UUUUGGGGHHH THIS SCENE
Adrian’s such a jerk and Simon’s such a good guy and we’re about to launch into the climax of this Lyonall arc and UGH 💀🖤💀🖤💀
Simon POV
He approached the obelisk, or rather, allowed himself to be drawn in by it. All its voices crashed together in a deafening hum, and he saw up close it was lit from within, in every color imaginable. If he tried he could almost see vivid, individual hues: streaks of reptilian blue and honeyed butterscotch, popping sparks of amethyst and bubble gum. But if he let his eyes unfocus it turned a turbulent white, a light that undulated and pulsed.
The beating heart of the whole castle, in a way he felt rather than knew.
“What is it?” he asked Adrian, who lingered a few steps behind him, giving him space to observe.
“What would you say,” Adrian asked gravely, “if I told you it was the source of all magic?”
He turned to look back at the man. The violent light of the obelisk cast sharp shadows across his face. “I’d say you were full of it.”
After another beat of regarding Simon quite seriously, he burst into bright laughter. “Well,” he chuckled, “I’m glad to see your naiveté has an upper limit.”
Adrian approached the thing reverently and ran his fingertips over its crystalline surface. It responded to him wordlessly - or, with more words than Simon’s power could comprehend at once. “Books can fall into the wrong hands,” he said softly. “They can be destroyed, copied, read by unfriendly eyes. This, friend, is the most secure library in the world.”
