Chapter Eight

Shorthand and Ciphers

Restday 1st Janoeva, 493 Age of the Lion

"Where the bloody Hells is he?" Kait was exasperated. The kind of exasperated that she really didn't know she was capable of.

She was currently engaged in pacing up and down in front of the fireplace in the sitting room of Jake's house, much to the entertainment of both Arrell and Elliot, who were perched on the huge four-seater sofa that took up most of the back end of the room. Dara – sat in her armchair – seemed to be just as worried as she was, her hands constantly fiddling with her skirts on her lap, and her gaze constantly shifting to the window. Not that she'd be able to see much out of it; it was almost completely obscured by a thick layer of snow, seeing as it had more or less been laying on thick since midday.

She threw a glance at the pile of books and papers that she'd brought back from the Nathara Tower. She'd found out so damned much today, and Jake goes ahead to repay her with a bucketful of worry! He'd told her this morning! She'd asked him if he was planning on going anywhere today, and he'd said no.

She stopped pacing and rounded on Arrell. "Where did he say he was going, again?"

"He just said he was going out for a bit, didn't say where," Arrell said, shrugging. "Look, Kait, I don't know what you're worrying about…"

"And how long has he been gone?" She cut him off before he could say any more.

"For the twelfth time, Kait, he left just before midday!"

Kait looked over at the huge clock that sat on the mantelpiece over the fireplace once again. It was now a quarter-to-six. He'd been gone far too long! Almost six hours was not her personal definition of 'going out for a bit', especially when he'd said he wasn't going anywhere today. 'Going out for a bit' in this situation meant he was going to the shops, or going for a walk. Not buggering off for a quarter of the day! Gods, the man was irresponsible! Who knew what could have happened to him, given the situation they were in!

She watched as the minute hand of the clock slid inexorably to the forty-sixth minute of the hour, which it eventually did with a loud 'clunk'. And about two seconds after it did so, Kait heard the front door open, heavy boot-steps walking in, and then the door shut once again. There was a couple of moments of someone stamping their boots – presumably to clear the snow from them – and then Jake's head appeared around the doorframe, a distinctly new-looking hat perched on his head, and a strange look on his face. His eyes looked grim, but his face didn't seem to be able to make up its mind as to whether or not it agreed; something in between a smile and a frown currently occupying that space.

"Hey everyone," he said, raising an eyebrow for some reason, then he vanished once again. Kait stood there for about a minute until he appeared again, now hatless, bootless and coatless. He then stopped mid-step, clearing noticing the look on both his mother's and Kaitlyn's own faces. "What?"

"What do you mean, 'what'?" Kaitlyn said, folding her arms underneath her breasts.

Jake blinked. "What…do you mean… 'what do I mean, 'what''? You're the ones giving me the looks."

"Where the Hells did you go?" It literally burst out of Kaitlyn – she honestly didn't know if she could have held it in much longer. "I said to you this morning! I said 'are you going anywhere today?' And you said 'no'!"

"I did not!"

"You most certainly did!"

That caught what Jake had been going to say in his throat, and he seemed to think about it for a moment. Kait waiting patiently, her arms still folded. "Are you sure?" He asked finally.

"Of course I'm bloody sure," she said, glaring at him.

"I don't remember that at all…" He said, scrubbing his hand through his hair. "Did you make sure I was actually awake?" He was looking past her, and seemed barely unable to contain a grin.

Kait threw a sidelong glare at Arrell and Elliot, which wiped the grins off their faces. Then she aimed it straight back at Jake, erasing his grin too. "I presumed that since you answered me, you were indeed awake."

"Well…I…wasn't?" He somehow made it seem like a question…as if he was asking for confirmation of it from her.

Kait let out an exasperated sigh. "Do you realise how worried we…" She paused. "…how worried your mother and I have been?"

Jake balked. "I'm a more than capable adult, Kaitlyn…you don't have to worry about me going off for a bit."

Another sigh of exasperation. "Given our situation at the moment, anything could happen to you, Jake! Anything! And when you swan off for six hours – having said you're 'going out for a bit' – naturally we're going to start worrying about you!" She stepped towards him and drove a finger into his chest. "You could have been hurt! Killed! Or worse!"

