The Scriptorium was no longer a place of shadows and dread. The Rite had purged it completely. Now, it was a cathedral of knowledge. Soft, silver light emanated from the towering shelves themselves, illuminating the cavernous space. The air was crisp, smelling of ancient parchment, polished wood, and the fresh, clean scent of ozone after a storm. The oppressive cold was gone, replaced by a gentle, humming energy that felt like the world's largest, most peaceful library.
Shin stood in the entrance, his jaw slack. The scale was impossible. The shelves stretched up into an unseen ceiling, a forest of forgotten stories and lost histories.
Elowen, now solid and wrapped in Luna's cloak, glided to the center of the room. Her shyness had been replaced by a quiet, serene confidence. She was no longer a prisoner here; she was its mistress.
"Welcome, my King, to the heart of Astera's memory," she said, her voice clear and melodic, no longer a mere whisper in his mind. She gestured to the endless rows of books.
"Here lies the recorded history of our world," she explained, her voice filled with a profound reverence. "Here, there are one billion books. One billion pages of information. One billion messages from the past, waiting to be read."
Shin could only nod. A billion. His mind, accustomed to the abstract concepts of terabytes and data clouds, short-circuited. A billion was not a number; it was a concept. An ocean. He was a single drop being asked to navigate it.
"Wow," Solara breathed, her usual fiery demeanor completely subdued by awe. She walked slowly down an aisle, her fingers trailing along the spines of ancient, leather-bound tomes. "I'd forgotten... I'd forgotten how beautiful it was." She looked at Shin, her sky-blue eyes wide. "The last time I was here was centuries ago. Luna made me look for a book for her."
A delicate pink bloomed on Luna's cheeks, rapidly deepening to a shade of crimson that rivaled Solara's finest blush. "Solara," she said, her voice a low, warning hiss.
But Solara, lost in memory, didn't notice the danger. She was too busy enjoying the rare opportunity to tease her all-powerful sister. "It was a very specific request," she continued, a wicked grin spreading across her face. "She made me search for half a day for a scroll titled 'Hobbies for a Happy Husband'."
"SOLARA, HUSH!" Luna yelped, her voice echoing in the vast, silent library. She looked absolutely mortified, her face buried in her hands. The goddess who had faced down the Void, who had created worlds, was undone by a single, embarrassing memory.
Shin stared, his mouth slightly agape. The image was so unexpected, so utterly human, that it made his heart swell with a warmth that had nothing to do with magic. The all-powerful, serene Queen of Astera, the goddess who had chosen him, had been nervous about being a good wife. She had been reading... relationship advice books.
A slow smile spread across his face. He looked at the flustered goddess, the cackling sun, and the ghost-turned-librarian, and felt a profound sense of rightness. This was his family. Chaotic, powerful, and completely, wonderfully ridiculous.
He walked over to the still-mortified Luna and gently took her hands away from her face.
"A hobby book, huh?" he said softly, his eyes twinkling. "I'll have you know, my hobbies include cooking breakfast for beautiful goddesses and cleaning up magical fires. So far, I think I'm doing great."
Luna's blush was a beautiful, delicate rose, but she managed to compose herself, shooting a final, playful glare at her snickering sister. Shin just chuckled, the sound warm and reassuring in the vast library. He was still holding her hands, a small, intimate connection in the ocean of knowledge.
It was then that Elowen stepped forward. The movement was graceful, no longer the hesitant drift of a ghost, but the sure steps of a woman finding her footing in a new world. She stopped a few feet from them and gave a perfect, respectful curtsy, the silver cloak Luna had given her pooling around her feet.
"Your Majesty," she began, her voice clear and steady, though a hint of her ancient shyness still lingered in the softness of her tone. "I have served this Scriptorium for a thousand years. I have held its knowledge, but I have never been a part of the world it describes."
She lifted her head, her silver eyes meeting Shin's with an unwavering gaze. "You have given me that world. You have given me life. The bond of the Rite is one of service, but my heart's is one of devotion. I wish to be yours as well, my King."
She took a breath, the words seeming to cost her all her newfound courage.
"Please, make me your concubine."
The library fell silent. Shin's hands dropped from Luna's. He stared at Elowen, truly seeing her for the first time. Before, she had been a beautiful, terrifying ghost. Now, she was a breathtaking woman. Her hair, no longer a mere ethereal shimmer, was a cascade of pure silver silk that fell to her waist. Her face, with its high cheekbones and delicate chin, was perfect. And her eyes, once distant and cloudy, now held the deep, focused clarity of a sky after a storm.
A blush crept up Shin's neck. He felt like a schoolboy talking to the most popular girl in class, not a king addressing his subject. "I... of course," he managed to say, his voice a little hoarse. "Yes."
Luna, who had been watching with a knowing smile, let out a light, melodic laugh. "Good, Shin," she said, her voice filled with pride and amusement. "Now your concubines number three."
"Three?!" Solara shrieked, her head snapping up from the book she had been pretending to read. Her face, which had just returned to normal, flushed a bright red again. "No, that's... that's not right!" She started counting on her fingers, her expression a mixture of confusion and indignation. "There's Valeria... that's one. Then there's me... that's two. Now... now her?" She pointed a finger at Elowen. "That makes three! But... but I'm the Sun! Shouldn't that count for, like, two and a half?!"
She looked at Shin, her eyes wide with a childish, possessive panic. "It's not fair! He can't just collect us like shiny rocks!"
Shin just stood there, rubbing his temples. He had a goddess who was trying to be a good wife, a sun who was arguing about the mathematics of a harem, and a beautiful, newly-human ex-ghost who was now his third concubine. He looked at the endless shelves surrounding them. A billion pieces of information, and not a single one on how to handle this.