A Seal by Any Other Name

The seal! Silver had vaguely recognized the symbol but had been unable to place it, making it a dead end until now.

While the Guardian had been hesitant to bring his sister into all the mess with Borit, it really had been a moot point. Just by nature of being associated with Silver, Rose was involved whether she liked it or not. Letting her know what she was up against was the wisest thing to do.

His thoughts passed in less than a moment before Rose continued.

"This is a very little known seal. I am not surprised none of you know it." The princess said sympathetically.

"Pardon us, Your Highness, but except for Ethyn, none of us has had much experience with seals at all." Lily's tone was gentle.

"You mean to say that none of you has a personal seal? How do you send letters?" Rose was genuinely surprised by the development.

"There's not much need to send a letter when everyone we know except Sage is here." Lily chuckled. Having only recently learned to read, the idea of writing messages all the time as Rose envisioned was truly comical to the motherly blonde.

"I hadn't thought of that." While the young princess was mostly confined to the palace and Burke, she still got to know many people from other kingdoms thanks to visiting dignitaries. Her days were filled with sending and receiving news.

As the little town was not on any major trade route, it was unlikely that Rynnlee had the same sort of official communications.

"Don't leave us in suspense, Your Highness." Conall patted the table lightly. "Who owns this seal?"

"It is the royal seal of Lakyle." Rose answered definitively.

"What?!" All around the table asked in unison.

"Well, I should say one of the royal seals. There are many that belong to the royal family and some such as this have no owner." The princess pointed to the swords crossed with thorns. "The swords represent Lakyle's might and the thorns through them show its vengeance on its enemies."

"But how could it not have an owner?" Ethyn was confused. What good was a personal seal if there was no one to use it?

"It used to belong to the late king of Lakyle. He was a peaceable man from what I have seen and read, but far too permissive. Now that he is gone, anyone in the palace could have access to it, and I have an idea why they would use it for secret communications."

"I think I know too…" Silver was following her line of thought. "The seal would be enough to get it past the palace steward without being closely examined, but not so important to be rushed to the king."

"That was my thought also. It would be easy for Borit to write back and forth with our mystery man right under my father's nose. If only we knew who it was or at least what he was saying." Blowing out her cheeks, Rose shook her head sadly. "I haven't been aware of this problem for more than a few hours and already I am discouraged. I can only imagine how all of you must feel."

"Don't lose heart. You have helped us make progress." Aiden smiled warmly.

The others are quick to agree, each adding a word of encouragement.

'They are all just coddling me. Anyone could have gotten a hold of this seal, really. All I wanted to do was be helpful, but this is just as much of a mystery as before…maybe even more!' Rose stared at the offending document, shaking it slightly with frustration.

Then her expression changed. She brought the page close to her face trying to confirm the anomaly she saw.

"Our mother used to make that face…what did you find?" The Guardian knew Rose enough to believe she wouldn't bluff.

"It may be nothing, but this seal is very thick. There is a strange crease here like it was remelted at a later time." The princess paused. "Now that I think about it. It is strange that the seal is still attached at all. At least for me, I remove it or break it before throwing it away, but this one is intact. Almost like it is hiding something!"

Rose ran her slender finger across the folded edge which the seal protected. Both sides of it were blank. Yet, like the seal, the folded edge felt thick.

She ran her fingers along the rim of the seal before pressing her nail up under the remelted edge. The red emblem detached from the main part of the page but held firm to the folded lip.

Then she unfolded the paper not once, but twice.

"A hidden edge!" Ethyn could barely believe his eyes. "How did you know?"

"More of her palace wisdom, no doubt," Silver said proudly as Rose passed him the note.

"Not exactly. It is the same trick that Lady Caitlyn's secret admirer does so I would not see the most scintillating part of his letters. Just don't tell Cait that I know!" Rose peeked over her brother's shoulder at the message.

Silver read aloud. "Proposals hardships can be met. Plans consideration can only be given. A snake. An eagle. The Will of a ruler is ironclad."

"What a hoity toity message! Don't tell me Borit's big secret is writing poetry." Conall held his head in his hand.

"Borit didn't write this." Silver pursed his lips. "And it is not exactly poetry."

"My brother is right. The nobility of Lakyle always include a personal message like this in conjunction with more formal communication. It is poetic but also very functional." Rose had received a few such messages from suitors from Lakyle.

The men had tried to impress her, but had only managed to confuse her until the king had explained the custom. Since then, the princess had tried her hand at it a few times before realizing it was not her preference.

"The first line gives an opening thought from whatever the other person last wrote. The second line states a conclusion of the current letter. But they invert the sentence and omit words for emphasis." Rose pointed to each line as she spoke.

Silver nodded. "Haven is right. It would better read: A proposal like yours can be met with hardships. I will give your plans my consideration."

Conall bulged out his stomach. "Then why not say that plainly? You fancy folks just like to make things complicated on purpose…no offense Your Highness!"

Lily shot the mayor a warning look on behalf of his wife. Clearing her throat, she motioned back to the page. "What about the rest?"

The princess tapped her chin. "The first name is referring to the recipient. Whoever wrote this thinks Borit is a snake. I cannot say I disagree. The second name is the sender talking about themselves. As an eagle, they consider themselves above everything…possibly even a snake eater."

"But if the sender is considering a proposal, then can being a snake really be a bad thing?" Aiden wondered.

"Not as long as you are not the one getting bitten…" Conall scowled. "What about that last line?"

"It is usually a play on words to give the recipient a riddle. While it does not say exactly who sent it. It does give a clue." Rose sighed. She hates that last bit the most. Why not just sign one's name and be done with it?

"The Will of the ruler is ironclad…I never was one for riddles," Aiden admitted.

"This one is not too hard." Silver laid the paper on the table. Look at the strange capitalization. Only two men I know would refer to their will as iron clad, and one of them is Borit."

The rest stared at the capital 'W' as recognition dawned.

A royal seal. A noble greeting. An iron Will.

It could only be one person…

"King Willric!"