"Glad to hear getting killed isn't the worst thing that could happen to me," he said, then he held up his hand to cut off anything Kait might say. Normally, she wouldn't let him do something like that; but he didn't let her not let him do it, continuing before she could say anything. "Kait, I'm sorry. Ma…sorry. I didn't mean to make you worry. I just went out in the city, is all! Met a few contacts…well; one contact. And he wasn't really a contact…more a chance meeting… anyways! I've got some good news because of it." He looked to Elliot and Arrell, who were certainly grinning like maniacs. "Very good news, just so you know." He paused. "A touch morbid…but good none-the-less." Then he grinned properly. "And I got a new hat."

He seemed to be most proud about that latter part, and Kaitlyn couldn't help but laugh. "Just don't do that again, Jake."

"What? Get a new hat?" She gave him a playful shove, and he smiled at her. "I'll tell you where I'm going next time, dear."

"Good," she said, smiling herself. She then finally sat down on the unoccupied sofa in the room – she hadn't sat down since she had got back, and her knees were aching a little from the pacing – Jake taking a place next to her, his arm around her shoulders.

"So come on, Jake," Arrell said, "tell us what happened! It'd better be good too…worth at least getting that look from Kait. Bloody scary, let me tell you."

"Yeah, I got it too, Da," Jake said, and Kait felt him press a kiss onto her crown. "Okay…here's what happened…"

It was truly an amazing story. And Kait wouldn't have believed a word of it in any other situation. But then again, this was hardly a time where normal stories reared their heads for all to see. By the end of it, Elliot was looking mildly surprised, and Arrell was simply shaking his head, a grin on his face.

"So you are comfortable with killing someone for…well, payment of some kind?"

Jake smirked. "For this payment, I'd sneak into one of the Nine's bedchamber and steal their toenails. And their teeth…" The smirk dissolved. "Besides which, there's the whole 'the world would be a better place without that shit-smelling bastard roaming it' mentality…"

"Charming," Kait sighed, "but I see what you're trying to say. Does this mean we're leaving tomorrow?"

"There's no rush," Jake said, "the Twisted Leopards have the fear put into Loagha, so he's not going anywhere soon; so there's no rush. We'll go with the original plan and leave the day after tomorrow. Plus this means we won't need the Spirit to get there; the train will just be easier, and Loagha's eyes and ears might not expect that."

Elliot nodded. "Indeed, I was going to suggest that. Loagha is not precisely the brightest of glow orbs, and seeing as he thinks of you as a sailing man, he will have the ports more closely guarded then the rail routes. In fact..." He paused. "As we have all the time in the world, would it be possible to get off before Blue Sands and walk the rest of the way. We would be able to slip into the city almost entirely unnoticed that way."

"I'm sure we can arrange something," Jake said, "but let's think about that closer to the time." He looked at Kaitlyn. "So what did your findings produce, Kait?"

"Books, and lots of them," Kait said, indicating the huge pile of tomes that was perched on the coffee table. "I didn't go through any of them; I thought we could all do that together, seeing as it'd be faster. But this is every book that the Nathara Tower has that even mentions the Heart of the Empire or Guardians of the Heart."

"You're kidding!" Jake exclaimed, pulling his arm from about her and leaning forward towards the books. "There's only eight books here!"

"It seems the world wants to forget that particular period of history," she said, "there should have been more, but some have simply disintegrated because no new copies could be obtained; others were systematically found and burnt to ash in what is unofficially known as the Purging, which happened sixty years ago."

"Great," Jake sighed, "any chance of a brief synopsis."

"Well, seeing as you asked so nicely," Kait said, leaning forward with him and resting her elbows on her knees, before dragging the huge sheaf of notes that the books were sitting upon. Then she sat back once again, and began scanning her notes – her scratchy shorthand littered the pages, and she knew that only three people in the country could properly understand it; herself and the two wizards who had taught it to her. She took a deep breath, and then started from the beginning.

"It all started more than a millennia ago, with the birth of the first of the hierarchs," she watched everyone in the room react to that – bemusement being the general tone of their looks – as she went on. "I could barely find anything about who they are, but I do know there are five of them, and they were known by their 'beliefs'. The Hierarchs Vengeance, Fate, Luck, Reinvention and Nothingness. Each was a powerful mage, and each was just plain, unadulterated evil – that much is clear. We also know that they were born on what is now called Targand, and also that they grew up there.

"Interesting side note, Targand means 'Damned Land' in a twice dead language. So you can imagine why it's called that.

