Chapter Four: Restrained

Sara breathed calmly, careful not to made any sounds that might alarm anyone. the corridors were actually deserted, but their silent emptiness only amplified the sound of her breaths and steps. she, who chose to go barefoot for the mission in order to minimize the noise she might make, wondered if it wasn't just her fear of being caught that was playing tricks on her mind for she knew she was not supposed nor allowed to be in that section of the tower. blood was rushing in her veins with both eeriness and excitement. she never did anything like this before, and a big part, the sane rational part of her mind told her to stop this nonsense and go back to her room before it was too late, while a smaller part, a rebellious one she didn't even know about until now, was telling her that if she wanted answers, then she better look out for them herself.

She already lost seventeen years of her life living like a ghost, a nobody. the people around her acted as if she wasn't there, as if she was invisible and lived their life accordingly. back in her early childhood, she used to beg for others to play with her, talk to her or just notice her, but with time, she figured it was futile and decided to play her role, the perfect girl who did exactly as told. her father was always pleased by her behavior, knowing she was an easy-going girl who followed the rules and did as told, but that only lead others to slowly forget about her.

Her life was nothing but an empty circle, without anyone inside but herself, fading away in a tower filled with devoted priests who treated her like a walking sin, as if she didn't know she was one already.

Sara slid the grey hoodie a bit lower, making sure her face and hair were perfectly hidden underneath it. This was the first time she did something for herself and sake, her identity was hers; she had all the right to know who she was and she was going to, one way or another.

Sara was thankful for Patrick as he was the one who provided her with that robe, the same as the priests wore. she wished the fabric was of a better quality though, the priests surely didn't have the same luxuries as her, but at least they had their freedom, their identities, something Sara was willing to give up everything she had for.

Making sure that no one was around, Sara sneaked into the restricted library, with Patrick's words repeating in her mind.

''Listen carefully, Young Lady, There is a reason why that section is restricted, You see, Not all knowledge is meant to be shared and known, some knowledge is dangerous and brings us nothing but destruction and chaos, however, knowledge is the Gods greatest blessing to our kind, and a blessing is meant to be cherished and preserved, Away from curious hands that might use it for evil deeds, right in the restrained section, there, you will find thousands of books, scrolls, registers and sheets, but most importantly, you will find the royal registers, the ones that keep track to all the Yoren children, legitimate or not, with details about their non Yoren parent, Your mother's identity, and yours as well, must be there, However...''

Sara was now facing that ''however'' as she managed to sneak out of her room, Patrick left the door open for her in order to sneak out at night when everyone was asleep, the restrained section was located in the furthest side of the library, locked with iron bars and heavy chains, she needed to squeeze her body through the bars without making any noise, luckily, it was another stormy night with generous rain and thunder, Sara made sure to only try and push herself through the bars when the thunder roared in the sky in order to mask the clutter those rusty bars made when slightly moved, it wasn't the easiest task but Sara was naturally flexible and thinly built, and after few attempts, she was finally able to pass into the other side of the bars, finding herself starring at tens and tens of racks of forgotten knowledge...

Sara, with a small candle in her hand, stared at the racks for few seconds, feeling utterly lost, she didn't know where to look and Patrick forgot to tell her that the restrained section was that huge, Walking quietly between the racks, Sara observed the books around her, many seemed very old and worn out. Considering the fact that the registers she was looking for were not older than her, she decided to ignore the old tomes and just focus on the newest, however, the task didn't get any easier as there were thousands of books and scrolled to be checked, some written in odd characters that she didn't know.

Knowing she didn't have any time to waste, Sara started her search, reading the random titles one by one, not noticing the shadow that was watching her from the back with a sinister smile.

Moving from one rack to the other, Sara stopped at a certain shelf that contained a single book, She wondered if the word book could be used to describe the huge tome, unlike the rest of the section's content, this book barely had any dust on it, the wrapping was also eye catching as it was made of dark leather, the darkest she ever saw, and so were the pages, Sara thought to herself as she extended her hand, curious about the odd book, but was stopped midway by the unexpected whispers.

''I wouldn't touch that if I were you, Young Lady...'', Sara nearly jumped out of her own skin, turning back quickly, she perplexedly stared at her friend who walked out of the shadows, the perplexity grew into suspicion and wariness, she didn't knew what exactly, but something about his tone alarmed her, it wasn't his usual amiable voice, not even his usual posture, and the way he looked at her wasn't the most innocent nor reassuring either.

''Father Patrick, what are you doing here?'', At her cautious and hushed question, the priest chuckled while making his way toward her with dangerous steps like a predator advancing toward his prey.

''I am here to kill you...''