I awoke around noon. It was nice to sleep in. At the royal palace, I had been an early riser by necessity -- I always had to look my best, which entailed hours of preparation each day. And then, on the road back to the duchy, we awoke early again in order to make the most of the daylight. This was the first time in over a month that I had slept through the sunrise. The long sleep had not, unfortunately, done much for the pain. There was still a hole all the way through my abdomen, after all.
Clarice was in the room, sitting in the small armchair. She noticed me stirring and immediately was at my side, asking what I required. She helped me with my morning preparations (even a bedridden lady must be presentable), and before long I was back in bed with a clean nightgown. The doctor also returned and changed my bandages, saying that my wound was uninfected and that the healer would certainly be able to fix it completely. So that was good news, at least.
It was mid afternoon by the time that was finished, and I decided to finally take a look at the arrow. It had been returned to Clarice some time while I was asleep, and she had dutifully placed it on my bedside table, not even questioning why I would want the implement that had almost killed me.
As I had expected, the runes were quite advanced. Whoever had done this was an exceptionally skilled and knowledgeable wizard. I prided myself in my understanding of rune magic — especially since it was the only way for me to do anything of consequence with my pitiful mana — and even I would have some difficulty replicating this. What was most impressive, of course, was that the runes had been capable of storing the wizard's magic for an extended period of time. Most runes could only be activated immediately by a wizard holding the engraved object, but these had held onto the mana of the engraver until the shot was fired, at which point they activated, accelerating and reinforcing the arrow.
While I was mostly interested in the theory behind the runes, it was also possible that the arrow would aid in the investigation. Father or uncle might recognize some of the techniques used in the engraving. When I'd finished my study, I gave the arrow to Clarice for safekeeping and told her to hold onto it for me. She dutifully obliged.
She also informed me that father had sent a message to the Baron. "He was quite upset to hear about the attack, and regrets that he is unable to come retrieve you himself," she said. "He has sent the duchy's best healer, as well as six members of the Arcane Guard. One of them is an Exalted."
This piqued my interest. Before my departure, father had been bemoaning his inability to find an Exalted who was willing to serve as his retainer. Apparently he had finally managed it in my absence. "An Exalted? I wonder what sort of man he will be."
"Is it true that anyone can become Exalted?" Clarice asked. "One of my father's retainers was apparently a tailor before he was Exalted, and now he's as good as any of our knights."
"I don't doubt it," I replied. While geniuses such as my father and Count Rodan were still the best of the best, the Exalted were vastly superior to the average wizard or soldier. I shuddered to imagine the raw strength that would be born if someone who was already strong gained that power. It was doubtful anyone on the continent would be able to stand up to them. "I look forward to meeting him."
We would not have long to wait. As I had expected, they'd been making an exceptional pace. Seven wizards could travel quite quickly if they put their minds to it, and it was not long after the message was relayed to me that there was a knock on my door. Clarice answered it, and a woman wearing a blue robe entered. This was the healer my father had sent. She placed her hand over my wound, and within moments it was as if I had never been pierced by the arrow.
With that taken care of, Clarice dressed me in my traveling clothes which had survived the explosion, and we were on our way to the courtyard, where the Baron had prepared a carriage. Six mounted knights were present to guard me, each wearing plate mail emblazoned with the symbol of House Pendragon. It was not immediately apparent which was the Exalted, but there would be time to ask during the travel.
