Page 53 of Kingdom of Tomorrow
He frowned but didn’t move away from me. “Do you have symptoms?”
“No, but I’m going to tell you something that could make you think otherwise.”
The frown deepened. After a prolonged hesitation, he motioned to triage. “There’s a kit in there.”
He led me into the glass room. I sat on a gurney while he gathered supplies. Gloves, alcohol swabs, a bandage, and a press-and-release needle with a built-in test strip. After cleaning my right index finger, he slid the tester in place. The container covered the digit from tip to base. With the push of a button, three needle pricks sent a spike of pain up my arm, and I hissed.
The device clamped tight, tighter, squeezing blood from the wounds. Then the pressure eased, and he freed me, bandaged my finger, and stared down at the result pad, awaiting the verdict.
I’d be negative, no doubt about it. I must be.
But what if I wasn’t?
“Negative,” he said before I could work up another panic.
Thank goodness.
He tossed the kit into a biohazard bin, leaned against the gurney, and crossed his arms over his chest. “Start talking.”
I’m brave.“I was issued an invitation to the Tome Society,” I admitted before I convinced myself to keep quiet. There. It was done. The truth was out, and there was no erasing it.
“I see.” His expression gave nothing away. “Who issued the invite?”
“A woman I met in the city.” I refused to name her. No matter what. I wouldn’t put Shiloh through that.
“I see,” Cyrus repeated with a hint of resolve. Thankfully, he didn’t ask me for her identity. “What do you know of the Tome Society?”
“Only that it’s a secret society of Soalians, which I now understand to be glowers, and they claim the Rock is a doorway to a library filled with books written about the future.”
“Allow me to fill in some gaps. Tome Society members believe the marks carved into the Rock are keys to opening doorways within the library, which is the lone entrance into a third realm. A utopia free of Madness known as Shaddai, ruled by the god Soal. The books you mentioned were written by Soal, and they include the past and presentas well as the future, telling the stories of every individual ever born. One set reveals the life we’re supposed to live and the other shows the life we choose.”
So much to unpack. A third realm. A utopia, no less. Two possible futures for every person. I chewed on my bottom lip. “Do you believe the Soalians?” The way he’d spoken suggested he’d shared facts, not fiction.
“Do you?” he asked.
A nonanswer. I ejected from the bed, landing on my feet. “Is Soal real at least?” We’d start there. “Yes or no.”
“Yes,” he replied, astounding me.
Wait. “Are you serious?” Even Archduke Heta denied the possibility.
“I’ve had ... dealings.” Cyrus said no more about that, leaving me floundering. “How did you respond to the invitation?”
I disregarded his question, too busy floundering. “But I was taught ...Curedsays ... Do others believe?”
“Those with clearance, yes.”
I fluttered a hand to my throat, where my pulse thumped. An actual god, real and not imaginary. Hidden from the masses for reasons I couldn’t fathom. “I’m a lowly lady-in-training. I have no clearance.”
“You aren’t a lowly anything, but you do have clearance, considering I just gave it.”
But. A god. “What kind of dealings did you have? What’s he like? What constitutes a god? Why keep him secret? Is there really a library with books about us?” As I spoke, anger and betrayal frothed deep, deep inside me. All my life, I’d defended a lie. Unless I’d misunderstood what Cyrus meant by “dealings.” A total possibility. For all I knew, Soal was a computer. Or a tree. A talking worm. Something!
“He’s kept secret because questions spur curiosity and curiosity spurs trouble. How did you respond to the invitation?” Cyrus repeated.
Frustration joined my internal party, clawing at my calm. Ineededto know more about Soal. “Were you maddened? Is that how you met him?”
“The invitation, Arden.”
