Here we are back with another Wednesday, along with some new words. Sadly, I didn’t make the cut last week but that’s okay. I shouldn’t be greedy. Right? Anyway, a scene is a scene is a scene after all. There’s a quote from a movie or a cartoon that is similiar to what I just typed but I can’t remember exactly what it is. Obviously not enough coffee in my system yet. Anyway, (which is my crutch word of the week, thank you very much) last week’s Thursday Threads prompt is: *”That counts for something, right?”* As I haven’t arrived at the point where Ariel and Aisling actually meet (at least in the current timeline of Beginning –> End, this scene takes place at some point in the future of the book.Yeah, yeah. Confusing. I know. Believe me. Anyway…here.

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Ariel leaned back against the ladder-back chair, his long legs stretched out to the side but not fully blocking the space between their table and the next. He watched Aisling fiddle with her coffee mug, first by adding cream and sugar, then stirring, sipping, stirring again. He waited. She finally shoved the mug away and looked up at him, meeting his direct gaze.

“Okay, fine. What do you want to know?”

He almost smiled. That was what Sade would call a loaded question. He wanted to know everything. Who was she? Why were both Fae courts so interested in her? Perhaps the most important questions would be, what was she?

“Let’s start with the library. How did you discover the secret vault?”

She glanced away then focused once more on her mug and stirred the creamy liquid again.

“I just did.”

“Just did what?”

“Find it. I was in the lowest basement and there was a door. I opened it and…” One shoulder lifted in a half-hearted gesture signifying both nothing and everything. “There was a corridor with one door. I opened it. The room was full of books. Boxes and scrolls and…” She looked up. “You’ve seen it. You know what’s there.”

“I know what was there.”

Aisling dropped her gaze, slumping. “Why is that book more important than the rest?”

“Because it is.”

“That’s no answer.”

“It is. The answer. To everything.”

Her mouth formed an “O.” “I know where it is. That counts for something, right?”
****

There you have it. This scene leads into a several already-written scenes so yay! Forward progress in the timeline. Writers, there’s your nudge to get some words down. Readers, what are you counting these days? Crows? Chickens before they hatch? What?