The next day, when Alina entered the library, she saw Lord Ashby already there, completely engrossed in a book. He looked up when she entered and smiled.
"Alina. Come, come... I've found something you'll want to see."
She walked to his chair and looked at the book he was holding. It was an old book on the history of the northern territories.
"Page one hundred and twelve," he said, tapping the margin. "The author argues that the eastern pass was actually the primary route for wool exports before the unification, which contradicts everything we knew about…"
She sat across from him and let him talk. He spoke about trade routes, the wool merchants, and maps that had been drawn and redrawn over centuries. She listened, nodded and asked questions that made him smile, as though he had finally found someone who understood the joy of such things.
They had been talking for nearly an hour when he suddenly clicked his tongue and looked outside the window.
