Contents
Chapter 13
Overview
Livira and Malar return to the portal grove, navigate to Evar’s time, and locate Livira’s book in Krath’s library. Touching it hurls them into a courtly story where Livira inhabits Serra Leetar and witnesses General Charant kill Heflin Hosten.
They snap back, realizing the book traps readers inside its narrative loop, complicating their mission to remove it and fix time.
Summary
In the portal forest, Livira rebukes Malar for moving alone, warning that desynchronized passages risk separating them in time. She reasons the portals are discrete time steps and chooses to re-enter the portal they emerged from, trusting the system to carry them near Evar and the sought book.
They arrive at Krath’s library by Evar’s pool, unseen ghosts amid Evar, Clovis, Kerrol, the canith, and the Soldier-assistant. Evar holds Livira’s constructed book. As Livira moves to take it, she senses partial contact with the physical world and reaches for the volume.
Touching the book transports Livira into a lavish dining hall within a story she apparently wrote, inhabiting Serra Leetar, sister to Meelan Hosten. Among aristocrats including Lord Algar and Dantal Creyan, a drunken General Charant bursts in and, in a shocking outburst, kills Heflin Hosten with a blunt sword.
Livira and Malar simultaneously experience the scene—Malar as the general—before abruptly returning to the library edge where Evar continues toward the Soldier. They confirm the shared vision and conclude the book drags them into its embedded narrative upon contact.
Confronted with this snare, Livira recognizes a new obstacle: removing the looping book to mend time won’t be simple if anyone who touches it is subsumed by the story.
Who Appears
- LiviraProtagonist; navigates portals to Evar’s time, touches her book, is pulled into her own embedded story as Serra Leetar.
- MalarSoldier companion; chafes at ghostly state, follows Livira, touches the book, experiences the story as General Charant.
- EvarCanith sibling; holds Livira’s book and moves toward the Soldier, unaware of Livira and Malar’s ghostly presence.
- ClovisCanith warrior; reports killing an Escape and discusses the discovered tower with Evar and Kerrol.
- KerrolCanith scholar; studies a scroll and questions Evar about the book’s nature and origin.
- The Soldier (assistant)Library assistant body once housing Malar; patrols greenery, briefly intersects Evar’s path.
- Meelan HostenLivira’s friend within the story; appears as Serra Leetar’s brother at the aristocratic dinner.
- Lord AlgarAristocrat in the story; exerts influence over allocations, an unsettling presence at dinner.
- Dantal CreyanProspective husband in the embedded tale; a wealthy, older suitor seated opposite Leetar.
- Heflin HostenPatriarch in the story; attempts to calm a guest and is abruptly killed by General Charant.
- General CharantMilitary man in the story; storms in and kills Heflin Hosten with a blunt sword, embodied by Malar.
- Serra LeetarRole Livira inhabits inside the book; Meelan’s sister, resisting a forced marriage alliance.