The Archivist’s building, as well as the Archivist herself, wasn’t what I expected. It was full of scrolls and other records, that much met my expectations, but one of the few times the Archivist spoke in her whispery voice she said the building should be called the Stronghold of All Important Knowledge. I watched her face as she said it, but there was no hint of a smile or change in inflection to let me know if she was joking or not.
Nor was Archivist Sharron a whisper woman. No black painted her lips and she had the common blessing dots on her wrists. She had pale skin and hair, like the High Priestess, so that she seemed more like a ghost wandering the building rather than the one in charge of a half dozen assistants and all the knowledge they sifted through. She was also missing her legs. I didn’t ask if it was from an accident or birth and she didn’t offer, but the Archivist got around just fine with her arms. I didn’t have to wonder long why she was the Archivist rather than a whisper woman as it quickly became clear that she knew the location of every bit of knowledge in the organized rooms and could recite important details about whichever scroll you asked about in extensive detail. It made me wonder if she had her own version of the memory tent but I kept the question to myself.
I joined Juniper in a small sap chamber about the size of our past sleeping quarters in the Seed Landing. However, rather than being a place to sleep, it too was buried in heaps of records. I didn’t like seeing how roughly the records were being treated even as it boggled my mind the sheer number the Hundred Eyes sect had in their keeping. For the most part, tribes relied on spoken record as taking the time to create materials for the written word and then cart them around when only healers and Grandmothers knew the eighty six basic characters was more than foolish. Here, though, Hundred Eyes seemed to have a record for anything and everything no matter inconsequential or basic.
Our task was to sort through the piles in this room and categorize them into different groups so they could be assimilated into the larger collection. We were also supposed to note anything repetitive in nature or that was so basic whisper women wouldn’t likely come asking about it.
Our packs and bedrolls were also in the chamber as the Archivist’s building wasn’t aimed at accommodating more than the Archivist herself and her assistants. We’d be sleeping where we worked, but no one had forbidden us from exploring the wider building, so I planned to do just that when I wasn’t sorting. Better to see what I could, gain what knowledge I could in this sect that valued it so highly, rather than wasting a week or more by keeping my head down.
Juniper wasn’t sleeping or sorting when I entered the chamber. At most, it looked like she had shoved aside some of the piles so we’d have room to roll out our bedrolls. I didn’t like the idea of sleeping so close to her, but there was little choice unless I wanted to sleep on top of the scrolls and tablets.
There wasn’t much light in the chamber. Some small holes in the top of the chamber let in light from a pine cone lantern somewhere outside, but the holes would likely be more effective in the daylight. As it was though, I found Juniper sitting on her bedroll, staring out at the records but not really seeing them, in a room that would be too dark for anyone without the dark sight boon to navigate.
I checked my pack and found that no one had touched its contents, including the poisoner pouch. Then I set out my own bedroll and sat on it facing Juniper. I wasn’t exactly keen on prying into her brooding, but we were stuck together for now and I thought I could try doing what Prevna would have done.
“Why Hundred Eyes?” I asked.
Juniper blinked and somewhat came out of her reverie. “If Idra and Ento want to suck on each other’s faces they can do that in the Peacekeepers sect without me.”
That didn’t really answer my question, but it did have more venom than I expected. Still, I also didn’t want to talk about Idra and Ento, so I tried a different tactic. “I thought you wanted to go home. That’s less likely in this sect.”
Juniper drew her knees closer to her chest. “I know.”
“So?”
She smiled self depreciatingly. “Spite.”
I narrowed my eyes at her. That wasn’t a conversation I expected her to remember nor did it seem to be the whole truth. There was something else going on. I knew I could try to pry more out of her, but after my conversation with Dawnli and Rivon I didn’t have much energy to support the impulse to be friendly like Prevna. I could also tell Juniper about what I had discovered about her home territory, the sect head and her second likely expected it, but there didn’t seem much point to that yet. Not when we couldn’t do anything about the fighting—it’d likely just lead to more brooding.
So I said instead, “We should sleep.” I nodded to the documents all around us. “There’ll be a lot to do tomorrow.”
She nodded back and laid down with her back to me. I slipped out of the ceremonial robe and into my regular clothes before I did the same.
- -
The next morning Juniper was up before me even though I had also woken up early. She was gone for a while, either to get her morning meal or do her own exploring, as I hadn’t seen her when I went to get my own meal from the cooking area. I didn’t press her about it when she returned. I had tried my hand at being friendly the night before and now I was more inclined to silence. If she didn’t want to share that was fine. It just meant she should be less likely to ask me anything in return and that was always preferable.
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.
We spent the morning sifting through the documents closest to our beds, only occasionally exchanging a sentence or two so we could coordinate our piles. I wasn’t sure what had happened between when Rivon and I left her and when I returned after the meeting, but she was more subdued now. I knew she hadn’t enjoyed taking the firestarter paths but I doubted that trip would’ve been enough to put her in this new mood, even if she tended to brood. Still, she was working and not just pouting so I resolved to let her have her space unless that changed.
