Ujjayini, 1180 CE
Eshaan had expected the palace archive to be more difficult to enter than it was. The difficulty, he discovered, lay in finding anything useful once he had been allowed inside.
The royal charter granted him permission to examine records connected with the old astronomical surveys, but it did not give him unrestricted access to every document in the palace. Somapala, the senior archivist, had made that distinction clear the previous afternoon. Eshaan could consult the catalogues, inspect the registers, and request particular bundles. If he wanted to open sealed records or examine documents held in the inner chambers, he would need to explain why they were relevant.
"You have a royal charter," Somapala had told him. "It is a useful thing to possess. It does not mean that every locked chest in Ujjayini must be opened for you."
"I understand."
