Page 79 of Blood Sanctuary, Part One

“So they are,” Kia answered.

Eudias was silent for a long moment. “The last known copies were lost in Pterugia in 893 Ordered Time when a quake damaged the temple Kheimerios founded. No mage of our cult has set eyes on his words in seven hundred years.”

Kia placed the scroll she held into his hands. “This is the first time we’ve ever had a chance to let someone of his own cult know his works survive.”

Eudias cradled the scroll with unmistakable reverence. Lio recognized the quiver of emotion in the apprentice’s aura. Lio felt exactly that way every time he unrolled a scroll that preserved the words of a firstblood he had never had the chance to meet.

Eudias looked at Kia over the scroll. “During his lifetime in the Great Temple Epoch, Kheimerios presented a set of his works as a gift to a colleague of his—the Prismos of Hagia Anatela, the Great Temple of Hespera in the east. He put it in the temple library.”

Kia smiled. “Apprentice Eudias, you have my highest respect. The depth of your knowledge has led you to the secret.”

“The libraryisthe secret.” Eudias looked around at the other mortals. “Do you realize what this means? We’re standing in the library of Hagia Anatela!”

“Everyone knows it burned down.” Tychon waved a hand at the scroll rack. “Those must have come from somewhere else.”

For the first time Lio had ever seen, Eudias gainsaid Tychon. “Hagia Anatela is the only place they could have come from. There are no other copies.”

Skleros propped a spurred boot on a silk-padded reading bench. “Are you sure Hesperines errant didn’t steal them from one of your temples? If they can steal the Akron’s Torch from the Hagion of Anthros, why not a few scrolls?”

Eudias faced the Gift Collector. “Haven’t you been paying attention to the titles as we’ve gone along? It’s like reading theCatalogue of Lost Wisdom. They don’t need to steal anything. They brought it all with them.”

Chrysanthos said absolutely nothing, which told Lio the Dexion could not deny the truth before his eyes.

“It didn’t burn.” Eudias’s voice hushed. “We thought it lost, all of it. Just like Hagia Notia in Corona.”

“My mother took Hagia Notia’s fate as a warning,” Kia said. “She vowed the same would not befall her temple’s library. During the evacuation of Hagia Anatela, she put a sack of scrolls on the back of each refugee. Together, they carried every last scrap with them all the way to Orthros.”

Lio wondered if his Trial sister realized how obvious it was that she was proud of her mother.

“I had no idea,” Cassia said. “I will never think of Elder Firstblood Hypatia in the same way again.”

“She is a hero of our people, thanks to her deeds—in ancient times.” Kia ran a scroll through her fingers.

“I am sure the mages and readers of our party must agree with me.” Cassia smiled at Eudias and Benedict. “I cannot but see this library as a powerful testament to the shared history of our peoples. We can appreciate your mother’s role in rescuing texts that are also sacred to us.”

“Hypatia dragged the carcass here along with the meat.” Chrysanthos clicked his tongue over the scroll he was reading. “Texts by Hephaestion, Sophia? Aithouros himself burned the works of his erstwhile brother-in-arms after they had their little disagreement.”

“Then Aithouros took credit for Hephaestion’s best ideas,” said Lyros. “Tell everyone why.”

When the Dexion did not respond, the mortals’ gazes turned to Lyros.

Lyros crossed his arms. “Hephaestion was a brilliant military strategist. The Aithourian Circle dealt themselves a loss when they cast him out.”

Chrysanthos let Hephaestion’s scroll roll shut too fast, and Lio winced with Kia.

“Honored Master,” said Eudias, “that scroll must be sixteen hundred years old.”

“It is fuel for the fire,” Chrysanthos said, “especially since the Stand has been reading it and learning Aithourian battle tactics.”

Mak shrugged. “If something happens to it, we’ll still have your copy, won’t we, Lyros?”

“That’s right. I think it’s in our residence at your parents’ house, isn’t it?”

“You left it on the terrace. I put it back on your bedside table for you.”

Lio wasn’t sure how many of the Tenebrans were finally waking to the fact that Mak and Lyros’s bond was deeper than battlefield camaraderie. Judging by the way Chrysanthos’s eyes narrowed, the mage had just heard his suspicions confirmed.

Lyros smiled. “What are you going to do, Honored Master Adelphos? Skleros is unable to lend you his tinderbox, and Princess Alexandra has already made her position clear.”

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