Chương 49: See Also: Geese

The morning after (or the equivalent in the archive) their return from Greenhollow, the Infinite Archive was unusually peaceful. Bart continued to sip his coffee at his desk. Albert was meticulously dusting the newly restored Reference & Cross-Reference section with a rag that was arguably dirty. Gregor was inspecting the tiny catalogue drawers that had appeared overnight, tracing the labels with one finger.

"Boss."

"Yes?" Gregor squinted at a small brass tag.

"Com... par... a... tive." He moved to the next word.

"Thauma..." Bart looked over and said "Comparative Thaumaturgical Zoology." Gregor stared at the label.

"That's an unreasonable amount of letters for one drawer."

"Don't try and open it," Bart said. Gregor immediately pushed it shut. DING! A small, satisfying bell chimed from the center of the Cross-Reference desk. A stiff, rectangular catalogue card emerged from a slot. LEGACY SUBJECT RELATIONSHIPS UPDATED. Bart walked over and picked it up. He read the top line. Agricultural Thaumaturgy See also: Magical Crop Rotation, Substrate Reactions, Weather Wards. Bart nodded in quiet approval, the new Authority was already organizing the backlog. Gregor leaned over the desk.

"So it tells you where else to look?"

"Yes," Bart said.

"Can it do people?"

"I would think yes." WHOOSH! GURGLE! The white STAFF RESTROOM door slammed open so violently it banged against a shelf. King Aurelius stormed through it looking madder than ever, Thaddeus followed several steps behind, clutching a thick leather folder to his chest. Aurelius marched directly to the front desk, slapped a catalogue notice onto the wood, and pointed a trembling finger at it.

"REMOVE THE GEESE." Bart looked at him and calmly greeted him "Good morning, Your Majesty."

"YOU!! DO NOT GOOD MORNING ME." Bart calmly picked up the notice. Since Citation had been restored, Cross-Reference had begun rebuilding verified relationships across the Archive's existing records. Aurelius's subject record was one of them. AURELIUS IV, KING OF TREMENDIA Monarch Memoirist Current borrower SEE ALSO: Royal autobiographical records South Courtyard incidents Waterfowl Geese RELATED HISTORICAL ENTITY: BEATRICE - ROYAL GOOSE Aurelius pointed furiously at the card.

"Remove the geese." Bart looked at the final section.

"There is also Beatrice." Aurelius's finger moved.

"Her first then" Gregor immediately appeared beside Bart and leaned over the card. He traced the letters of the bottom section with one finger.

"B... Bea..." His face brightened.

"Beatrice." Aurelius glared at him.

"YOU!!" Gregor looked extremely pleased with himself.

"I read that."

"Gregor," Bart warned. Aurelius tapped the desk.

"She is a goose. She cannot be a historical entity." Bart looked at the record.

"She existed."

"That is an extremely low standard." Gregor nodded.

"You passed it too."

"Gregor." Aurelius straightened his heavy velvet robes.

"I have filed the proper administrative grievance." He held out a hand. Thaddeus reluctantly stepped forward and surrendered the thick leather folder. Aurelius dropped it heavily onto Bart's desk. Bart looked at the cover. PETITION FOR REMOVAL OF DEFAMATORY SUBJECT HEADING He picked it up. It was surprisingly heavy." 67 pages." Gregor looked at Aurelius.

"That's a very specific number."

"Coincidence," Aurelius said tightly. Bart placed the petition against the indexing plate. The new Cross-Reference procedure immediately woke up to process the request. SUBJECT RELATIONSHIP REVIEW Subject: KING AURELIUS IV DIRECT ENTITY RELATIONSHIP Entity: BEATRICE Classification: ROYAL GOOSE Relationship type: DOCUMENTED INCIDENT PARTICIPANT Relationship status: VERIFIED Requested removal: GEESE / BEATRICE Petition basis: EMBARRASSMENT Valid cataloguing justification: NO Gregor studied the glowing text.

"I can read Beatrice."