Rivon came to get me in the afternoon for my meeting with my new mentor—Dawnli had said that destination depended on if the meeting went well but I had little doubt they would change their choice. I was surprised that Rivon was taking the time to bring me to her until I thought about it more. Likely they wanted to judge the meeting firsthand without any worry of information being twisted as this was the first step of their grand plan for me.
Rivon was fully back into her flashy persona and I realized the sense of falseness I felt when she displayed it was also a choice on her part. Likely she had the skill to make all her reactions and emotions seem genuine, but for the most part she chose not to. Another tool for her to misdirect others and make them think she was finally showing her true emotions when she wasn’t.
We left the Archivist building behind for an outlook point. This one jutted out over the lake, so that between the sky and water, it felt like the blue could swallow me whole. Sitting on the railing despite the expanse looming around her was my mentor-to-be, Ingrasia.
She looked thin to the point of frailty with thick dirty blonde hair somewhere between wavy and curly that should have overwhelmed her features, but somehow only softened the sharp angles of her face. Perhaps it was the braids interwoven throughout or the way she sat with utter certainty that she wouldn’t fall. When she shifted to look at us, I saw that her eyes were as blue as the sky behind her and that she had modified her dress so it was split into two pieces. Her skirt was normal, but her top had been cut short so that the bless mark that curled around her ribs on the left side to her belly button was easily seen.
“Right on time.” Ingrasia smiled, but her words didn’t sound like a compliment.
“Most would consider punctuality a virtue.” Rivon smirked.
Ingrasia stretched her arms upward and ignored Rivon’s attitude. “Only those who want to please everyone else.” She dropped her hands back down. “The person who shows up a handful of minutes late—they know their time is more valuable.”
“We can leave and come back,” Rivon offered.
Ingrasia huffed out a breath somewhere between amusement and exasperation. “I doubt you would want to seem so eager.”
Rivon unexpectedly pushed me forward a step. “Then eagerly meet you new apprentice.”
Ingrasia shifted her gaze down to me. “Do you have any interest going beyond the goddess’s borders?”
Possibly. At some point in the future. Seeing if all the tales of Azabel’s realm were true would be interesting, but I had entirely too much going on in the goddess’s territory already. Still, I could tell there was only one correct answer and I wasn’t inclined to explain all the qualifications that went with it, so I just said, “Yes.”
“And do you have any inclination gather information yourself or are you more of a read-the-records type?”
“Both.”
She studied me for a moment before nodding. “I can train you as long as you don’t get impatient and I don’t get bored.”
Such an endorsement. I couldn’t help but glance at Rivon to see her reaction, to see if this was really who they wanted me to mentor with. Rivon caught the look and shrugged. “You’ll keep each other occupied.”
There was more to it than that. I knew that much just from the simple fact that Dawnli had picked Ingrasia out of all the women in the sect, but seemed that I wasn’t going to get the answer out of Rivon. Not in public, and possibly not in private either. I just hoped she wasn’t like Jin or that she wouldn’t actually get bored and abandon me halfway through my training. Her confidence made me want to learn what she knew while her indifference made me want to insist on getting a different mentor. It felt like she was holding herself from fully engaging and I wasn’t sure if that to do with Rivon or me or something else entirely.
Still, even if she wasn’t the most competent I had practice learning from difficult teachers. I’d learn what I could from her and use her presence as my mentor to learn even more in other lessons the sect held. That was steps ahead of what I might have been able to glean from spying on classes in the fringes. Besides, there was something about Ingrasia that reminded me of Rawley. Not her patience, perhaps, but something else. Something that made me certain Ingrasia had all the knowledge I would ever need to be successful in the Hundred Eyes sect just like Rawley had contained depths of knowledge for how to thrive as a lone huntress.
I lifted my slightly and met Ingrasia’s gaze. “I won’t bore you, mentor.”
She grinned back at me. “I think it’ll take some time, yes. But I’m looking forward to see what you can learn in the meantime.”
“When’s my first lesson?” I asked.
She considered. “Bring your friend here three hours after first light tomorrow. You can have the afternoon for your chores for the Archivist.”
I had to fight not to show my surprise that she wanted me to bring anyone else. “Juniper?”
“Who else?” She focused on Rivon. “Unless the sect leader has other plans?”
Rivon waved a dismissive hand. “You can do what you will. We’ll get the mentorship in the records but now you both are in agreement and the start of the mentorship has been witnesses I can say the mentor ban has been lifted.”
I wanted to ask if she was sure but that seemed idiotic even if it seemed absurd that the mentor ban that had been hanging over my head for years was gone. Just like that. So instead I stuffed my relieved excitement down and nodded to them both. I could celebrate later when there wasn’t anyone to judge me. Still, I couldn’t stop the smile that curled my lips as I made my way back to the Archivist’s building and Rivon stayed behind to chat with Ingrasia longer—that made me curious but there was no good place to eavesdrop on the outlook where they couldn’t see me. So when Rivon dismissed me to return to my sorting I went, even as I started to think of ways I might be better able to listen in in the future.