Loral

by Richard Young

started to read.

  King Delin found in Jarem a solution to his problems in Lianti. Altonis Minar had only recently settled the land to the south of Attarnon, taking away the only usable coastline in the West. Ordinarily, Delin could have turned his army to the south, forcing a way through and giving Attarnon at least a piece of coast to use for trading purposes, but with the majority of his forces holding the Northmen off the northern border, he was barely able to hold his own border. Added to this was the difficulty in recruiting Madmen, who at the time were difficult to track down and even more difficult to persuade to fight.

  To make matters worse, Minar had begun to wage a war of a different kind, through the Church of the Mind. From Jarem's notes:

  "I see now why the Goddess has brought me here. The land is in turmoil. King Delin is desperate for a way to stop Minar's fledgling religion from taking over the minds of his people. At the same time, he realizes that his forces in the south are weakening. He moves now from offense to defense as he must commit more and more resources to the north.

  "Minar has sent a message. If Delin will convert to the Church of the Mind, Minar will gladly allow him to keep his lands. But this would mean a sacrifice of Attarnon's largest asset - the Krin. Madmen. The Church despises their corruption, and while I do not disagree, I believe that they may be useful to us if they can be controlled.

  "This is what I will propose to Delin. With luck, the gathering of Madmen will appease Minar enough for him to withdraw for a time. Then, once we have control - we can crush him."

  "Excuse me?"

  I looked up from my book at the man standing in front of me. The first thing I noticed was his head. It was shaved bald, and wrapped around it was a narrow strip of cloth with a small blue circle on the front. The second thing I noticed was the satchel hanging over his shoulder, packed with the unmistakable shapes of books.

  "I hate to interrupt," the man said, "but I couldn't help but notice the book you're reading. Are you a student of history?"

  "I study all subjects," I said, wary of the man's attentions. It wasn't the first time I had been approached by a man with seemingly innocent intentions.

  "A student of the Academy then?" The man seemed unperturbed by my discomfort. "Or future student?"

  "What do you want?"

  The man chuckled. "Fair enough. My name is Filmon, and what I want is to let you know about our library."

  "Library?" The only libraries I knew about were the one in the Asylum, available to Madmen and Quis only, and the one in the Academy, available to students. "What library?"

  "Every Church houses a library of all the knowledge we can gather. It's not quite at the level of the Academy, but they have something of a head start on us."

  "Church? You're with the Church of the Mind, aren't you? I was just reading about you." I narrowed my eyes. "So, what, I have to join your Church to get access to your library? Is that the deal?"

  "Of course not," Filmon said with a smile. "But there is a catch. You may read any book you like so long as you remain within the Church. But if you wish to leave with a book, you must leave another in its place."

  I gave him a skeptical look, but my mind was already processing the possibilities. A virtual endless supply of reading materials was like a dream come true.

  "Here," Filmon said, pulling a book out of his satchel. "This one's free. I think you'll find a slightly different perspective on some of the events in the one you're reading." He handed the book to me, and I took it by reflex.

  "Wait, no," I said. I held the book out in front of me, but Filmon backed away with his hands behind his back. "I can't accept this." The book was bound with blue dyed leather, and the pages were crisp and clean. It was the nicest book I had ever seen, and was probably worth more than my entire collection.

  "If it displeases you, take it to the Church and exchange it for another. Or leave it there. It's your choice." The priest continued to back away. The growing flood of pedestrians traversing the streets threatened to hide him from view within a few steps.

  "Wait," I said. "Where is the Church?"

  "On the north side," he replied with a smile. "You'll find it."

  A moment later and he was gone.

  I turned the book over in my hand. It was barely larger than my handspan, and on the cover a circle like the one on Filmon's headband was embossed into the leather, along with the title. The Teachings of Altonis Minar.

  I stared at the book for a few moments. I was almost afraid to open it for fear of damaging the pristine pages. Instead, I went back to my other book, tucking the new one in beside me on the bench.

