Oh, wonderful. A break. Bookwatcher breaks could last anywhere from ten minutes to ten centuries depending on how far off Thoth the Overseer was – and in this particular library he could be very far away indeed.

The hours turned into days, and the days into weeks.

And on the Bookwatchers’ break went.

Rajul was kind enough to have some of the lower-ranked partyers perform theatre pieces for me in order to stave off boredom. Some of it was pretty good too. I tell you, you haven’t lived until you’ve seen “Death of a Salesman” as performed by the Bookwatchers. Lothar’s Willy Loman moved me to tears.

Finally, about halfway through Act II of Donizetti’s Lucrezia Borgia, one Bookwatcher’s bold contralto tones were cut short by a deep, unforgiving baritone. Cresting my bicep, walking with the impatient lope of a man (or thing, I suppose, since he looked nothing like a man) with no time, was Thoth the Overseer.

“Another break?” He cried, fingering his whip.

I sensed a confrontation in the offing.