"Anyway, around nine-hundred-and-seventy years ago – early in the Age of the Dragon – they created the Heart…"

A look appeared on Jake's face. "'A place for each creator'. It's clear that it's not the Gods – they're the Creators…" The difference was clear. "…so that must there will be five places that we have to visit along the trail before we find the Heart."

"Your genius knows no bounds, it seems," Kait said, smiling slightly despite her frustration at being interrupted. "May I continue?"

Jake twitched an eyebrow at her, then chuckled and nodded sharply.

Kait briefly examined where she had been. "Again, there's almost nothing on what the Heart is, and what there is isn't exactly what you might call consistent. One book…" She tapped 'A Brief History of the World' on its spine. "…claims it was a woman of such staggering beauty that anyone who saw her instantly bowed to her demands. Another said it's a hand-held object which, when held at the fore of any faction, makes that faction unbeatable in all their endeavours. From cards to duels to epic battles, the Heart twists fate, quells resistance and a hundred other things to make it certain that the people who claimed it lose. Another one still – although this one is a little less likely – is that it's a device which extracts the souls of those it touches." She tossed her top-most sheet of parchment onto the floor and read from the next page.

"Regardless of what precisely it did, the Hierarchs used this device…this artefact…to begin what is now known as the Great Conquest. They started east from Targand, forming a great invasion force and invading what was still called Garnall back then." She saw Elliot's face dropped slightly, and she did nothing to alleviate his spirits. "They conquered the whole island in less than a week. And that was where it all started. A month after that, Tu'un fell. Then Vatheria. In just six months, they had control of the entire Marlyth Ocean; from the northern-most Sword Hand Isle, down to Land's End in Jahania. Everything.

"Skip forward to the year thirty-four of the Age of the Dragon – about eleven, maybe twelve years after the start of the Great Conquest – and what they had named the First Glorious Empire of Targand – as if they had predicted it would fall and try to rise again – now spanned most of the known world. They even had the nerve to rename the Age of the Dragon to the Age of Glory. And the Heart allowed them to remain in control for more than five hundred years with no rebellions. Well, almost no rebellions."

"The Guardians," Arrell said, nodding slowly with a tone of realisation in his voice.

"Indeed," Kait smiled, moving on to the next page, "our mythical saviours step in at the turn of what should have been called the Age of the Lion. This age." She paused, letting that sink in. "They didn't appear any different from normal people; but they were demonstrably able to resist the effects of the Heart, and that much is more or less unanimously agreed upon in these texts. What's hotly debated is why. Descendants of a mixing of human stock and an ancient, more powerful race? Or just blind coincidence; Magic can have unexpected effects after all. There's plenty of evidence for and against both theories – along with about twenty other minor ones which hold no salt whatsoever – but nothing that proves either in any definitive fashion. But anyway, what's important is that eventually word of these people spread around. Quietly; a whisper of a whisper.

"And soon, they started gathering – you'll like this next part, Elliot – on Garnall, in a tiny town called Tulavi, on the southern coast. And that's when they commenced what is now known as The Downfall; they started having children."

Jake raised an eyebrow. "That was their master plan? They had children."

"Part of their master plan, Jake," Kait said, rolling her eyes. "May I continue?" Jake gave her an apologetic look, and then inclined his head. "So they started having children. And the first of these children was born four-hundred-and-twenty-one years ago tomorrow. Second of Janoeva, in the year seventy-two of the Second Age of Glory."

"Wait," Jake said, interrupting Kait again, "my knowledge in these parts isn't exactly extensive; but aren't we in the Age of the Lion?"

"Yes, Jake," she replied, "we are. We renamed it to its originally intended name once the Empire was gone. Speaking of which, am I allowed to get to that point?"

"Sorry," he replied, taking her hand and kissing her knuckles, then smiling at her. "No more questions. At least, not until you finish."

"My thanks," she said, not being able to stop herself from smiling back at him. "Where was I? Ah yes, seventy-two, Second Age of Glory. So, they have children, and lots of them. This is a small community of about four-hundred souls creating more than half that number of offspring in a single year, using all kinds of techniques. Forced mating, Magic to make them more fertile, and a whole host of other things.

"And all of these children were trained from an early age to be warriors, spies and mages. It wasn't particularly ethical, but desperate times called for desperate measures it seems. In twenty years, they'd produced a force to be reckoned with, and all of them were resistant to the effects of the Heart! A hundred strong thorn in the Empire's shoe, only the Empire knew nothing about it. How they did that is lost to time; most think it's because the Empire became complacent due to the fact that they had ruled comfortably for so long; although obviously they did have some mages present, which would have certainly helped in hiding their presence.

