At the corner of Sage Street and Astrologer's Way stands a bookstore.
Three stories.
Weathered stone.
Aged wood.
Windows that catch the light like faceted gems.
Around its doorframe, constellations have been worked into the architecture.
Its name is Zephyr's Books & Curiosities.
And calling it simply a bookstore would be technically accurate in much the same way that calling the night sky “dark” would be accurate.
True.
Just incomplete.
The Shelves
Inside Zephyr's, ancient oak shelves rise around visitors.
They are not entirely ordinary shelves.
Some adjust themselves.
Some respond to the affinities of those moving among them.
And the books they hold are not limited to the sort of knowledge one expects to find in a neighborhood shop.
Zephyr's has a long relationship with unusual texts.
More importantly, it has a history of protecting knowledge.
That distinction matters.
There are books that people forget.
There are books people lose.
And then there are books someone wanted gone.
Zephyr's has never been particularly comfortable with the third category.
A Place Within a Place
Beyond its shelves, the bookstore contains a spiral staircase leading between its floors and a courtyard that offers another quiet corner away from the streets outside.
Beyond the shop itself is Eldenbrook's Old City.
Nearby businesses include an apothecary, a wandmaker, and a fortune-teller. Farther beyond Sage Street, Eldenbrook continues beneath the influence of old wards and the presence of institutions with histories of their own.
But Zephyr's occupies a particular place within that world.
It is a bookstore.
It is a home.
And it has become a repository for knowledge that might not have survived elsewhere.
That is all I am going to tell you.
For now.
Why Your Journey Starts Here
When the time came to design my author website, there was really only one place where the entrance could be.
Zephyr's.
So when those doors open on your screen, you are not entering a decorative fantasy backdrop created for a website.
You are stepping into the world of the books.
Welcome inside.
Please be careful with the shelves.
They may be paying more attention to you than you think.