You never know what you can find while cleaning out an ex-Chief Lector's belongings.


TO: Alice Louise Champollion-Figeac

6.1.1880

Dear Alice,

I hope that when responding to this letter, you will be so kind to remember, that today is my thirtieth birthday.

This is my first time in First Nome. It's my first time in Egypt, too. Not that I will get to see much of it – we descended immediately upon arriving.

As for the heart of the House of Life, rumors cannot do the city justice. It is like stepping through a photograph, like history itself has come to life here. Non, not come to life. For if something comes to life, it must first be dead. History has moved out of the world and settled here, with its architecture and culture and language.

Oh, the language! What the rest of the world thinks of as long forgotten still thrives! Granduncle would have loved to witness this! The people have developed almost a new language, native to those born and raised underground. A sort of mix between the Arabic they use above and the speech of their ancestors. Koine Greek has also made its way around here, mostly around the Chef Lector.

We are to meet Iskandar tomorrow. The three magicians are still missing, some say they are dead. I am surprised the people here even know what death is, for 100 for them is still young. They probably consider me an infant.

The dormitories are comfortable, I guess. They are rooms with beds in them, sure enough. And they appear to have been a quick afterthought compared to the local architecture. Deep within the nome, there are entire neighbourhoods that have risen from the memory of Heliopolis. The young builders of the House of Life have been recently overtaken by a sort of Renaissance of their own – incorporating details from long-destroyed temples into modern buildings. I would love to see what this city will look like in a 100 years!

As you might have guessed already, I had some free time before dinner to roam the city. As I was walking through the streets, overtaken by the beauty of this underground maze, a dog began to follow me.

It was as tall as my knees and its fur such a light shade of brown, it could have passed as red. After some time a man came running towards it.

"Rafi!"

He picked up the dog, which licked his nose.

"This was a close one, buddy! Next time I might not be able to find you!"

The man laughed as he noticed me. "I am sorry if he has been any trouble. Loves to make friends, our Rafi."

"It's okay. He was just accompanying me on my walk."

The man smiled. I don't think I've ever seen someone smile in such a way! It was as if his whole face was smiling! His brown eyes glistened. He carried himself in an easy-going way which suggested happiness was his default.

"I am not as good of a walker as Rafi here, mind you, but maybe I can keep you accompanied for a little longer?" The man held out his hand. "Name's Tamer."

I shook his hand. "Michel Champollion."

Tamer raised an eyebrow. "Champollion, eh? Well, nice to meet you, Michel. Our famous new addition. Not here for long, I imagine?"

I shook my head.

Tamer smiled. "I would consider it, if I were you. More and more nomes are appearing above the ground, but First will always be one of a kind. Are you liking our nome so far?"

I nodded. As you know, my dear cousin, I am not a man of many words in certain situations. Please don't laugh at me as you read on.

I cleared my throat, and tried a more… wordy, answer. "Yes, it is beautiful."

Have I mentioned already what a pretty smile Tamer has? You would have loved it.

"And what is your opinion on the people here?"

"They are beautiful, too." I blurted out before I could think better of it. Like I said, please don't laugh at me. As far as I recall, you weren't much different when we were little.

Tamer laughed. "Is that so? Well, I am currently on my way to meet some pretty beautiful people, indeed. Will I be lucky enough to have you come with me?"

My dear Alice, I will have to write an entire letter to explain Tamer's friends. Interesting people with interesting ideas. Something tells me my life is to become very interesting, indeed. But more on that later, for it is really getting late here.

I'll write again as soon as possible. The return address on this letter is an old house in Cairo, owned by the House of Life. You can reach me through it.

Yours truly, Michel.