Now that I was better again, the strategy was straightforward: out of the castle, away from the royal function, alive. Rael and I were already amid this brazen escapade, having snuck in and out of the halls, when we suddenly—half an hour behind schedule—realized that we had no destination.
"How did we end up here?" Rael grumbled, gazing at a very dusty tapestry showing some forgotten battle nobody had ever heard of.
"Well, you see," I said with forced brightness, "I was going through the secret passage. But then it began to resemble suspiciously a library. So now we're in a library."
Rael blinked at me. "We're trying to avoid the royal function, not lose ourselves in a maze of forgotten tomes."
I waved a hand casually. "The thing is, Rael, libraries are wonderful places to hide. And look—" I pointed at the towering stacks of books that went all the way to the ceiling. "A secret library wing! Just imagine all the things we could learn here. Ancient knowledge! Forgotten secrets! Hidden treasures!"
"And magical books that attempt to bite us," Rael complained.
"Oh, sure, that too," I said with a wicked smile. "But what's life without a little risk?"
We moved further into the library, through stacks of books that glowed dimly and hummed to each other in quiet voices. A couple of them even waved their pages as we went by, but I was far too engrossed in my enthusiasm to care about the occasional book attempting to break free from its shelf.
"What exactly are we hunting for?" Rael asked, grudgingly keeping pace behind me.
"Don't you recall?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. "The 'Ultimate Assassin's Secrets.' The book that's going to make me even more legendary than I already am. Consider it—every assassin in history learned from it. If we can just locate it, I'll have an advantage over every other killer on the planet. You and I? We'll be unbeatable!"
Rael's face contorted into something that could have been a combination of skepticism and resignation. "Of course you would be after a book that has 'Ultimate' in its title."
I beamed. "Exactly. It's perfect."
We made a turn, and just as I reached out to grab hold of one especially ornately bound volume, the most curious thing occurred. The sound of a resounding clap was heard down the hallway as a book flew from a shelf and zoomed past us, just missing Rael's head.
"See?" I told him, looking at him with a smile. "Absolutely enchanted. This is going to be a blast."
Rael rolled his eyes but remained silent, his hand instinctively going to his dagger. I was so immersed in the theatrics of it all that I hardly even registered the old man who stood before us until he cleared his throat very loudly.
"Ah. Ahem. You two," the old man said, looking over his glasses with a very disapproving expression. He was a royal librarian, I could tell by his tattered robe and the fact that he appeared to have lived in the library for centuries. "Trespassing in the royal archives, are we? Well, that's a first. And what's this? Trying to read that book?"
He gestured towards the book that I was on the verge of picking up, but I jumped back a little at the force of his disapproving glance.
"Uh… yes?" I replied as casually as possible. "We're just, you know, browsing."
The librarian growled. "Browsing? No one ever 'browses' in the Forbidden Wing. Not unless they're looking for something significant. Are you looking for the Ultimate Assassin's Secrets?"
Rael tensed alongside me. "How do you know about that?"
The librarian shot us a glance that was half 'You're in deep trouble' and half 'I've been working here too long to give a hoot.' "Because," he said with a dryness, "I'm the one who keeps the records. And now that I've got you cornered, I'll make you a deal."
Rael folded his arms. "A deal?"
The librarian smiled. "Yes. If you can win me in a cake-baking competition, I'll give you the book. But if you lose."
I frowned, not knowing whether to laugh or be shocked. "Cake-baking competition? What a stupid condition is that?"
The librarian's eyes sparkled. "I have extremely discerning tastes, young lady. If you wish to earn that book, you'll have to show your mettle. A cake fit for a royal palate. And I don't mean some haphazard rubbish."
"Oh, it's on," I chimed in with a smile, already eyeing up the tables arranged near us, obviously for the event. "I've always dreamed of attempting to bake something utterly brilliant. Rael, prepare yourself for some first-class mayhem."
Rael stared at me, his eyes wide with incredulity. "Wait, you've never even baked before."
"And you think that will deter me?" I retorted, grinning wickedly. "This is a matter of flair, my friend."
We were presented with a list of ingredients—flour, eggs, sugar, butter, and some mystery ingredients that could possibly have been magic—when the librarian suddenly turned back towards us once more. "Oh, and one last rule. No magic. Skill only. Got it?"
Rael gave me a look, then let out a sigh. "Got it. Let's just do this already."
I slapped my hands together in anticipation. "Oh, this is going to be legendary."
Once we began combining ingredients, the magical books surrounding us were our de facto judges, flying in and out of our work area, sometimes offering advice—or, in my case, covering me in flour when I wasn't watching. Rael, of course, was attempting to keep some semblance of order, his actions precise and economical. And I was having the time of my life covering the kitchen in a floury war zone, trying my best to produce the most outrageously decadent cake anyone had ever seen.
"Is that. a mountain of frosting?" Rael questioned, arching an eyebrow as I plopped down yet another dollop of frosting onto the cake.
"You've got to go big or go home," I retorted happily, smacking frosting from my fingers. "If this is going to be a masterpiece, it must be over the top."
"Excellent. Now we've got frosting on the ceiling," Rael grumbled, as I happily slipped more frosting onto the cake, knowing full well that this was going to be a masterpiece.
An hour later, we at last unveiled our cakes: mine was a towering, too-frosted monstrosity that could have been a work of art if the art world were absolutely deranged. Rael's was a more utilitarian, impeccably crafted cake that seemed to have been crafted by a royal chef.
The librarian looked at them, then let out a very long-suffering sigh. "I don't know whether to clap or send the two of you to the dungeons for the sheer audacity of your creations."
"Is that a compliment?" I asked, blinking up at him in a wide-eyed, innocent manner.
"It's as close as you'll get," he said, sighing. "But okay, you win. The Ultimate Assassin's Secrets it is."
Rael and I shared a glance. Then, in unison, we both went to grab the book.
"Wait," said the librarian with a twinkle in his eye. "Before you leave, I have to say. that was the most fun I've had in centuries. Perhaps I'll bake with you again one day."
I grinned. "Next time, we bring the fireproof frosting."
And with that, we staggered out of the library, cake in tow, both spent and triumphant—though I'm fairly certain the true victory was in the complete mess we had somehow managed to make in that forgotten, dusty corner of the castle.
As we made our way back to our hideout, I couldn't help but giggle.
"See? Not everything's about killing. Sometimes, it's about cake."