Ten Arrows

Chapter 17

And of course, an entire evening spent studying the note got me absolutely nowhere.

Actually, that's not entirely true. I did manage to discover a feeling even worse than making no progress whatsoever . . . which was making no progress while suffering from sleep deprivation.

I'd spent hours staring at the hateful piece of card stock, researching things, referring to various journals in my library, reading up on codes and encryption techniques, everything I could think of. What was especially frustrating was the fact that the note itself was so short. A longer note would have provided me with more options, like taking note of which letters were capitalized, or combing through individual letters to see if there were any marked differences between them . . . comparing the way that this 'g' looped with that one, all of the usual methods people used when concealing a message inside another.

Then there were some of the not-so-usual methods I tried, like the number-based ones, where you assigned each letter a number value and calculated the total value for each word, then used that number to reveal a letter based on your original number-letter scheme. That particular method yielded a result that began with 'Nvreugzu-', and ended with me crumpling up my calculations and chucking them towards the far end of my study.

Out of desperation, I even tried the highly detailed three-step encryption process that had been invented and documented by Lord Terncrest in his journal. It was a code that to my knowledge had never seen use, and probably never would, due to how mind-shatteringly complex it was to employ correctly. I won't even bother attempting to describe how poorly thatwent.

When none of my attempts at deciphering the message panned out, and deciding a fresh perspective might be required, I took the note down to my exercise hall and consulted with Theo. I was surprised to learn that he was familiar with an esoteric, little-known form of battlefield encryption used by Vereetian soldiers, one that was based entirely on where and how often the ink of a note intersected itself. However, after half an hour of painstakingly marking dots on two separate pieces of paper, he grudgingly admitted that this battlefield code wasn't being used in this particular case, unless I knew of a man named 'Vrrhk' who wanted to move troops to somewhere called 'Pffwq' . . .

Reluctantly admitting defeat sometime around six bells the following morning, I decided to catch a couple of hours sleep so I wouldn't be completely useless for the rest of the day. Once I woke up, I immediately banished the cryptic single-sentence note from my thoughts, put it away somewhere I wouldn't think about it (okay, okay, so I was still carrying it around in my inside breast pocket) and focused all of my attentions on something else altogether . . . something I felt was entirely overdue.

I was spending a little longer than I'd intended staring into the small mirror I kept in my study, making small adjustments to what I was wearing here and there. This morning I'd opted to wear a dark green shirt underneath my usual black vest, though very little of it could actually be seen due to the black and gold three-quarter cloak I was currently wearing. I don't usually wear a cloak inside my own keep, but Talia had commented on how well it fell on me the last time I'd worn it, something that factored prominently in my thinking just then.

This was the big day - the day I'd be springing Talia's birthday gift on her . . . although this was now technically going to be a 'late' birthday present, since her birthday had been the previous day. I had spent most of that day unconscious and locked away in a jail cell, however, so I figured a little tardiness was forgivable.

At least, I hoped so.

Realizing that I was in the process of inspecting myself again, I put the mirror face-down on my study desk. Then, after a few moments spent just standing there, I picked it up and considered my reflection once more.