Some Things Never Change

Silver, Ethyn, Conall, Aiden, Aristos and Lily were all gathered together in the front hall of Conall's house by the middle of the morning. Katherine, Conall's wife, would have joined them if she could. Alas, her duties at the inn could be delayed no longer, and so she headed out with Lilly's youngest child.

Katherine loved children, and getting to spend some time with the little one while missing the meeting was good compensation. Conall would fill her in on the details later anyway.

The group sat around the table discussing the most recent development from Silver's journey. He had mentioned his task only vaguely at the table the night before because the children.

Now he was delving into the specific mission Hanna had sent him to complete.

"I was told to retrieve these documents from Borit's office." Silver pulled a stack of papers from his mysterious cloak and laid them on the long wooden table. They were in the deepest, most hidden part of the dungeon behind a locked door, but I managed to get it anyway..." 'Right before Hanna sabotaged me.' he finished the thought in his head.

No one seemed remotely surprised by his claim. He was both a Guardian and a former thief. Was anything impossible for him?

"To be so well guarded, it must be a great secret. What is that, uh, snake up to now?" Conall asked as he peered at the papers with a scowl.

The mayor had a personal score to settle with the commander. Borit had held, Katherine, Conall, Lily, Sage, Ethyn, Gilert and himself captive in the very room where they were currently sitting in order to lure Silver into a trap. Fortunately, Ethyn had managed to escape and get the help of the Fate Hanna, or things might have ended very differently.

Conall would love nothing better than to foil one of that maniac's plots. Envisioning the commander's face when he was stopped brought a malicious grin to the mayor's face. The Guardian's words brought him back from his reverie.

"That's the thing...Borit is up to something," Silver confirmed. He tapped on the papers gently. "I am just not sure what it is. This is not like any writing I have seen, which is why I have called all of you here."

Many commoners could not read, but with the help of Silver, who was taught to read by his adoptive mother, and the school teacher that the town hired, most people in Rynnlee were literate.

The people at this table had all, one way or another, managed to acquire at least a basic reading ability. It was a skill Lily was most proud of, as she had learned recently alongside her oldest children, who brought home lessons from school with them for her to study.

The markings on the papers were too short to be actual words, and too abstract to be pictograms. There was certainly some rhyme or reason to them, and the mystery that they held was alluring. Silver stared long and hard, certain that the answer was there if only he looked at it just the right way. Alas, no answer magically arrived as he had hoped.

"It looks like a code..." Aiden mused, "but not like anything I ever saw in the army. Of course, I didn't exactly rub elbows with my superiors, and messengers usually kept to themselves."

"My first inclination was military codes also. We will have to ask Gilbert if he or someone else can help us." Silver looked toward Conall, who was already nodding.

"I will find a way to contact him quietly," the mayor said as he touched the side of his nose. The young soldier had been placed at the fort closest to Rynnlee, and he exchanged notes with his father regularly. Gilbert was loyal to the king, but he knew that helping Silver was helping his town. Therefore he often offered useful information to the Guardian for the protection of the kingdom.

"There is someone else you could contact," Lily said. "That is, if you can reach her…" The blonde woman look hopefully at the Guardian as his eyes flashed.

"You mean Sage?" He stated more than asked.

Lily nodded. "With her education, she may know more than all of us combined. It cannot hurt to ask her."

"Agreed." Silver requested a pen and began to copy one of the pages onto the back of another. Then on the back of the original sheet, he scribbled off a note to the lady he loved. "There. Now I can send her a sheet without losing any of the content."

"Clever," Aiden approved. "How long do you think it will take to hear back from the other Guardian?" Their was a hint of amusement in his voice. He always felt like their story had a bit of poetic irony to it.

"I have a meeting with one of her spies later today. Assuming they get it straight to her and she has an answer, it will be around a week, maybe longer. So it will be good for us to search for other options until then."

"Sage has spies?" Ethyn asked, surprised. He had known she was keeping her identity in Lakyle a secret, but he had no idea that her influence was so large.

"I suppose the spies aren't technically hers. They belong to the leader of the rebellion in Lakyle, Besfort, but Sage orders them around just like they were her own men." Silver's shoulders visibly raised with a strange sense of pride.

"Sage being bossy?" The young knight covered his mouth in shock. "But she is usually so meek and submissive."

"Your sarcasm is noted," the Guardian stuck out his tongue at the young man knowing he could not see it. "But she seems to have found a place to fit in, and I am happy for her."

Ethyn opened his mouth to make another jab when Conall reached beside him and clamped him firmly on the shoulder.

The mayor cleared his throat. "We wish the lady well as she does the Fates work…which brings me to my question, have you, uh, asked your patroness if she can tell you the meanings of the messages?"

"I did ask. But Hanna told me I must figure it out myself. Her helping any more than she already has might hurt the future somehow…or at least that is my guess. We mortals are left to figure this puzzle out on our own."

"Is it alright if I take a page to the teacher?" Aiden asked the Guardian humbly. "I will return it by the end of the day."

Silver nodded and motioned for the man to take one of the pages from the pile. Carefully selecting the sheet with the widest variety of writing, Aiden tucked it into his tunic.

"You'll use any excuse to visit your lovely fiancee," Aristos teased lightly.

"Wouldn't you if it were Lily?" the man countered, unashamed.

Aristos looked at his beautiful bride. Her eyes shone with such love, that he knew he could never say a word amiss about her. "Of course I would, and I did. Please tell Kenna hello form us."

Aiden nodded, satisfied that he had made his point. The meeting seemed to be coming to a close, which was good for Silver. He gathered up the extra papers and stowed them in his cloak.

"If that is all, I will be on my way to the border. I shall be back after sundown." The Guardian shook forearms with mayor, former soldier, and hunter. He took Lily's hand in both of his and squeezed it gently.

"Be safe," the blonde wished him well.

"I can't believe you are leaving me again!" Ethyn pouted.

"Leaving you? I mean I can, but I was planning to invite you along. But if you'd rather stay behind..." Silver didn't get to finish his sentence before the eager young man was heading for the door.

"We will be back after sunset!" he repeated.

"Stay safe!" Lily warned again with a chuckle as the men disappeared out the door. "Some things never change."