Page 146 of The Eyes of Tamburah
“Then how do you—”
“I’ll know it when I see it. Just…” She waved a hand at a pile of scrolls. “Pull out all the maps and I’ll check them.”
Now it was his turn to huff. “Fine, but if you pass out, I’m in charge.”
He wouldn’t let go until she agreed. Stubborn man. Muttering under her breath, she searched through another stack of dusty tablets. No luck. Perhaps…she turned in a slow circle, trying to sharpen her memories. She’d been ten circuits old and playing hide and seek. Her hiding spot had been perfect. A dark corner deep inside. She’d squirmed under a table and…
Grabbing the druk, she crouched, peering underneath the marble top. Sure enough there was a half-moon opening in the wall just big enough for her to squeeze through. She pushed the lantern in first.
“Shyla, what are you doing?” Rendor asked.
“Reliving my childhood, give me a few moments.”
The opening led to a large octagonal room with a high domed ceiling. Colored tiles reflected the weak druk light. Shelves filled with scrolls lined seven of the eight walls—thousands of them. Memories sprang to life and she cleared sand off a part of the tile floor, revealing a large map of Koraha. She’d discovered the map room. Supposedly the only way to access it was through the beautiful and locked stained glass door. This short cut hadn’t seemed important to her younger self. However, her older self tucked the information away.
Back then, she’d grown bored when no one found her. To pass the time, she’d studied a few of the scrolls. One of which was the one she sought. Letting her recollections guide her, she trailed her hand along the end knobs, seeing into the past.
Her fingers tingled and she stopped. Sitting on top of a pyramid was one messy roll of velbloud skin. Good thing Hanif didn’t know or else she would have been in trouble for not handling the scroll with the utmost care. After confirming it was the map she needed, Shyla sat on the floor and studied it. The map wasn’t as old as most of the others, but the ink had still faded. Sunlight would be best, but she didn’t want to remove the map. Didn’t want anyone except the Invisible Sword to know the location of their new headquarters.
The small temple had been built by a group of Sun Goddess worshippers. They named it the Temple of Arinna—probably after a priestess. Back then there wasn’t a dictatorial Helical Priestess ruling over the entire city, but rather multiple groups. They all prayed to the Sun Goddess, but each had its own rules and rituals.
According to the map’s diagrams, they had carved a hole in each level so when the sun shone directly above the temple, a beam of light shot through the structure.
Once she memorized the location, Shyla rolled up the map the correct way. Then she carefully slid it in the middle of a pile so it wouldn’t stand out if anyone came in there.
“Did you find it?” Rendor asked, scaring her. He’d poked his head through the opening—all he could fit.
She covered her mouth to keep from laughing. “Yes.”
He squinted at her. “Good, I’m hungry.” He backed out.
His comment caused her own stomach to growl, but it also triggered worry. How would she feed her followers? Where would they get water and supplies? Plus it was going to take some time to clear the sand from the building. She needed to ask Ximen how they had managed to live in Tamburah’s temple.
They brushed sand off their clothes before heading toward the dining area.
“We missed second meal,” Rendor said, glancing at a sand clock that read angle one-forty-five.
“It’s probably best I keep a low profile.”
“I thought we could trust the monks.”
“We can. It’s just…” She struggled to find the right words.
Rendor waited.
“I’ve always stood out. Growing up, I was the only sun-kissed child at the time. And now…”
“You have these new eyes and everyone is wondering what you can do with them.”
“Exactly.”
“Some people would bask in the attention.”
She suppressed a shudder. “Not me.”
“I suspect that is why The Eyes chose you.”
“Really? I thought it was because I was stupid enough to actually sacrifice my vision.” She half-joked. Then sobered. Tamburah took that leap of faith and look how that ended—horribly.
