The Greatest Discovery

Another Late Visitor

Malam had another sleepless night. The Highstorm threw itself at the walls of the tower like an enraged beast, trying to scare its prey out of the safety of its burrow and into its bared teeth. Yet, even if the Highstorm sounded like a purring mink, she would not be able to sleep. Her knees were knots of dull gnawing pain - a ruthless reminder of age that came with every span of cold weather, or rain, or low atmospheric pressure. Every storming whim of nature.

Malam signed and rubbed her left knee, looping a blanket around it. Keeping it warm usually helped. She rearranged her writing board to avoid dripping ink all over the bed and the pages she was reading. Those were the most recent spanreed messages from Urithiru to Brightness Lilin. A collection of vague promises and fairy tales. Neither the newly found ancient tower, nor the reports of the parshmen troops, and not even the reestablished Knights Radiant could save this dying city, could feed her people, avert the disaster. Apparently, the only Radiant who could fly and deliver the emeralds disappeared weeks ago somewhere in rural Alethkar. How convenient.

All Malam could do was grind her teeth in frustration when watching the hungerspren dart around the tower, larger in numbers than people. It was her duty to protect these folk. Brightness Lilin and Lord Vanadin were as good as lighteyes could get, but for years now it was Malam who had been moving the city towards better policies and order. Organizing only one town was in some ways easier than being responsible for all the libraries in the princedom.

The spanreed reports occupied her attention well enough that only the fading knee pain told her that the Storm was over. It must have been gone for some time for she could not hear even the most distant rumblings. She got up, placed the pages on a writing desk, and opened the window shutter. There, tied in a sack, was a blessing for a poor sleeper like herself - a wealth of infused glowing spheres. Light. Bright light. After a month of candles and dim gemstones, wearing down her vision a weeping at a time, it was a gift.

As if to balance out the good, a heavy single knock landed on her door. She knew that knock too well. What does that woman need from me at night?

Malam pulled the sack of spheres in, took out a few large diamonds, and set them on the desk. She closed the window and opened the door. Cold was easier to keep out than Aillia.

The woman on the other side of the door was dripping wet. Not that it stopped her from walking in and standing right in the middle of Malam's Azish carpet, of course. She looked both elated and drained at the same time.

"Did one of you succeed in the bi-focus?" Malam guessed, hopefully.

Aillia shook her head. "No. But we did something better and I need your help."

Help?! Aillia asked for her help?! She could swear the soulcaster would sooner fall into a chasm than accept Malam's proffered hand.

"What is it?"

"We have a way to feed the city by tomorrow noon. But only if you help."

Malam stared. Was that a joke?

"What can I do?"

"I need you to announce to everyone and I mean everyone, Brightness Lilin and your own shadow included, that you have found a sack of emeralds in the restricted section of the library tonight right before the Storm. That section was closed for years and no one would think twice if some old treasures were to be found there."

The records of what the section contained were indeed old and poorly organized. No one cared to keep in order something that was never used.

"And why would I do that?"

"Because I have a sack of infused emeralds - which, by the way, you have wisely infused at your windowsill a few hours ago - to use in the soulcasting. We have enough to feed the city fully for a month - more than enough to build fishing boats and send caravans to other cities."