Read Online The Clockwork Crown by Beth Cato - Free Book Online

more. I must make some delicate inquiries.” He walked down the aisle, a new tweed hat tucked under his arm. Delicate inquiries. Meaning he’s going to do things he told me not to do.
    She studied the shelves he had pointed her to. The section labeled R ELIGION consisted of some twenty books. The red books addressed all world religions by country and regional quirk. The Lady earned a few sentences in Caskentia’s section.
    â€œThe Lady’s Tree is a variation on the Lord’s Tree, as found elsewhere [SEE Grant, Vernon, Cashmere]. In recent centuries, numbers of faithful have declined; devotees are almost exclusively magi of the healing arts, known here as medicians. Medician schools indoctrinate their students in the faith of an avatar of God, a Tree who was once a grieving woman who wandered the Dallows. By invoking the Lady through a bound circle, miracles are achieved.”
    Faith has declined, indeed. I knew almost nothing of the Lady until I met Miss Percival, and my parents were both teachers and well read. If they had known of an explanation for my need to bloodlet, they would have let me know. Instead, they watched me and worried. No parent, no child, should have to endure that painful ignorance.
    She checked the other nations referenced. Those listings didn’t elaborate, instead forming an endless cross-­referential loop. Sighing, Octavia slid the book back onto the shelf. A strange man approached. Young, heart murmur, still suffering from the lingering effects of inebriation. She looked up with a slight smile, even as a self-­conscious flush traveled up her neck.
    He wore a trim gray suit. Black kohl lined his eyes and thickened his eyebrows. “Can I help you?”
    â€œAh yes. I was just skimming books. On religion.” Blast it, Alonzo, I act about as incognito as a gremlin in a jewelry shop.
    The librarian’s brows drew together. “You’re Caskentian?”
    Balderdash. “ Ah yes.”
    â€œI’m surprised, that’s all. Most Caskentians can’t read. They don’t come in here.”
    She wished she could argue with him but he was quite right. She had written letters home for hundreds of soldiers, which were likely received by families that were equally illiterate.
    â€œI’m trying to explore matters of faith. Are there more books?”
    â€œYou could check the academic studies of mythology, but no, religion isn’t a relevant topic these days. If a book isn’t checked out in a decade, it’s sent to the basement, and after another decade without requests, it’s sold.” He shrugged.
    â€œI see,” she said slowly. Alonzo approached; he paused to pull a book off the shelf, more cool and casual than she could ever hope to be. “My thanks.”
    It took several more minutes for Alonzo to work his way down to her. “I’m rotten at this,” she muttered. “He was shocked a Caskentian could read.”
    â€œI am sorry.” He turned his back to her as he skimmed a volume on regional variations within the folk art of making bread boxes. “In Caskentia, my skin sets me apart. Here, there is greater variety in coloration, but your accent will label you in an instant.”
    â€œAnd my literacy,” she muttered. “But if I pretend to be mute, that makes me memorable as well.”
    â€œDid you find anything of interest in the books?”
    â€œMention of other Trees around the world, including male ones. That was new. He also said they get rid of books that aren’t checked out in a long time.”
    â€œThe librarian I spoke with said much the same. I had hoped that religion would retain an academic interest here.”
    â€œWhat do we do now?”
    â€œTry other libraries. Await me by the gargoyle statue outside.”
    And so it went, library after library. If the Lady and Tree were mentioned at all, it was to rehash what Octavia had already learned from Miss