"Yes," Bart said. He pointed farther down.

"And that says... verified?" Bart glanced at it.

"Correct, excellent Gregor" Gregor's grin widened.

"So he officially can't get rid of Beatrice?" Bart considered the wording.

"From this record, no."

"Can it add who won?"

"No," Bart said. Aurelius pointed at Bart.

"Finally some sense" Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. Gregor shrugged.

"Everyone knows anyway."

"NO THEY DO NOT!" Aurelius roared. DING. While they were arguing, a different drawer in the Cross-Reference section slid open with a soft metallic click. Albert noticed it first. The skeleton carefully extracted a yellowing property card and carried it to Bart with absolute reverence.

LEGACY OWNERSHIP RELATIONSHIP RESTORED Item: CEREMONIAL COURT HOSE - LEFT Material: Crimson silk / gold thread Depositor: UNKNOWN Last associated patron: AURELIUS I, KING OF TREMENDIA Date recorded: 612 years ago Status: UNCLAIMED LOST PROPERTY Silence descended on the desk. Gregor looked at Aurelius, the card and back at Aurelius.

"You lost a sock?"

"I was not alive nearly six hundred years ago," Aurelius said through gritted teeth. Gregor nodded.

"Someone in your family lost a sock then?

""That phrasing does not make it better," Aurelius snapped. Bart looked at the record, then at the King standing before him.

"You are a descendant of Aurelius I?" Aurelius looked profoundly offended.

"Obviously." Gregor frowned.

"But you're Aurelius too."

"Yes."

"What number?" asked Bart Aurelius stared at him in cold silence. Thaddeus sighed quietly.

"Four, keeper" Gregor blinked.

"Only four Aureliuses in nearly six hundred years?" Aurelius straightened, recovering his regal bearing.

"The name is not bestowed lightly." Gregor looked at Bart confused "They kept running out of names at least three times ""Gregor." Aurelius glared at the thief.

"We found perfection very early." Bart tapped the green glass, cross-referencing the ancient lost property location. Albert immediately disappeared into the stacks. He returned a few minutes later, carrying a beautiful, archival preservation box with both hands. Everyone leaned forward for a closer look, Albert set the box down with absolute solemnity. And then Bart opened it. Inside sat one red stocking. It was not magical and seemed slightly moth eaten. It had a bit of gold embroidery. Gregor stared at it.

"That's disappointing."

"That is royal ceremonial hosiery," Aurelius corrected instantly.

"That's a sock."

"It has a gold thread."

"Expensive sock then" Bart examined the old, handwritten label tied to the toe. FOUND BENEATH READING TABLE 14. After closing hours. No claimant located. Whatever royal history had eventually claimed, the surviving Archive record was considerably less dramatic. Aurelius I's missing ceremonial stocking had been found beneath Reading Table 14 after closing. In the meantime Thaddeus had gone completely pale. Bart noticed.

"Mr. Thaddeus?" Thaddeus pointed a trembling finger at the box.

"Keeper... may I see the embroidery?" Bart turned over the stocking to the historian. Thaddeus stared at the fading gold thread.

"Oh dear," Thaddeus whispered.

"What?" Aurelius demanded.

"The Crimson Relic of Aurelius I that's at the museum," Thaddeus said weakly. Gregor looked at the moth eaten fabric in the box.

"Your country has been displaying a sock for nearly six hundred years?" Aurelius stiffened.

"It is not displayed as a sock." Bart looked up.

"What is it displayed as?" Suddenly, Thaddeus became fascinated by the floorboards and slowly but reluctantly, he explained. The other sock still existed. It was one of the most treasured royal relics of Tremendia, displayed proudly in the palace museum under thick enchantive glass. According to centuries of royal mythology, Aurelius I had worn the pair during the legendary Battle of Seven Banners. Thaddeus pointed at the box.

"One stocking survived. The other supposedly... was consumed in celestial fire during the battle." Everyone looked at the sock. Bart looked at the lost property card." Found beneath Reading Table 14." Gregor nodded slowly.

