"The Archivist is not human," Kiera said as they walked through the Old Quarter, past Fortune's Antiques and deeper into streets that seemed to grow narrower and darker with every step. "It never was. Some say it's a Keeper that outgrew its Threshold. Others say it's older than the Keepers - a fragment of whatever existed before the Veil was raised. No one knows for certain."
"And it trades in information?"
"It trades in truth. Not facts - truths. The things people keep hidden. The secrets they've never told anyone. The Archivist collects them the way other beings collect art or wealth. In exchange, it provides information that can't be found anywhere else."
"What kind of truth does it want from me?"
"I don't know. The Archivist always asks for something specific. Something you've neve
