Chainfire: Chainfire Trilogy Part 1

"That seal to their banished land finally failed, though," Nathan reminded her.

"Yes, that's right, it did." Ann tapped a finger against her chin. "I wonder how that happened."

Nathan shrugged. "How isn't so important for now, although I am concerned about it."

He flipped a hand, as if setting aside the issue. "For the moment, that it did is what's meaningful. Whoever put these books here wanted them hidden and protected-and they went to a great deal of trouble to insure that it ley remained that way. The ungifted people here wouldn't be hindered by shields, the weight of the stone monument would be an obstacle in and of itself, but they would have no reason to want to move it in the first place unless they had a good reason to believe something was under it. What would cause them to suspect such a thing? The fact that this place has remained undisturbed for thousands of years proves that they never realized that this place was down here. I believe that the shields were placed to ward any invaders who might eventually make it into Bandakar, like Jagang's men did."

"That makes sense, I suppose," she murmured as she considered it. "Not really expecting that the seal to Bandakar would ever be breached, the shields were a simple act of precaution."

"Or prophecy," Nathan added.

Ann look up. "There is that." It would take a wizard of Nathan's ability to breach such shields. Even Ann didn't have the ability necessary for some shields. She knew, too, that there were shields placed in ancient times that could only be passed with the aid of Subtractive Magic.

"It's also possible that these books were simply placed here as a way of safekeeping such valuable works-in case anything happened to others of their kind."

"You really think they would go to this much trouble to do such a thing?" she asked.

"Well, all the books at the Palace of the Prophets were lost, now, weren't they? Books of prophecy are always at risk. Some have been destroyed, some have fallen into enemy hands, and some have simply disappeared. Places like this provide a backup for those other works-especially if prophecy foretells the need of such a contingency."

"I guess you could be right. I have heard about rare finds of prophecy that had been secreted away to preserve them, or to keep innocent eyes from viewing them." She shook her head as her gaze scanned the room. "Still, I've never heard of any find to approach the likes of this one."

Nathan handed her a book. Its ancient red leather cover was laded nearly to brown. Even so, there was something familiar-looking about it, about the faded gilded ribs on the spine. She lifted the cover and the first blank page.

"My, my, my," Ann softly mused as she saw the title. "The Glendhill Book of Deviation Theory. How very wonderful to hold this in my hands again." She closed the cover and clasped the book to her breast. "It's like an old friend come back from the dead."

The book had been one of her favorite volumes on forked prophecy. Because it was a pivotal volume that held valuable information about Richard, she had studied it and referred to it so often over the centuries as she waited for him to be born that she practically knew it by memory. She had been heartbroken that it had to be destroyed along with all the rest of the books in the vaults at the Palace of the Prophets. There was still a great deal of information in it about the possibilities of what was yet to come.

Nathan plucked another volume from a stack and waggled it before her as he arched an eyebrow. "Precession and Binary Inversions."

"No!" She snatched it from his hands. "It can't be."

None of the accounts could ever say for sure that the elusive volume had in fact ever really existed. Ann herself had hunted for it, at Nathan's request, whenever she traveled. She'd also had trusted Sisters look for it whenever they went on a journey. There had been leads, but none of the clues ever resulted in anything but dead ends.

She looked up at the tall prophet. "Is this real? Many accounts deny that it ever really existed."

"Missing, according to some. A mere myth, according to others. I read a little of it and by the branches of prophecy it fills in, it can only be genuine-or a brilliant fake. I'd have to study it further to tell which, but from what I've seen, so far, I tend to believe it's genuine. Besides, what purpose would there be in hiding a fake? Fakes are generally created in order to exchange them for gold."

That was true enough. "And here it was all the time. Buried beneath the bones."

"Along with what I suspect may be a great many other volumes that are just as valuable."

Ann clicked her tongue as she again gazed about at all the books, her sense of awe growing by the moment. "Nathan, you've uncovered a treasure. A treasure of incalculable value."

"Perhaps," He said. When she shot him a puzzled frown, he lifted a hefty tome off the top of another stack. "You won't even believe what this is. Here. Open it and read the title yourself."