magic users can even get out of questioning if they are good with word magic. Word magic was a type of magic that is used by inserting magic into words to enchant someone without them noticing if they are good enough. It's fairly easy to use if you know what to say and in what way. We have been in hiding for so long that the random checks of the library or other businesses around me dont even affect those who have been doing this for a while. The first search is always scary but you can move around that.

"Something serious Cat?" I asked. "Listen I know it's risky to have Lance here with the safehouse and everything but he doesn't need to know and won't know and I promise that."

"It's not about Lance. Well not directly. The mentor in the area has died and someone needs to take her place. I am delivering a message with the call to do a reading tonight. You need to do it, it's required. If you pass this reading, you keep the safe house and become the Elder in the area. Even if you don't do the reading you keep the safe house but I really think you should." She said.

What she was telling me was a one way ticket to my dream job.