The Silver entrance to the Celestial Library opened onto another desk.
I had expected books.
There were books, eventually. I could see them through an arch behind the man at the desk, along with a row of windows and a chair in a patch of weak winter sunlight. Nobody occupied the chair. For several hopeful seconds, I thought I might reach it without answering questions.
"Pass."
I gave it to him.
He checked the name, looked at my face, then checked the name again.
"Cedric Valdrake Arkhen."
"Yes."
"You are holding that upside down."
I turned the request slip over.
He wore dusty spectacles and had ink on the side of one finger. Several keys hung from a cord inside his coat. None appeared to match the small drawer beside his knee.
"Lysander Quill," he said, handing back the pass. "Reading room to the left. Reference requests here. Nothing leaves the marked tables until it has been entered against your name."
"I was told the pass included access to the spatial studies section."
