Page 108 of The Concubine King
“We spoke to Justice Malor this morning,” Poyut told her solemnly.
“I see.”Klara rubbed her chin.“Well, those books were all in Yorith’s study, so they must be in the palace library now.”
“Would Lyrian have destroyed them?”Ethyr asked worriedly.
“I’m not sure he knows they exist,” Klara said.“Or if he does, that he knew they were in the advisor’s study.”
As they made their way from the carriage to the palace, Poyut excused herself to train, apparently trusting Klara’s supervision enough to leave Ethyr alone with her.They walked silently together through the palace halls to the library, Ethyr determined not to feel awkward about it.Klara certainly didn’t seem put off.She straightened some books as they walked through the shelves.
“How do you know which one is which?”Ethyr asked.
“They’re ordered by category, then age,” she explained, stopping in front of a shelf.“These should be from the end of the Kulyarian Era.”She trailed her finger over the sides of books and scrolls before landing on a book bound in dark leather.She pulled it out and handed it to Ethyr, then continued.
He opened it to the title page.History of the State of Kulyar: Years One through Five.
“But… how do you know the exact one?”
“Usually I can recognize them, but I have all the publications memorized by date, so it’s easy enough to find.”Klara put another into Ethyr’s arms.
“Really?”Ethyr asked, awed.“You have the entire library memorized?”
“Both libraries, yes.It was part of my training.It helps protect the collection from exactly what you said—books being destroyed based off someone’s disagreement with them.”She added another book.It was starting to get heavy.
“Can you read the old tablets?”Ethyr asked, shuffling after her to another shelf.“The ones in the back corner?”
“Yes.”She said it absently, like it was a matter of course.
“What are they about?Are they about the Gods’ War?”
“Some of them.But they were written centuries after, so they’re more like transcribed legends than actual history.”
“What do they say about Kiaro?”
She paused, then turned to him.“Why?”
“He… he seems different from the other gods.Doesn’t he?”
“I wouldn’t know.”
“I thought as High Priest you spoke to them?”
“Yes, but it is usually Ithna or Gnaeus who act as liaison for the whole.Occasionally Langath or Catocus.I don’t think any High Priest has seen Kiaro in centuries.Not since his old name.”
“His old name?”Ethyr asked.
“Yes, he was once called Kyarin.”
Ethyr halted.
“All the gods had different names back then.”Klara had turned back to the shelves, pulling out a scroll.She unrolled it, looking it over before rolling it up again and returning it to its place.“King Harius lifted our society from its barbarian roots and was the first to standardize our language and transition to proper forms of writing, on paper rather than clay.He decided the gods needed names that better represented their place in our society, names that differentiated them from the heathen wild gods.”She turned and, seeing Ethyr was no longer with her, lifted her gaze to him standing by the end of a bookcase.“Your Divinity?”
He swallowed and slowly caught up.“Is anyone… Would people still be named Kyarin?”
She hummed in thought.“I suppose they could be.Many rural communities still hold on to remnants of the old language and traditions.Your own name, for instance, uses the archaic ‘yr’ instead of ‘ius’.But it was never considered proper to name someone the same as a god.It is more acceptable to derive a name from theirs, like Lanaya.She was named after Langath.”Klara smiled.“Though I don’t know that it is common to name your child after the god of deception.”
“But he’s also known for being cunning and clever,” Ethyr pointed out.“Surely traits someone could want to bestow on their child?”
“I suppose so,” Klara said lightly.“Though if you want intelligence, most look to Langath, and for strategy, to Catocus.One cannot divorce the connotation of deceit from Kiaro’s name.”Klara looked him over.“Why the sudden interest in the gods and their names?”
