Internal: Viperpath (volume 1)

(27) Mother vs. Schemer

The following day, sometime after the morning repast, Mira's so-called 'prime lapdog' came along with news of his own.

"A peculiar missive was brought to my attention last midnight, Your Grace," Razin began. "Pardons for the tardiness. You might have acted on it sooner otherwise..."

Said missive bore an unmarked seal of purple wax. When Mira opened it, the following lines greeted her:

Mirani dear,

Should this message ever reach you, know that I'm somewhere safe, and that I miss you. Permit me to be brief.

You have, I suspect, regained at least part of your earlier standing, even as I remain wretched and friendless. For the sake of our acquaintance, thus, oblige to send me someone you could otherwise trust your life with, to the town of Nahran, and thereafter to escort me back to wherever you happen to be. Depending on prevailing circumstances, I will be found with one boy, whom I must insist on bringing along. Send your messenger back with this same letter to confirm your acknowledgement.

P. S. Enclosed is a ring with the pale-blue gem that your father the king had given me just before I left his presence for what must have been the final time. Should it reach your possession, feel free to regard it as a keepsake. Otherwise, in the event that your messenger shall bring this same ring with them also, know that I shall regard it as a signifier to your wish that I and my boy rejoin you, wheresoever you may be.

Viva Izuria.

Yours,
Kahina

"Peculiar indeed, now that ya said it," Mama Viper (narrowing her eyes slightly at the brazen mention of her old lineage) remarked as she held the ring with her thumb and forefinger and peered solemnly through it. "For starters, this purple seal with which this missive is affixed, does not have its origins with the Amirate, I know that much. Urdin's seal would be green, blue or red, corresponding to the level of urgency, and marked with a moon-in-sun..."

"This seal also had no marks to it; just plain purple," Razin further observed, "so it may be that this is a personal seal that the sender had somehow invented, Your Grace. Furthermore, we do know that this town of Nahran is much-frequented by land-based caravans, among which condensed wax of varying colors should be quite commonplace... although, yes, I'm also willing to bet that this Kahina had probably parted with a small fortune to obtain their piece."

"Not so thrifty then, are they? There are also bits of lines about this ring, and the boy with whom they claimed that might later be found... Damn, our sender sure is being particularly specific here, and I haven't the slightest idea why!"

"Shall we venture to follow up this tip, then, my queen?"

Mira paused to consider it. Pending her daughter finally accepting her apology, this slight detour might well be something with which to keep her attention reasonably directed. Not to mention, the very name 'Kahina' started to stir something else in her mind...

"Worth a shot... and remember, ya promised me to bring along that underling Aska today."

"I shall summon him posthaste, Your Grace."

"That ya do. And return here afterwards; I want ya to be part of whatever may follow."

"As you command."

***

In the time that it took Razin to get his underling, it dawned on Mama Viper that she may indeed have had prior knowledge with regards to this strange missive's sender.