When Belyn had gone, Avallach turned to Annubi who stood looking on. “What we have long dreaded has come to pass; we must prepare to fight Nestor in Council, and we must win. If we fail, it can only end in death.”

“Indeed! Death is the only certainty when kings fall out,” replied Annubi.

Charis’ curiosity was far from satisfied by what she had glimpsed in the Lia Fail. But since it was a stolen look she could not go to Annubi to inquire of him what the images meant. At any rate, she had not seen herself among the procession of travelers and considered that this confirmed her worst suspicions: when the time came to travel to the Great Council, she would be left behind.

This was not a situation she could endure, at least not sitting still. The youngest of Avallach’s five children, Charis had often been forced to the subtleties of diplomacy where one of her brothers might have relied on strength. What she needed now was an ally, someone who wielded the power she lacked and who would take her side. She chose her mother.

It was to the queen’s library that Charis went in search of her mother, whom she found standing at the balcony with a squarish object in her hands. The queen, turning as her daughter entered, smiled and held out a hand. “Come here, I want to show you something.”

“What is that?” she asked. “A brick?”

Briseis laughed and held the object out to Charis. “Not a brick,” she explained. “A book.”

Charis came close and gazed at the thing-the wrong shape for a book. It was flat and thick, not neatly rolled in a tight vellum scroll. It looked awkward and cumbersome.

“Are you certain?” asked Charis, glancing around the library with its innumerable scrolls tucked into the honeycombed nooks of its shelves. The huge room was polished wood and stone; light scattered from its many cool surfaces. There were large myrtlewood tables and tall-backed chairs with blue silk cushions placed around the room for convenience. At the far end hung a large tapestry depicting Mount Atlas, its crown lost in white plumes of cloud. She returned her gaze to the strange object her mother held in front of her. “It looks more like a brick to me.”