Free The Edge of the World by Kevin J. Anderson

out of the way and set aside his paints to bend over the map. While Aldo could barely contain
     his excitement, his father frowned, his eyes darting over the drawn coastlines, reading the words written in an unsteady hand.
     The creases deepened around his mouth.
    Aldo kept talking to counteract his father’s unexpected reticence. “See, these islands—nobody knows about them, but with this
     chart, a good captain could find them again. Using them, we could step our way even farther across the oceans, expand our
     horizons, maybe even find the sunken continent. This could lead us to the original land of the Saedrans!”
    Biento shook his head. “This map is a fake, son. You have been cheated.”
    Aldo had expected skepticism, but not such outright denial. “I heard the man’s story. If he saw this with his own eyes.—”
    “You have been cheated.”
    His father’s voice held such flat conviction that Aldo grew angry. He averted his eyes out of respect, but spoke assertively.
     “Sen Leo says that Saedrans should try to discover new knowledge, no matter what its source. This man was an unusual reservoir
     of information, and this map is unique. We should at least consider it, not just discard it outright.”
    “But you have let yourself be deceived.” Broad shoulders slumped, Biento touched his wife’s arm. “I’ll take him to the temple.
     There is something Sen Leo has to show him.”
    Confused but insistent, Aldo held up the map. “But how can you
know?
”
    Biento took his arm. “I will show you.”
    Deep in the Saedran District, the buildings crowded together and the close-knit people kept themselves apart from the Aidenist
     majority. The Saedran temple had a nondescript sandstone facade with engraved letters written in their private language. Outside
     visitors in the district wouldn’t give it a second glance.
    Inside the temple Aldo followed his father along a narrow hallway and down a short set of steps to a circular fellowship chamber
     where Saedrans attended weekly services. Now the place was empty; all the benches were bare, the floors scrubbed, and the
     book-laden shelves dusted for the next gathering.
    Biento did not stop in the fellowship chamber, though. The far wall held a large mosaic showing the sunken land of the Saedrans.
     He ran his fingers along the tiles and pressed a particular garnet-colored square, which released a latch. A thin crack appeared
     along the line of the mosaic.
    Aldo had been here countless times before, but now he was astonished. “What is this?”
    “A secret only a chartsman can know. Few Saedrans have ever seen this room.”
    “But you aren’t a chartsman.”
    Biento pushed the mosaic panel inward to reveal a hidden passage from which came the yellowish orange glow of oil lamps. He
     looked sideways at his son. “And where do you think you got the gift?”
    From behind the secret door, Aldo felt a cool breeze, smelled dry air with a hint of mustiness and old papers. He followed
     his father down a sloping ramp. When they rounded a corner, Aldo stopped in awe.
    The chamber was huge. In this hidden vault beneath the Saedran temple, maps covered the walls, and painted constellations
     sparkled across the curved dome of the ceiling. Such detailed paintings! Aldo saw the careful outlines of Tierra, the streets
     of Ishalem, the currents in the Oceansea, even the boundaries of the Middlesea on the other side of the isthmus. Densely written
     notations marked the landforms, uncertain outlines followed sketchy reports of possible islands, seasonal whirlpools, barrier
     reefs that had been sighted out near the horizon.
    It looked nothing at all like the map Yal Dolicar had sold him.
    He noticed sturdy mahogany tables piled with charts, log-books, and diaries. Compasses and protractors lay next to ink pots
     and paints. Staring at the dome overhead, he recognized the familiar constellations visible from Tierra, and as his gaze moved
     onward, he noted other star