So, after finishing the pancakes, still silently I left the table, calling an escort in advance. The chair screeching caused silence and bewilderment again, but I think I’ve already broken all the rules, so leaving will be just one point in the long list of oddities of the girl from the outskirts.
***
My preliminary action plan consists of four points
1. The library: Try to find information about the portal, to escape early by myself. And to find any information on the local world order.
2. Avoid the heir to the extent possible. It is desirable simply to avoid expulsion.
3. Avoid contenders. Without friends, I half-year somehow hold out, but how to deal with those who uzreet in me a threat to their future of the Union, I have not thought of.
4. Finally, find out who is a contractual bride. What should I do with this information and especially how to get it is not quite clear yet, but I will leave it as a goal.
Chapter 9. Knowledge is power, nescience is disaster
Library – a room with an infinite number of racks filled with books, part of the halls is closed for visiting. There’s no damp here, and there are deep, comfortable, soft chairs for visitors. The library will be my favorite room!
The caretaker of the library, wizened little man with a cane and a small bald spot smiled affably.
– What’s your name, young lady?
– Catherine.
– Catherine, I have to tell you about the rules of the hall: in the reading room at the same time you can leave with him no more than three books, reserve for no more than three days. In your room, you can take no more than one and not more than for a month. What do you want to read?
– It is possible the book, which described the events of the first selection?
– What language do you prefer to read? Slavic, imperial, foreign?
It became hot, fingers cramped little sweat trickle slid down along the spine.
– Let's, one in each language?
The caretaker probably thought I was a very educated girl, but no, I just didn’t think the alphabet of our worlds could be different.
After receiving three books bound in leather, I moved it on the table next to a soft comfortable chair.
The text of the first book was written in signs similar to our hieroglyphics, the text of the second was reminiscent of the cuneiform of Egypt, the third book is clearly ancient, written by hand ink in Old Slavic.
None of the lyrics are available to me, so I started going through all the books to see if they had pictures, sketching out But here, too, I was unlucky, all three books contained only text.
Tormented for an hour with the text in Slavonic, trying to somehow make out the words and recall letters (because at least in passing, but is sometimes found on the internet transcription to the alphabet), having not advanced by a millimeter, I had to admit that on the first item of short plan did not go well from the beginning. I returned the books and upset trudged to my room.
So, books are not available. I can try to make friends with someone of the girls, but how can I explain the fact that I cannot read. To admit that i have grown up not only in the wilderness, and illiterate to all other disadvantages?
Another option would be to ask the Emperor’s assistant to train me for six months, but he may not have the authority to, worse still, is the new one excuse to suspend me from further participation.
