Shadow Tyrants (Oregon Files 13)

le?”

Juan went over to it and saw that the lid was etched with the head of a lion and a wheel containing twenty-four spokes.

Max joined him and pointed to the wheel. “I suppose you’ve seen that symbol before.”

“I have,” Juan said with awe. “You have, too.”

“Where?”

“On the flag of India. It’s called the Ashoka Chakra, and it’s their national symbol.”

“Then this could be Ashoka himself.”

“Another riddle for the archaeologists to solve,” Juan said.

They left the tomb without touching anything and walked on. Juan could see that there was one more room ahead.

When he and Max got to the room’s entrance, both of them stopped and stared, slack-jawed, at its contents.

The circular dome contained hundreds of cubbyholes stacked from floor to ceiling. And inside those cubbyholes were thousands upon thousands of parchment scrolls. Given the age of the building, some of them could have been more than two millennia old.

At least the mystery of how this place had been named was now solved. Clearly, the Nine Unknown Men knew the importance of preserving a library.