Page 47 of The Art of Exiley

Michael’s expressive brows are drawn tight. “Tell me about the empty frame,” he says.

“At the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston,” I explain. “Where the Rembrandt was stolen along with a bunch of other works. The empty frames are left on the walls, waiting for the works to be returned to them.” Grandfather had brought me to the museum a few years ago. I’d found the empty frames to be truly haunting. And the feeling of loss they evoked in me lingers in my memory in a way so many other exhibitions I’ve seen over the years don’t. “There’s a ten-million-dollar reward for their recovery.”

Michael listens earnestly, nibbling at his thumbnail.

“Thank you for sharing that,” he says. “I hadn’t considered the implications of the loss to provincial society.”

No kidding. Not considering provincial society seems to be a running theme here. But Michael’s seminar has made it even more clear that what the Makers think about provincial society is wrong. The people of the twenty-first century are nothing like the intolerant religious zealots who exiled and hunted them hundreds of years ago. Well, at least most of them aren’t. But there’s certainly no longer a reason for the Makers not to share their knowledge.

After Michael says goodbye and heads out, my eyes are drawn to the section of the library with everything I need: the Guild Testaments.

The Guild Testament scrolls, where each guild compiles their greatest discoveries, are kept on their own floor suspended in the center of the library, accessible only by two winding staircases: one leading up from the floor below and one leading down from the floor above. Both staircases are patrolled by members of the Avant Guard. On the floating landing, there is a temperature-controlled glace room—the Ark—where the scrolls are kept, staffed by only a few trusted stewards.

The most secure area on the island? It’s gotta be where the good stuff is. And I need the good stuff. None of my efforts so far have turned up anything useful about whether it’s possible to share Sire abilities, and my hope that there’s an easy cure for Grandfather is waning.

My time in the infirmary after my accident had given me the chance to chat with Kaylie about Maker medicine. She was very enthusiastic about my interest in Bioscience, and she gave me some suggestions of ways to get the guild’s attention at Quorum. But my conversation with her pretty much confirmed that if a cure for Grandfather’s cancer does exist, it’s unlikely to be something that an individual Sire could achieve on their own. If I want to find the details of how my abilities could be used in conjunctionwith Maker surgical and pharmaceutical practices that might be able to be re-created by the Families’ doctors, then I need to see the Bioscience Guild Testament.

I won’t have access to the Ark until I’m in a guild, but I’ve started preparing for then by befriending one of the Ark stewards, a pregnant Sophist master named Xander. Georgie and Hypatia had thought my choice to sit at her lunch table the other day had been completely coincidental. They were wrong.

But even if I can’t get into the Ark yet, Kor also wants me to prioritize getting more information about the Makers’ other territories, and that’s something I can do right now, right here in the library.

The Genesis library is enchanting. Despite its size, it manages to be cozy with endless nooks and sitting areas. And the books! Gorgeous hand-bound books as far as the eye can see.

I ask one of the stewards, a plush white woman with her hair swept up in a beaded hairnet, where I can find information about the Makers’ other communities.

“Hmm, I have an idea. You wait right here.” She pats my arm and bustles off.

There’s beautiful copper detailing throughout the library that I had thought was decoration, but when a few minutes later a glace tube comes whizzing into a cubby next to me, I realize that it’s a system of pneumatic pipes. I remove two scrolls and a slip of paper from the tube and send it back through the chute. A cursory glance shows that both scrolls are maps, and the paper is the shelf location of a book.

Once I find the book, I sit down in one of the private study nooks—out of sight of the guards patrolling the Ark—to examine everything more closely. One map is of the world, but it’s very different from any map I’ve ever seen. There are numerous additional landmasses, and the familiar continents are on a completely different scale. Africa is notably much larger andAntarctica much smaller than I would have expected. The second map illustrates the entire Atlas route, and the book is an illustrated geographic reference text, clearly intended for young apprentices, titledExodus & Exile: The Geography of Maker Past and Present. All of these will be extremely helpful.

There are five areas on the world map that are labeled as “Delegations to the Maker Council.”

In Foundations, Michael explained that the Council is the group of delegates from each of the Maker communities who meet to make decisions regarding important issues that affect Maker society as a whole. I know that Arcadia democratically elects the Genesis headmaster, who acts as their delegate.

Avant is indicated to be in the Alps, andExodus & Exileprovides some additional information like the fact that it’s ruled by a monarchy. A fact that seems to conflict with their supposed utopian ideals, but okay.

Arcadia is in the Atlantic Ocean, southwest of Bermuda. (I note that it is suspiciously right around the area known as the Bermuda triangle.)

Midway between Avant and Arcadia is a cluster of small islands labeled the Misty Isles. I’ve heard a bit more about the Misty Isles, the domain of the Matriarchy of the Isles, from Mbali. Her mother is the leader of the Keftiu Matriarchy. The reference book explains that at the time of the Exodus, the Matriarchy provided refuge for fleeing Makers, many of whom chose to integrate into their society. Once the Atlas was built, and long-distance travel became easier, representatives of each guild were sent to establish themselves under the auspices of the Matriarchy, and more Makers began to take up residence there. It’s not unusual for Islanders like Mbali to choose to study in the Maker schools.

There are two other denoted locations on the map: a tiny island in the Mediterranean Sea labeled “Eden,” and an area near the Middle East labeled “Naiot.”

I flip through the reference book for more details. Eden supposedly marks the location of the actual Garden of Eden from the Bible. Though from the little information I can find, no one lives there, and it is more of an environmental preserve and perhaps also a retreat for those who need certain kinds of rehabilitation. Naiot is also currently unpopulated, but the book says that’s only been the case for close to two decades, ever since the tragic event known as the Fall of Naiot.

Master Bose, my Testaments teacher—the one with the dog—read to us about the Fall of Naiot from theBook of Chorusin my Testaments class just the other day.

Naiot had once been a hidden village of prophets who had an alliance with the Makers. After world governments repeatedly used their prophecies for destructive ends, they stopped sharing them, which led to their expulsion. They hid themselves where they could train new prophets to control their prophecy and use it responsibly. But all of that ended with the Fall of Naiot.

I hadn’t fully understood the testament that described the Fall. I should probably read the prophecy again.

I close the reference book and maps and bring them with me to the section of the library where the Testaments of the Prophets are shelved.

Having grown up with Catholicism and Judaism, I’m pretty familiar with hearing about old prophecies. But according toExodus & Exiles, this Chorus chick is still alive. That makes the Makers’ recorded prophecies a hell of a lot more recent than David and Samuel.

While the Guild Testaments are classified, the regular Testament section is easily accessible. Each of the Testaments of the Prophets has the name of a different Prophet embossed in gold on its spine. It’s the very last, extremely slim volume labeledChorusthat I pull down. I settle into a nearby love seat and begin to read.

Chorus

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