39 Saun 716
"I had it here only a few bits ago," Maebella insisted, questing through the sorting shelves for the particular tome.
"If you had then it would still be here unless you shelved it, which isn't the case," the man explained coldly, arms crossed over his chest, his gaze sharp and accusatory. His presence made her nervous and his displeasure only worsened the situation, his stare creating a prickling sensation on the back of her neck while she was turned away from him.
It was rare and highly unusual that a text on arcana would be left on the standard sorting shelves. The shelves were many for staff use but students would often leave books there when they were done with them, leaving someone else to take care of them. However, the arcana texts were highly restricted and the notion of someone leaving them where anyone could get ahold of them - visitors included if they sought them there - was unimaginable. Typically, those who studied arcane topics kept themselves to the third floor. It was there that the entrance to the Griseous Wing could be found, there that special shelves were put aside to prevent just anybody from getting their hands on it and it was there that the books were normally left. In fact, Maebella wasn't really supposed to handle the texts herself. She would have carried it upstairs and left it on the appropriate sorting shelves and nobody would have known of the unusual occurrence. Of course, she wasn't destined to be so lucky.
"As soon as the book came into your possession, you should have informed someone! It should have been brought upstairs immediately. It shouldn't fall to me to realise that something of such import is missing. If I hadn't wanted to take it out then goodness knows what would have happened! I thought it was a long shot that it was brought down here but now you tell me that you've lost it. Truly the height of incompetence!" the arcana lecturer blustered, his voice rising to an uncomfortable level. At this rate, everyone in the Prime Atheneum was going to hear how the Eídisi girl had screwed up.
It wasn't where she'd left it. She knew it wasn't there but she still searched for it, even though this wasn't the first time and she already knew the outcome. However, she also knew that there was no way that she could have misplaced it. She'd hardly moved from this spot, she hadn't moved the book and she knew with complete certainty that this wasn't her fault. Unfortunately, despite the lack of explanation, she also knew that it was her fault and her fault alone. She'd been responsible for it and it had gone missing on her watch.
The blue-skinned young woman faced the lecturer once more, drawing herself up to her full height as she smoothed down her clothing. There was the niggling threat of tears but she was too proud to let this man see her reduced to such a useless display of emotion. "I don't know where it is but it isn't my fault. Someone must have taken it, perhaps it was the person who put it here in the first place. I'm fairly sure that a few people came or went since I saw it last. You said it yourself that it wasn't signed out, which means that it's strange that someone came down here specially to leave it here. Don't you think that it's strange?" she questioned, eyeing the human closely as she waited for her words to sink in. If he examined the situation logically then surely he'd see that there was something unusual going on here.
"Perhaps the person who left it here picked it back up again. Maybe they brought it upstairs again, I don't know but don't you think that you should check?" she added, watching the man's face redden.
"Do you presume to tell me my job? If you'd done yours then we wouldn't have this mess! Someone could have stolen it and taken it out of the Prime Atheneum altogether but you have the time and the insolence to act as if this is just a simple misunderstanding!" he snapped back, making her wince. They'd drawn something of an audience at this point and the girl could feel her face heating further under the stares.
There was clearly nothing that she could do in this situation because any attempt would simply aggravate this man further. What she really needed was for someone to come to her aid but Maebella didn't have any allies, neither here nor anywhere else.
"If you had then it would still be here unless you shelved it, which isn't the case," the man explained coldly, arms crossed over his chest, his gaze sharp and accusatory. His presence made her nervous and his displeasure only worsened the situation, his stare creating a prickling sensation on the back of her neck while she was turned away from him.
It was rare and highly unusual that a text on arcana would be left on the standard sorting shelves. The shelves were many for staff use but students would often leave books there when they were done with them, leaving someone else to take care of them. However, the arcana texts were highly restricted and the notion of someone leaving them where anyone could get ahold of them - visitors included if they sought them there - was unimaginable. Typically, those who studied arcane topics kept themselves to the third floor. It was there that the entrance to the Griseous Wing could be found, there that special shelves were put aside to prevent just anybody from getting their hands on it and it was there that the books were normally left. In fact, Maebella wasn't really supposed to handle the texts herself. She would have carried it upstairs and left it on the appropriate sorting shelves and nobody would have known of the unusual occurrence. Of course, she wasn't destined to be so lucky.
"As soon as the book came into your possession, you should have informed someone! It should have been brought upstairs immediately. It shouldn't fall to me to realise that something of such import is missing. If I hadn't wanted to take it out then goodness knows what would have happened! I thought it was a long shot that it was brought down here but now you tell me that you've lost it. Truly the height of incompetence!" the arcana lecturer blustered, his voice rising to an uncomfortable level. At this rate, everyone in the Prime Atheneum was going to hear how the Eídisi girl had screwed up.
It wasn't where she'd left it. She knew it wasn't there but she still searched for it, even though this wasn't the first time and she already knew the outcome. However, she also knew that there was no way that she could have misplaced it. She'd hardly moved from this spot, she hadn't moved the book and she knew with complete certainty that this wasn't her fault. Unfortunately, despite the lack of explanation, she also knew that it was her fault and her fault alone. She'd been responsible for it and it had gone missing on her watch.
The blue-skinned young woman faced the lecturer once more, drawing herself up to her full height as she smoothed down her clothing. There was the niggling threat of tears but she was too proud to let this man see her reduced to such a useless display of emotion. "I don't know where it is but it isn't my fault. Someone must have taken it, perhaps it was the person who put it here in the first place. I'm fairly sure that a few people came or went since I saw it last. You said it yourself that it wasn't signed out, which means that it's strange that someone came down here specially to leave it here. Don't you think that it's strange?" she questioned, eyeing the human closely as she waited for her words to sink in. If he examined the situation logically then surely he'd see that there was something unusual going on here.
"Perhaps the person who left it here picked it back up again. Maybe they brought it upstairs again, I don't know but don't you think that you should check?" she added, watching the man's face redden.
"Do you presume to tell me my job? If you'd done yours then we wouldn't have this mess! Someone could have stolen it and taken it out of the Prime Atheneum altogether but you have the time and the insolence to act as if this is just a simple misunderstanding!" he snapped back, making her wince. They'd drawn something of an audience at this point and the girl could feel her face heating further under the stares.
There was clearly nothing that she could do in this situation because any attempt would simply aggravate this man further. What she really needed was for someone to come to her aid but Maebella didn't have any allies, neither here nor anywhere else.
