Chapter 14

“I want to give you a heads up,” Frage said over breakfast several weeks later, as she deftly sliced a piece of fruit into slices and removed the seeds in the core. “A prince from the Far East arrived yesterday and he made an immediate inquiry. He was a most impatient man.”

Danel put down his spoon and looked at her. “A prince arrived making princely demands that reflect his station in the world. How does this connect to me?”

“He came with a scroll copied from the archives of his own kingdom. To be accurate, from the archives of a previous kingdom that thrived on the same spot of ground centuries ago, maybe even a full millennium.” Frage popped a piece of fruit in her mouth and chewed quietly. “The inquiry is coming to you.”

“Me? I don’t run those sorts of errands,” Danel said with a frown.

“It’s your sort of errand,” she said. She picked up another slice.

“You are going to leave me here, sitting in anticipation?”

Frage gave him a dirty look. “It’s my breakfast too, and since I need to watch what I eat again and you are my friend, you will be patient with my idiosyncrasies. Less grains, more fruit and vegetables, and eating slowly.” She swallowed. “His inquiry includes the scroll, which states there is a dangerous archive that he needs to access to research. I don’t know more, and I don’t know the contents of the scroll.”

“Assignments, my dear colleagues,” Second called out. She went through her usual list with expected responses of almost vulgar exclamations. “Danel, you are to report with Explorer Sunder to the Order of the Goddess Natigai.”

“Goddesses,” Danel muttered, catching Frage’s attention. “There are seventy-seven Natigai according to the pantheon, all wives of the Father-god creator, Tngai.”

“Enough muttering for the moment,” Second said. “Tutuel, you left your book and your measuring instrument at the table yesterday morning. I’ve heard your wife admonish you that you would lose your head if it wasn’t screwed on. I’m not your wife and I will take off your head if you leave your toys everywhere again. Go, everyone off, go.”

“Have fun,” Frage said as she rose from her chair. “I hear the salt mines calling and they are calling for you.” Danel gave her the middle finger.

He walked up the corridor to grab his kit. Sunder was already there, repacking his own kit. “You’re late,” Sunder barked. “I do not appreciate these assignments. These royals create havoc because we must violate the protocols to satisfy their demands. Every. Single. Time.”

Danel placed his kit on the table and opened it, knowing that he repacked it properly last evening. “What is the assignment?”

“A plague stalks the highlands of Turnagal,” Sunder said. “They believe it is an ancient curse returned to punish them. They have information that the answer to the curse is in one of the locked rooms in the Second Basement.”

“Where in the Second Basement?”

“I know how to get to the corridor,” Sunder said. “After that, you will be reading the walls for us. The worst part is that we must bring one of the princes of Shu-Han with us, a complete novice. I don’t take orders well from nobles in the depths of the Library of Ibados. He’ll get us killed.”

Danel shrugged his pack on his shoulder. “May I suggest you place the prince into my keeping as you lead us. Perhaps, my green cord can act as a leash on our stricken prince.”

Sunder grunted his assent. Danel wanted to roll his eyes, but he did not want to further agitate the annoyed man. Instead, he fell in step, allowing Sunder to guide them to the Second Floor by a long and circuitous route. Although Danel knew a shorter route, two actually, he had already learned the cadre leader was sensitive about his navigational abilities.

They approached the entrance to the Order dedicated to the Earth Mothers Natigai. Anticipating their arrival, the acolytes were waiting for them with warm wet towels to wash their faces and hands. Danel and Sunder passed through the greeting rooms for the mission, continuing on to their chapel. The prince was pacing the room, his demeanor contrasting sharply with the purpose of the chapel. Both Danel and Sunder bowed.

Danel guessed that the prince was about a decade older than him. He was wearing a ceremonial knife in his waistband, which read royalty, war veteran, and a high-ranked civil servant, which was an earned ranking, not an honorary one. This prince was experienced and highly capable.

After introducing himself and Sunder, Danel asked the prince to explain what he was seeking. The prince immediately exploded in anger, yelling that he had already explained his inquiry twice in detail, argued with two Librarians yesterday, and found no such knowledge or clarification from the mission priestesses last night. He further railed that they were wasting his valuable time and that every moment spent waiting meant more of his people were dying.

Noting that Sunder was trembling in anger to the outburst, Danel stepped forward and bade the prince to sit. The acolytes rushed forward with short stools for all three men. When the prince reluctantly sat, Danel moved his stool directly in front of the prince and sat down, ignoring what Sunder did or did not do.

“Your royal person,” Danel began, and prince ordered him to dispense with courtly niceties. “My prince, I am the Librarian taking you down to the Second Basement. I come from a family of horse traders on the Steppes to your west. I am cognizant of the fierce reputation of the Shu-Han kingdom. As dangerous and deadly as your battlefields were when you led troops, where we are going is more dangerous. This is an area of the Library of Ibados where people die if they’re not unusually careful, such as where you put your hands, where you step, and sometimes, even looking too long. Some of these rooms are guarded by servants of the gods because they do not trust us. Please, my prince, do you understand the danger?”

The prince nodded reluctantly, holding his peace.

“Sunder is the leader of our guides into the more remote parts of the Library of Ibados,” Danel continued. “He is as good as your drill sergeants. He is methodical, unyielding, and always on task as we search. He barks, he growls, and he gives orders he expects everyone to follow immediately and without question. He has not lost a soul in his explorations.

“To your immediate frustration, the more details you can describe with exactness, the more easily we can identify where to look and frankly, identify the archive when we find it.”

“There are no maps?” The prince asked incredulity.

“Maps from a thousand years ago are no longer valid,” Danel said slowly. “In the Library of Ibados, the gods make hallways disappear, corridors bend, and stairways, well, let’s just say some stairways are a gamble.”

“What I seek is utterly important to the world...” the prince began when Danel cut him off. “Utterly important and dangerous, which means the gods may have decided to hide it. We’re allowed to find it, but we will not accidentally stumble upon it as casual explorers might.”