“There’s another spring—not pure-water—at the base of the promontory. That is why the hamlet was built there. As far as I’ve been told, there has always been a spring up here, however odd it may seem.”

Luviara glanced at her, as if she suspected Elen of mocking her. “Has anyone from the Halt ever tried to discover the spring’s source? How it rises so far through the rock?”

“I doubt it. The locals fear this place. They would never trouble the area with digging or poking around.”

“I see. There are a number of ancient towers and compounds of this type across the empire. More can be found in the borderlands of the Desolation, and even along the eastern frontier. These towers, or spires as they’re called, were raised long before the founding of the Tranquil Empire.”

“The archivists write that the first emperor built them.”

Luviara tipped her head with a flash of irritation. “The early gazettes do claim that. Those were written by flattering officials who hoped to gain a higher rank in the new empire.”

“I see,” said Elen, careful to hide her amazement. Even Joef’s aunt, who always had an opinion about archives and archivists, never spoke so critically.

Luviara went on. “Chronicles written by actual scholars agree the Spires come from a much earlier age. Although it’s true these accounts are kept inside the Diamond Chamber, accessible only to a few.”

“Do they say the Spires come from the wicked age of the evil sorcerer-kings? That’s what the locals say.”

“Sorcerer-kings are an appealingly dramatic legend, but we have no records to prove they actually existed.”

“Isn’t sorcery forbidden on pain of burning? Wouldn’t the presence of such a ban suggest sorcerers once existed?”

“A ban is not proof. There’s been no trace of sorcery ever found in the empire. Just vague warnings about its evil, in old chronicles and lurid theater. Legends may spring from any kind of misunderstood source or fanciful storytelling. To investigate the truth of the past is the task my superiors set me when I was young. Among other things, I have a particular interest in these tower compounds.”

Elen nodded encouragingly, hoping the theurgist would go on and maybe even reveal secrets that a humble deputy courier could not otherwise access.

And Luviara did go on. “So far, I have explored seventeen such ruins, none as intact as these Spires are. According to Wisdom of the Four Sages, the Spires were built by an ancient people, for their own purposes, after which they vanished forever from the world.”

Was the vision seen from the scaffolding a magical illusion that had somehow remained stable for untold generations, or was it something else? And if so, then what was it? A vision of the High Heavens? Or of the builders themselves?