“Do you think his book can help me study for the exam tomorrow?” Barclay asked bitterly.

“Probably not—it’s a bit advanced. But you can always start here.”

Ethel slid Barclay her stack of books.

Barclay had never seen a more welcome sight. Books? This he could manage, if only he had enough time. Unfortunately, Ethel’s books were each monstrously large, with wispy thin pages and words so small he needed to squint.

“I’ve taken the exam before,” Viola said, pausing her chapter to hold Mitzi down as she tried to drink Viola’s mug of pear cider. “They only ask really basic things. Like who the first Grand Keeper was, and what a common use of a Petalmill is, and what the names of the six Legendary class Beasts are—”

“Basic?” Barclay squeaked. “But I don’t know any of that!”

Abel shrugged. “That stuff only matters if you want to be a Scholar sort of Keeper. Not us.”

Barclay remembered Mandeep explaining the different types of Lore Keepers. “What kind do you want to be?”

“Guardians, of course. They’re the ones who protect the towns from wild Beasts. They’re always the most famous and powerful, and their assignments have the highest rewards. There are only a few Guardian Masters at this Exhibition, but I think we’ll be selected.”

“You’ll jinx us!” Ethel hissed.

Abel smirked. “You worry too much.”

Barclay, however, was certain he hadn’t worried enough. He poured over the opening of a book called The Wilderlands, Volume 1: The Woods. Then he made Viola tell him the answers to all the questions she had mentioned. The first Grand Keeper was Faiza Asfour, who supposedly bonded with all six Legendary Beasts and used her Lore to keep them contained within the Wilderlands. The common use of a Petalmill was a cure for the Summer whooping cough. And the names of the six Legendary Beasts were Shakulah, Dimondaise, Raajnavar, Lochmordra, Navrashtya, and Gravaldor.

“You don’t need to know all this!” Abel said. He stretched and yawned. “The best thing you can do is get a good sleep.”

Barclay very much doubted he would sleep tonight. He better stay up all night studying. Because even if Abel didn’t need to worry, even if there were several Guardian Masters at the Exhibition who would select him, Barclay didn’t have Abel’s experience or his options. He had to win. And failing the first exam didn’t seem like a good start.

Hours later, after Viola had finally convinced him to let her pay for their two rooms, Barclay lay in his bed upstairs in the Ironwood Inn and read by candlelight until his eyes strained and his head ached. And then he read some more. He scribbled notes into a journal, and even though the last thing he wanted was to become a Lore Keeper, studying like this still felt good. It felt normal. He could almost imagine Selby sleeping in the other corner of the cramped room or hear Master Pilzmann’s snores shaking the entire inn.