Page 1 of The Eyes of Tamburah
CHAPTER
1
The heat thickened the air in Shyla’s room to an uncomfortable level. Sweat slicked her skin and dampened her sleeveless tunic. She adjusted the mirrors to better capture the thin ray of sunlight streaming through a single mirror pipe extruding from her ceiling. Moving another reflective panel until it illuminated the ancient map spread over her table, she resumed her work. The faded ink was barely discernable as it crossed the velbloud skin.
The temperature rose another few degrees, warning her that she needed to retreat to the deeper levels before the sun reached angle eighty. Despite being three levels underground, it still wasn’t safe to be this high. All of her neighbors had descended angles ago. But excitement zipped along her spine—she wassoclose.
Shyla continued to translate the archaic symbols. Nothing but sunlight would reveal the location of the Gorgain crypt and the meeting with her client was scheduled for angle two-ten. The historian had paid her in advance for the information, which was proving to be more difficult to find than she’d expected.
A damp strand of her long pale-yellow hair slipped free of the tie, but she didn’t have time to fix it. According to the map’s legend, the blue line represented the tunnel the grave diggers had used. She traced it with a fingertip, honing in on—
An impatient pounding on her door broke her concentration. She glared at the thick slab of rough sand-coated glass that guarded her room. It vibrated with each knock. There wasn’t time for interruptions, but if it was a client—
“It’s an emergency,” called Banqui.
She sighed. Everything was an emergency with Banqui. As the Water Prince’s chief archeologist, he believedhisprojects should behertop priority. But the man had referred her services to his colleagues, helping her establish her business. After a forlorn glance at the map, she unlocked the door and slid it aside, allowing Banqui to enter.
He hustled into her room and stopped dead. “Scorching hells, Shyla. It’s a thousand degrees in here.”
Banqui also tended to exaggerate.
“Hello to you too.”
Ignoring her, he said, “I’ve been looking all over for you in the lower levels. The sun is almost at angle seventy. What are you still doing up here?”
She gestured to the map on her table. “Researching.”
“You need to leave right away.”
“There’s plenty of time before I’m cooked. Before I was interrupted, I was just about to finish up.” She gave him a pointed look.
But instead of apologizing for barging in on her and leaving, he just stared at her in shock. “Shyla, haven’t you heard?”
She studied her best client and perhaps friend. His short black hair stuck up at various angles—probably from running his fingers through it in agitation. He was frequently anxious and stressed by the Water Prince’s demands. But this time fear lurked in his dark brown eyes and his tan tunic and pants, normally impeccable—he had plenty of diggers conscripted by the prince to do his dirty work—were torn and stained with… blood?
“Heard what?” she asked as unease stirred in her chest.
He paced around the table. Tall and lean with lanky legs, it didn’t take him long to make a circuit. Her room was small and filled with the basics—a table, sitting cushions, a couple shelves filled with her trinkets and clothes, a water jug, her sleeping cushion mounded with a fur, and the mirrors.
Banqui made another loop. She stepped into his path, stopping him. “Tell me before you wear a groove in my floor.”
Lines of sweat streaked down the sides of his face, darkening his brown skin. His gaze settled on the map. “How long have you been working?”
“Two or three sun jumps.”
“And you get immersed in your research,” he muttered then drew in a deep breath. “I found The Eyes of Tamburah. They were in the temple’s hidden vault just like you predicted.”
Excitement warred with confusion. “That’s wonderful. Right?”
“It was glorious. They were exquisite. Crafted from diamonds, emeralds, onyx, and the purest white topaz I’ve ever seen.” His voice held an almost fanatical reverence. “They were magnificent, Shyla. My greatest find in myentirecareer.”
Considering he’d been uncovering ancient ruins and artifacts for over seven thousand sun jumps—roughly twenty circuits—they must have been impressive. “And then the Water Prince claimed them. You knew that would happen. He finances your digs.”
“It’s worse than that.”
What could be worse? “Youlostthem?”
“No! They were stolen!” Unable to remain still, Banqui resumed his pacing.
