Sect Year 1 · twelfth month · day 5 · the capital, the Imperial Archive
The index lived in a cabinet of pale wood at the end of the east copy hall, in six drawers that stuck when they were pulled and then slid out all at once, as if glad to be rid of what they held. Ruo unlocked the cabinet herself with a key on a string round her neck. She didn’t give the key to anyone. She took out the third drawer, carried it to the desk under the north window, and set it down with both hands. The paper inside smelled of dust and cold cedar.
“Copy the Hall’s entries,” she said. “Only the Hall’s. Copy each line and the sheet it is on. Do not copy the notes in the margins. The notes are not the index, and I don’t want you learning to guess.”
The index was coarse grey paper with a short list of bound volumes written on it in a dozen hands. Lin read down the first sheet slowly, and found that the Hall’s name stood at the head of nearly every title. Reincarnation Hall, the Ledger of the Stair. Reincarnation Hall, the Books of the Gate. Reincarnation Hall, the Roll of Counted Lives, first copy and second. The name was everywhere, set down in the same neat, unrushed script as the rest. Seeing it so many times made the back of his neck prickle.
