Walking back to his room in the Mad Badger Inn Delioron tried to categorize all the information he had gotten from Calamint and fit it with the information he had obtained from Demrîng and Navelwort and Coddle and Hodhion. Some of it made sense and some of it did not. It was the way things usually worked in his line of work. Normally he would not have cared much over things that went past his own survival, but this time there was a complication: the woman named Elwil. As unwise as it was, Delioron had become to care for the woman, and for her survival too. And that was a complication. If Elwil was to survive, Delioron would have to become involved in things in much deeper level he was accustomed to. Much deeper that was wise to him.
Delioron climbed the stairs, said hello to Bernice and went up to his room.
He sat down by the desk and lit a candle. The room was dilapidated and without windows, much like most of the rooms he had lived in for the past decade or more. A perfect metaphor of his life, he realized – dilapidated and without windows. With no way out.
And nothing to do but spend another lonely night far away from home in a foreign land in a depressing room. With nothing else to do but trying to figure things out. Delioron sighed and took the note from his pocket. He stared at the letters. He knew them from memory by now:
YHJSH RWA AYHSFBFW VICK QY CSHYWDYA EYBVRWYWKHT RC CFFW RC EFCCSQHY SWZFBV XBYYWXRXY JPYW KPY AYYA SC AFWY
Suddenly he had an idea. Could he find his own name amongst the letters? It did not take him long to realize it was possible:
AYHSFBFW=DELIORON
So if that was the key, what would the message look like? Delioron went to work:
EL_IL _ND DELIORON ____ _E _ILEN_ED _EI__NEN___ __ _OON __ _O__I__E IN_OR_ _REEN___E __EN __E DEED __ DONE
Elwil and Delioron. That made sense! He tried again:
ELWIL AND DELIORON ____ _E _ILEN_ED _EI_ANEN___ A_ _OON A_ _O__I_LE IN_OR_ _REEN_A_E W_EN __E DEED I_ DONE
Deed is done? Deed is done!
ELWIL AND DELIORON __S_ _E SILEN_ED _EI_ANEN___ AS SOON AS _OSSI_LE IN_OR_ _REEN_A_E W_EN __E DEED IS DONE
Well now. It looked to him like Elwil and Delioron must be silenced…
ELWIL AND DELIORON MUST BE SILENCED _EIMANENTL_ AS SOON AS _OSSI_LE IN_OR_ _REEN_A_E W_EN __E DEED IS DONE
When the deed is done! Alright:
ELWIL AND DELIORON MUST BE SILENCED _EIMANENTL_ AS SOON AS _OSSI_LE IN_OR_ _REEN_A_E W_EN THE DEED IS DONE
It almost made sense now. Elwil and Delioron must be silenced something as soon as possible in… form? When it’s done.
ELWIL AND DELIORON MUST BE SILENCED _EIMANENTL_ AS SOON AS POSSIBLE INFORM _REEN_A_E WHEN THE DEED IS DONE
Delioron stared at the letters. The letters were dancing before his eyes now. _EIMANENTL_? He had probably made a mistake somewhere, but it was not important. This word was not important to solve. But the other unsolved word was, he felt it in his gut.
Inform _REEN_A_E?
_REEN_A_E?
And that’s when it hit him, like a ton of bricks.
Greengage!
Greengage was a traitor. And he had left Elwil with him. For all this time, for all these days, he had left Elwil with Greengage.
There was nothing he could do. There was nothing he could control.
