We crossed the threshold of the inner archway and into a room unlike anything I’d seen before. Gentle moonlight cascaded in through a skylight in the domed ceiling illuminating the room in an ethereal glow.

  In the center of the round room was a chest-high column that looked like something ancient. As though someone had picked it out of an Egyptian pyramid and carried it here to Shurwinn.

  There were beautiful vine carvings overlaying the smooth stone, and they seemed to be dripping a round fruit. Built into the pillar was a row of small drawers, and resting on its surface, lit by moonlight from above, was a thin, cream-colored book bound by a pink ribbon.

  The effect was breathtaking.

  I turned, looking around the room, but this one had no shelves. In the light of the moon, I could see that the white, gleaming walls were art.

  Not paintings as you’d expect, but raised depictions of two people I recognized from their wedding dance, and surrounding them were vines of blossoming moonflowers and round fruit. Relief sculptures showed several scenes, and I felt as though I knew the couple.

  “Ryst Nova,” Cora whispered.

  “And Nayth Carmidee,” Rhoda finished reverently.

  I turned, taking in the reliefs. In the next they embraced, foreheads touching, hair and clothing looking windblown by a gentle breeze.

  This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

  Then they were back-to-back just as they’d been in their wedding dance. And finally, embracing, smiling, and a starburst exploding around them.

  “Is this a tribute to the Wedding of the Millenia?” I asked softly.

  Bitsy huffed out a small laugh. “Not hardly,” and she looked suggestively at the book in the center of the room.

  We approached the pillar, and Bitsy held a pair of cotton gloves to HC who put them on then flipped open the cover. We peered at the title page.

  Within And Without:

  A Tindin Journey With Erotica

  by Ryst Nova

  “She was an erotica writer?” I asked, surprised.

  HC shook his head. “This book is published on stream under the pseudonym Sibsil Creed, and if I had to call it anything, I’d say it’s a kind of spiritual exploration. Yes, it’s a sex book, but it’s more of a journey about what it means to be an intimate being in the Cosmic sense.”

  “I’d love to quote you on that,” Bitsy smiled. “Your words capture the heart and soul of Ryst’s book completely. She was an extraordinary woman, and she left a charge to my family. But Pitch and I don’t want to tell you her story,” she gestured around the room with one hand.

  "We want you to be the first outsiders to read it. A type of beta-reader, let’s say. Then you’ll know what this building is and why it’s here,” she finished as Pitch handed a stack of books to HC and Paddy.

  “There’s more here than what you’ve published in the past? New books? Answers to the riddles I’ve been reading from Sibsil Creed my whole life?” HC wondered.

  Bitsy nodded. "The very reason those teasers were published: the Known Cosmos series. I warn you, it’s four books, so you’re looking at days of reading ahead of you, and the volumes have to stay in this secure building. We have shiki cushions,” she pointed to the comfy bench-like seating on the floor piled with throw pillows.

  “And Pitch will get anything you need… If you really want to explore this strange world you’ve stepped into.”

  “If you can bring me a blanket for my son, I’ll tuck him in on this cushion and get started right now,” Rhoda said. “I love a good story after dark, and this one looks like a romance!”

  “Many romances, actually,” Bitsy assured her. “And a lot more. Pitch’ll be back with blankets, and just ask if you need anything else."

  At that invitation, we all picked out a place to settle in and picked up our new books.

  Four books to solve mysteries that had taken us all the way to Andromeda Galaxy?

  That was my kind of night.