THE DUCHESS;

EVERYBODY'S LOOKING FOR SOMETHING

Reading was not nearly as interesting as action was. It was dull and monotonous and the Duchess wasn’t entirely certain what she was looking for in the first place. Information, of course, some idea of where she actually was and what she might do with her time here. With the majority of the texts having some discussion of Earth, that seemed the likely planet, but what she could remember of earth was that there were many kingdoms there, each with its own government and power structure. Now, as she read, an atlas lay open on the desk for reference when she stumbled upon information that required knowledge of Earth geography. There had been classes mentioning Earth in her childhood, due to the constant flux of immigrants from this world into Shaman, but the Duchess couldn’t recall anyone who had paid the course any attention. She certainly hadn’t.

She close the current book and reached for another, leaning back in the chair with her feet kicked up on the desk lazily. She opened the cover to a page of words that, while she could read them, held no meaning. It joined its amigos on the pile. Of course a Spanish deity would have many Spanish texts. Once or twice, a knock on the door interrupted the Duchess with a voice, sounding rather like what she would guess the book might sound like out loud, but with a lot of growling (purring?) through the rapidly passing syllables. It was gibberish, and each time the Duchess replied that she, or rather, he, was not to be disturbed.

The atlas had given her a basic understanding of the layout of different countries, so when she grew hungry, she teleported to a city and took food from vendors on the streets. At first, she had kept to the shadows and diverted attention before taking her due, but as days passed, she became bolder. No one questioned a deity who wanted food. Beyond food, she stayed in the study, protected from invasion by teleportation and a barrier charm she’d dug up in an old tome.

The next book was on architectural styles across Europe. Although dull, it was enough for Duchess to recognize this palace as Spanish. The revelation earned the Duchess and eye roll from herself. Why would the Spaniard be anywhere but Spain? She tossed the book aside and pulled out more on history and the political struggles of the world, the wars that had been fought and the cost of winning and losing. It was all informative, and the pieces of a few ideas began to fall into their places, but none of it would be enough.

She grabbed another book, and flipped past the cover page on a biography of Mallos himself. This would surely give her some inspirational aid.