  Before I could get into it, my mother came back out of the store and spotted me. I sighed to myself and tucked both books under my arm. Hopefully I could make it home without having to resort to the little piece of paper in my pocket.

  "Nearly three cuvers for a loaf of bread!" My mother had a habit of complaining about the price of food. Regardless of how much she complained though, I noticed she had three loaves and a dozen buns wrapped in paper in her arms. I took particular notice of them when she held them out to me to carry.

  Trying to find a way to manage the bread and books led me to nearly drop everything in the dirt until my mother plucked the small blue book from my hands.

  "What's this?" she said, flipping it open with a frown.

  "It's a book." I wasn't happy at being the packhorse.

  "No need to be snippy. Where did you get it? I wasn't gone that long."

  "What does it matter? It's mine." I would have taken it back if my hands hadn't been full.

  "Wait... Do you know what this is?" She turned the book over and peered at the cover again, and a moment later held it at arm's length as if it was a viper. "This is Minder filth, isn't it?"

  "I - he didn't say what it was. I thought it was a history book." It was only a partial lie. I'd noticed the symbol on the front too.

  Without another word, my mother dropped the expensively bound and pristine book into the dust of the street. Looking back, I caught a glimpse of torn pages and scuffed leather under the boots of a crowd that neither noticed nor cared.

  "I don't want you reading anything like that, or having anything to do with the Minders, you understand?" I'd never seen my mother like this. It wasn't that she was angry - I'd seen her angry. The problem was her hate didn't have a source that I could tell. It was just simple prejudice.

  "Yes, Mother," I said. My thoughts were still on the book that lay crushed and torn on the street. Who knew what knowledge it contained that I was now forbidden from? What secrets lay within its pages that I would never know? "I'll stay away from them."

  The next day I climbed the narrow stone stairs that led into an immaculate temple on the north side of the city.

  Filmon had been right - this wasn't a place you could miss if you were looking for it. It wasn't large, only about the size of a modest inn, but it gleamed white in the mid-morning sun. Circles like the one I had seen on Filmon's headband adorned every surface in intricate patterns.

  I wondered how long it had been since the building was constructed. I'd been down the street before, and hadn't remembered anything like this - though that had been a few years ago. Honestly, I was surprised they had been allowed to build here. The reactions I had received while asking for directions had ranged from barely suppressed disgust to outright anger.

  I still couldn't understand it. I'd read the history. I knew about the wars between Attarnon and Lianti. But we were at peace with them now, and had accepted Lianti as a valuable trading partner. Why were these people clinging to the past?

  A woman at the door to the temple met me with a smile. She wore the same simple outfit that Filmon had, from the headband with a circle - though hers was black - down to her sandals. I was glad to see that her head wasn't shaved though. One of my worries had been that I could only enter the library bald.

  "Hi!" the girl said. "My name's Ari. Are you here to join the Church?"

  I shoo
k my head. "No. Just the library."

  "Of course." It looked like her smile faded slightly, but it may have been my imagination. "Follow me!"

  Immediately within the main doors was a small room that extended no more than ten feet in front of us, but was easily the whole width of the building, leading to a set of descending stairs on each side. Set into the wall in front of us was a massive set of doors. On either side, shelves on the walls held lamps, oil and wicks. Ari took one of the lamps and lit it from a torch set on the wall, adding the smell of smoke and oil to the odor that already permeated the air.

  "The archives are too vast and too precious to light with torches," Ari explained. "Upkeep alone would take more manpower than we have available. So we lend out lamps. This way."

  The two sets of stairs in the entrance way both led to a small corridor beneath the building. Ari paused before entering. "What are you looking for?" she asked.

  "History." It was the first thing that came to mind. Ari nodded and proceeded down the hallway at a brisk pace. I followed, a little nervous, both at being underground and being alone in a strange place when nobody knew where I was. I would have pulled out something to read to calm myself, but I needed to pay attention to where we were going so I could find my way out.

  Fortunately, the library appeared to be more or less logical. The main tunnel we headed down was lined with doors on either side, and at the end was a large room packed with tables, books, lamps and people. The