“No. They were for food, water, and supplies. Kantu was very careful. All of the commanders were.”

Which was why they could hide in the forgotten deep levels of Tamburah’s temple for so long without being discovered. That thought triggered another. When Banqui uncovered the building, only The Eyes remained. But they’d been fakes. What happened to Tamburah’s legendary riches? Had the Invisible Swords sold them all? She asked Ximen.

“Yes, our predecessors confiscated all his wealth when they usurped him and spent it on helping the people recover,” he said. “The only thing they couldn’t locate was his vault.”

That didn’t make sense. “But you found it. It’s where you put the fake Eyes for Banqui to find.” According to Banqui there’d been nothing else but a skeleton inside when he’d first opened it.

“That was his personal vault. He supposedly had another one that wasn’t marked on a map.”

Supposedly. One of the words Shyla hated most as a researcher. “Is its existence written on a scroll or tablet or is it one of those legends?”

“It’s from our oral history,” Ximen said with an edge to his voice.

Which tended to be exaggerated and embellished during each generation. Since the Invisible Sword was about five hundred thousand sun jumps old, that was a great deal of time for their history to change.

“Don’t forget, Shyla,” Jayden said. “The Eyes are part of that history and they ended up being exactly what our history claimed.”

True, but information about them was also written down. However, she didn’t remind him. Instead, she asked, “Did you explore all of Tamburah’s temple?”

“Of course. The vault’s not there. Tamburah had a number of residences while he ruled. He was the king after all.”

Yet, according to the records, he spent most of his time in his temple. He’d believed he was the Sun Goddess’s son and therefore divine. Again, it wasn’t worth arguing over.

“Back to my original question,” Shyla said. “Any ideas on how to earn some coins now?”

Jayden hunched his shoulders. “I can work for the black-market dealers. I’ve done it before. They appreciate my abilities to get around Zirdai unseen. It won’t bring in much, but enough to last until we uncover the crypt.”

“Mojag can help you,” Gurice said.

“The risk of getting caught by the guards or the deacons is high and I don’t want him in danger.”

She glanced at Shyla who shook her head slightly in a we-can-discuss-it-later manner.

Shyla said, “I can do some research and maybe find the location of the other vault. And while I’m at the monastery, I’ll look for another site that may have a valuable artifact we can uncover faster.”

“Do you want me to continue clearing the tunnel at Gorgain’s?” Aphra asked her.