"Very local celestial fire." Thaddeus closed his eyes.

"Nobody is changing the plaque," Aurelius announced loudly.

"I haven't suggested changing the plaque," Bart said.

"Yet," Thaddeus murmured. Unfortunately for Aurelius, Cross-Reference had already matched the recovered stocking against Tremendia's restored partner catalogue. DING.

PARTNER RECORD DISCREPANCY IDENTIFIED Local repository: Tremendian Palace Collection Current description: Sole surviving ceremonial stocking of Aurelius I Verified related item: Matching ceremonial stocking Current custody: Infinite Archive - Lost Property Remote correction authority: NOT ACTIVE Local correction authority: TREMENDIAN RECORDS LIAISON Aurelius read the screen. His eyes locked onto REMOTE CORRECTION AUTHORITY: NOT ACTIVE. He visibly relaxed.

"Good." Bart adjusted his glasses.

"The sovereign lien was released when your overdue loan was resolved. I cannot alter your palace records from here." Aurelius smiled. DING. DISCREPANCY NOTICE ROUTED TO LOCAL LIAISON Aurelius's smile vanished. Thaddeus looked at the screen and sighed.

"That looks like me." Aurelius rounded on Thaddeus.

"You will do absolutely nothing." Thaddeus looked unhappily at the glowing notice.

"I am required to review it, Your Majesty."

"I require you not to." Thaddeus hesitated.

"That is not one of my liaison duties." Aurelius closed his eyes.

"I dislike your library very much." He turned his attention back to the moth eaten piece of silk sitting in the archival box.

"Then destroy it," Aurelius ordered. Bart's expression immediately changed.

"No." Aurelius realized instantly that he had suggested the wrong thing. He took a step back.

"Fine. Misplace it."

"Also no." Gregor shrugged.

"We could put it back under the table."

"No," Bart said. Albert hugged the archival box protectively. Bart pulled a standard form from the drawer.

"As the current representative of the House of Aurelius, you are eligible to claim it." Aurelius crossed his arms.

"And if I don't?"

"It remains in Lost Property." Aurelius relaxed.

"Excellent." Bart glanced toward Thaddeus.

"The discrepancy notice remains either way." Aurelius's relief disappeared.

"So leaving it here changes nothing?"

"It changes who has custody of the sock."

"And the history?"

"No." Aurelius looked at the sock and then at Thaddeus.

"Give me the form," Aurelius muttered. He filled out the required information with furious strokes. LOST PROPERTY CLAIM - DYNASTIC Relationship to original owner: Aurelius wrote: SUPERIOR DESCENDANT. Bart calmly crossed out SUPERIOR.

"Descendant is sufficient." Aurelius stared at the correction. He didn't rewrite the word but underlined DESCENDANT three times while pressing his pen. Albert packed the moth-eaten sock securely into the archival box and handed it to Thaddeus, who looked like he was holding a bomb. Aurelius turned sharply on his heel, his heavy robes swirling around him. He marched toward the STAFF RESTROOM door. Just before he pushed it open, he stopped. He didn't look back.

"And the geese?" Aurelius asked. Bart checked the glass plate.

"Still accurate." Aurelius shoved the door open. Silence looked to have returned to the Infinite Archive. Gregor leaned against the desk.

"Looks like it was a productive visit." Bart returned to sorting the legacy subject relationships. DING. The catalogue updated, refreshing from all the verified relationships established during the morning's business. AURELIUS IV, KING OF TREMENDIA SEE ALSO: Autobiographical records Waterfowl Geese RELATED HISTORICAL ENTITY: Beatrice - Royal Goose DYNASTIC RELATIONSHIP: Aurelius I RELATED SUBJECT: Royal hosiery Suddenly, the white door banged open again. Aurelius hadn't quite disappeared through the portal.

His arm shot back into the Archive, grabbing the edge of the door frame.

"Keeper" Bart looked up.

"Yes, Your Majesty?"

"Remove hosiery." Whoosh! The door slammed shut.