“This all came from the palace?” asked Klia as she perused the collection with interest.

“From there and the city. And these bits were found at the back of the oracle’s cave.” Zella led her to a shelf near the library door. There were bits of colorful dripstone, some like melted wax, others in the shapes of striped daggers or delicate straws. “The inmost chamber, the third, lies below two others. There are ancient paintings on the walls, dripstone formations, and many of these.” She pointed to a line of tiny votive figures in the shapes of horses, birds, arrow points, and serpents. Most were made of clay, but there were a few fashioned from copper, green and pitted with age. In the center stood a box made of polished burl wood, six inches square, with a bronze lock plate.

“The excavators found most of these, though the archduke punished those caught looting the caves. There may have been more things of value that were smuggled out before Toneus realized they were doing it. There is still something quite surprising there, but I’ll let you discover that for yourselves. The city and palace were looted ages ago. Most anything of real value has been carried off. Except this.” Zella drew a small key on a chain from the neck of her dress and unlocked the square box. Lifting the lid, she showed them a woman’s golden arm ring covered in delicate tracery. It was slightly bent, and scratched in a few places, but it was still beautiful.

“That’s a pretty piece of work,” Micum remarked.

“It should be,” said Seregil. “It’s Aurënfaie, and quite old.”

“That’s what Toneus said,” Zella told him. “He thought it must have been a gift to one of the Hierophants from an Aurënfaie lord.”

“Where was this found?” asked Klia.

“One of the workmen brought it to Toneus, who rewarded him for it. It was found in the innermost cave, caught in the dripstone. You can still see bits of it in the carving.”

“May I?” asked Seregil.

“Trust Baron Seregil to get sidetracked by something shiny,” Thero murmured with a sidelong look at Micum, who chuckled.

Zella held out the box and Seregil picked up the arm ring. It was thicker than he expected, and weighed nicely in the hand. “Yes, definitely made in Aurënen, or copied from something that was. From the weight of it, it’s a solid piece. There’s just nothing quite like the feel of solid gold. A pity about the damage. That’s recent. The man who found it must have chipped it out of the stone formations.” He placed it back in the box and turned to find Alec inspecting the remains of a dagger.

“How old do you think this is?” the younger man asked.

Seregil shook his head. “There’s not enough of the design left to tell. But from the looks of it, very, very old.”

“A most interesting collection,” said Klia. “But now the papers, I think.”