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. Here the streets were not as crowded, almost
empty. The air was cleaner, easier to breathe.
Michael and Nikol hurried forward, certain that the
library must be a haven of peace in this wretched city. They
had barely passed through the Old City wall when they
discovered why the streets had been deserted. All the
people - and there must have been hundreds - were
gathered here.
"Where's the library?" Michael asked, peering over the
heads of the crowd.
"There," said Nikol, pointing to the building the mob
surrounded.
"What's going on here?" Michael asked a woman
standing near him.
"Hush!" she said, glaring at him. "The Revered Son is
speaking."
"Over here!" Nikol drew Michael into a grove of trees that
bordered one of the broad avenues of Old City. From this
vantage point, both could see and hear the speaker, who
stood upon the very steps of the Great Library of Palanthas.
"Do you know what is behind those walls, good
citizens? I'll tell you! Lies!" A man pointed an accusing
finger at the large, elegant, columned building behind him.
"Lies about the Kingpriest!"
The crowd gathered around him muttered angrily.
"Yes, I've seen them, read them with my own eyes!"
The man tapped those eyes, remarkable only for the fact
that they were squinted and sly-looking. "The great
Astinus" - the voice was poisoned with sarcasm - "writes
that the Kingpriest called down the wrath of the gods by
making demands of them! And who had a better right?
What man has lived who was as good as that man? I'll tell
you the real reason the gods hurled the fiery mountain upon
Istar!"
He paused, waited until the crowd hushed
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