Year of the Boar, Thirteenth Month, Day 7.

 Haru decided that I could be permitted to make a short visit to the library earlier today. I could consult the Clerk of the Chronicles but only for a stick at the most, she said. How the tables have turned; now I am taking orders from my maids. I am quite well enough to appreciate the irony of this but I am not silly enough to ignore her advice. I want to get well as soon as possible and over-exerting myself will not serve me in this. 

The Clerk was surprisingly helpful. An ancient man whose owlish looks are fitting for his station; I was astonished to find him not dressed in Silent Thunder livery but in the robes of a monk with a swathe of umber cloth wrapped around his torso and over his head which served only to make him look more bird-like. He really must be as old as the hills themselves because he remembers Father as a young man. He spent much of the stick I spent with him remeniscing about Father of whom he spoke very fondly. I felt touched by that. Mostly, people speak with deference or a cold sort of detachment when they talk about a Ruler. I suppose very few people can count one of us as a friend or even a close acquaintance, so it was lovely to hear someone talk about Father as a person with real feelings and friendships. 

The Clerk told me that Father was very close to the Golden Harvests when he was a boy and had hoped to marry Lady Iyo but Grandfather had decided that Laughing Spider would be a more useful ally. That... was a shock. Father always told me that he and Mother were a love match. To hear that their marriage was not only arranged, but not desired has given a rather different perspective on their relationship. I wonder whether Iyo wanted to marry Yuuta or whether her parents forced her to do so. They always seemed happy enough together whenever I saw them but as I have learnt the hard way, no one ever knows what goes on behind closed doors. I suppose I could ask Keita if I had a bird with which to send a message but I have more important mysteries to solve. 

Regarding a connection between Pale Twilight and Purple Lightning, the Clerk said he could not think of anything but would think on it. I am to return to the library at the same hour tomorrow and he will tell me what he has found. 

Haru tells me that I am not well enough to take my meals in the Hall but I shall be permitted to eat at the table in my chamber rather than in bed for the next few days which is a blessed relief. I shall tidy my papers away for now so that I may use the table...