The Rings of Salammis

The Tower - Part 2

     In Thomas's own century, the archives were located in the basements of the divination building. It was the largest building in the valley and also the one containing the Grand Assembly Hall, the library, the study alcoves, the Head Proctor's office, the staff room and various other places of administrative and congregational purpose. It was the heart of the teaching part of the University, and in fact the teaching of divination was probably the least important thing that happened there.

     The main entrance to the building was, in all but name, the entrance to the University itself. The entrance through which children were brought by their parents or sponsor wizards to apply for apprenticeship. The entrance through which contract craftsmen passed on their way to report for duty. It was the entrance through which ceremonial processions passed, on their way to the annual enrolment and graduation ceremonies, or to a thankfully rare demagestration ritual, when a wizard who'd broken one of the University's most serious laws was ritually robbed of the ability to use magic in front of the entire assembled staff and students.

     It was also the entrance before which the Emperor paused during his occasional visits in order to reassure himself of the continued loyalty of the feared and powerful magic users. There, before the ornate double doors, carved with the images of vines and flowers, the senior wizards would emerge one by one to prostrate themselves before him, repeating their oaths of allegiance while inwardly cursing the need to show such humility to a mere mundane. One day, each of them secretly thought, he will kneel to us, but he never did. The Massacre of the Mages came first, during which the humility they effected before him but didn't really feel was drummed into their very bones. A lesson that would last for centuries to come.

     Such was the history and significance of those doors that Thomas came to a stop before them, staring up at them in awe and wonder. How many times have I passed through those doors? he wondered. Hundreds of times as an apprentice. Hundreds more since returning with Lenny and Derry, but I never stopped to just look at them before. Now, though, seeing them in this new setting, he seemed to see them for the first time. He noticed for the first time that there was an inscription carved into the stone above the door, something in old Garonian that he couldn't read.

     What had this building been before the wizards had claimed it? he wondered. Some kind of museum, possibly. The Grand Assembly Hall might possibly have contained the skeleton of a dragon. The Head Proctor's office, situated just inside the main doors where he could see everyone who entered and left, might have been the ticket office, where visitors paid for admission. Funny that I never wondered about that before, he thought. The building served the needs of the University so perfectly that it was hard to imagine that it had ever had any other function.

     One of the doors was propped open, and Thomas climbed the three steps and passed through. He kept expecting it to be different. Corridors would run in different directions or be put to different purposes, but everything was so completely identical to what he was used to that he could almost imagine he was back in the valley, in his own time. There, straight ahead, was the door into the Grand Assembly Hall. To left and right were the tiled corridors leading to the laboratories and lecture rooms, and at the ends were the stairs leading up to the first floor. The first floor, where the library was. That's where Saturn would have gone, and a shiver ran up his spine at the thought, but Seskip had been and gone so Saturn must have gone before him, having already found what he was looking for. There was no danger of his running into him. Besides, he wasn't going to the library. He was going to the...

     "You!" said an angry voice, making him jump in alarm. He spun around to see an angry proctor glaring at him, having just emerged from the Head Proctor's office. "Who are these men? Are they with you?"

     There was an angry intake of breath from Matthew. He was fed up with being talked about right in front of him as if he were nothing more than a piece of the wizard's luggage. Thomas spoke up quickly before he could lose his temper. "They're my bodyguard," he explained. "I'm just passing through, on my way to a dangerous land where I'll need their protection."

     "If they have no business here. They must wait outside," the proctor declared, eying the soldiers as he would three mangy dogs walking mud onto his nice clean floor. "You know the rules and I'm here to enforce them." He eyed Thomas suspiciously. "I've never seen you before, and I have a very good memory for faces. Who are you?"

     "My name is Thomas Gown," he replied, cursing the need to give it again. "I've been away for a long time. I apologise for my thoughtlessness. Please forgive me." He hustled the three soldiers back outside before any more awkward questions could follow.

     "I'm about fed up being treated like a sack of shit!" said Matthew through gritted teeth. "No wonder they all get slaughtered, and a good thing too." He suddenly realised what he'd just said and stared at Thomas in real remorse. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean..."

     "It's okay," said Thomas with a grin, putting a hand on his shoulder. "I don't fancy going past him again, though. I'm going to try one of the side entrances. Just keep out of trouble 'till I get back. Okay?"

     "Fine," agreed the soldier, and he led the two younger men towards one of the gardens where they could sit in comfort for a while. Thomas also turned to leave, but had barely taken two steps before Matthew's voice came back to him. "And don't be too long. I know what you're like when you get your nose in a book."

     "A couple of hours, I promise," called back Thomas, ignoring the stares of astonished apprentices, unable to believe a wizard taking orders from a mundane. And right here, in the University! Realising he was once again drawing attention to himself, he hurried off.

     He found the side entrance exactly where it should have been, and after strolling along a short corridor he came to the dark, narrow stairway that coiled its way down into the basement. He'd never been down here before, even in his own time, and he nervously wondered what he would find at the bottom. A series of cubbyholes stuffed full of ancient, mouldering papers, he supposed, or something similar to the library with long shelves lined with books.

     What was to stop the apprentices from coming down here? he wondered. The archives were too important to allow kids to muck around with them, and yet so far he'd found nothing to stop them. He thought back to his own apprentice days. He'd thought he'd explored every nook and cranny of the teaching buildings, but in all those five long years he'd never discovered this staircase. Perhaps it no longer exists in my time, he thought. Maybe it's been long since sealed up and forgotten, the archives moved elsewhere. Yes, that had to be it, and it had most probably happened during the move to the Blue Mountains. And yet, somehow, he'd known that the archives would be down here, even though there were no signs or other indications. Some kind of psychic magic, having an effect on my mind? he wondered. Informing graduated wizards but deterring apprentices? He made up his mind to look into the matter as soon as he got home. He would come to this spot and look for a staircase leading down.