The council vaults are not actually vaults.
They're a room in the compound's oldest wing, accessed through a door that requires two key-holders present simultaneously and which smells, when opened, like centuries of carefully controlled temperature and the particular mustiness of paper that has been somewhere dark for a very long time.
Elder Fen is one of the key-holders.
He comes with me at nine in the morning, without requiring an explanation, which means either Damon spoke to him last night or he drew his own conclusions from the council session and the phrase Lydia threw across the room.
"The prophecy archives," I say. "All of them."
"The Silverblood materials specifically?" he asks.
"Start there," I say.
He unlocks the second door.
***
The scrolls are stored in flat cases, ea