"Once they were all fully trained, they sent the spies out into the world, and found out everything they could about the Empire. And this just so happened to include where the Hierarchs spent most of their time – Castle Anoiph, also known as Eaglehearts's Core; the seat of the current King of Targand. They also got hold of architectural plans for the castle, guard rotations…everything they could possibly need to start a siege.

"And in the year ninety-three, start a siege they did. The force of two hundred or so souls – now known as the rather extravagant title of the Spear of Freedom – stormed Castle Anoiph. They were met with stiff resistance, and only seventeen of them made it into the place intact and able to fight the Hierarchs. There's not much detail on the battle that ensued, but we do know that the Spear won, albeit with their numbers reduced to eight.

"Now, reports do vary. Some say that each Hierarch was killed in the battle; others say that one of them – the eldest, the Hierarch of Nothingness – escaped whilst the others were being fought. And I know which one I'm more inclined to believe." She paused.

"You think that the Hierarch Thrage spoke of is this Hierarch of Nothingness?" Elliot said, frowning deeply. "Is that even remotely possible?"

"Almost anything's possible with Magic," Kait said, frowning herself, "regardless of the level of debasement you have to lower yourself to in order to achieve it. Extending one's own life beyond one's intend years is a morbid yet time-honoured tradition of necromancers. And I'll honestly be surprised if this Hierarch is little more than a husk of what he used to be; a withered shell and nothing more.

"Anyway," she said, tossing the next sheaf of paper to the floor, "to finish our little history lesson; the Spear of Freedom – once they had defeated the Hierarchs – claimed the Heart, and then somehow loosed its hold on the world; again, the books aren't specific about how this happened, though I'll guess there's some kind of phrase or Magic weave that does it. With the world free from whatever it was that the Heart did, uprisings against the Empire began in every country it had affected, and in just two short years, the Empire had been pushed all the way back to where it had come from – Targand. Then, in the year ninety-five, they renamed the Second Age of Glory to its originally intended name; the Age of the Lion.

"While this was going on, the Spear of Freedom came home to the Resistance, and they tried in vain to destroy the Heart of the Empire. It turns out it's more or less indestructible – through Magical or physical means. And so they form a pact…the Guardians of the Heart. They would hide it from the world and make sure that no-one ever used this fundamentally evil object ever again."

The last page of her notes fluttered to the floor, and she shuffled to the back of the sofa, resting herself against the soft cushions. She then chanced a glance to each of the faces present, gauging their reactions.

Elliot was just as unreadable as ever, leant back in his own seat, an eyebrow raised slightly as he stared at a spot just over Kait's head. Arrell was frowning down at what appeared to be a coffee stain on the wooden surface of the table, his elbows rested on his knees. Dara had a look of plain shock on her face. And Jake; Jake had the strangest reaction. He simply paused for a moment, and then laughed.

She had heard the kind before, when she was studying at the University and later at the Nathara Tower. Although she'd never have thought it would have applied to a situation like this. It was the laugh of someone who had been given a task they thought they couldn't succeed in doing. The laugh of someone who simply didn't know what else to do; when it was either laugh, or break down and cry. And Jake certainly wasn't the crying type.

"Well, I'm glad that amused you, Jake," she said, sighing.

"Sorry," Jake said, managing to taper it off to a chuckle, then he reached over and grabbed her hand, giving it a squeeze, "it's a great story, truth be told. Bracing, I think would be the word I'd use."

"Well I'm glad I managed to entertain you," Kait said, squeezing his hand back, "but there's more, if you're interested."

"Oh, I'd certainly think we're interested. I'd say we're hanging on your every word, dear." He grinned at her, and she gave him a sardonic smile in return.

"I found out what 'in James' applied' means," Kait continued, "it's basically a cipher known as the James Mo'oren Cipher, and it uses two numbers to pick out words in a body of text. It's quite tricky, actually; but I think I can get the hang of it."

Jake cocked his head at her. "You did all that…today? How long were you gone?"

"Nine, maybe ten hours," Kait said, smiling at him, "and you'll be surprised at how much I can do when I put my mind. Plus…I…had some help…"

"A-ha!" Jake grinned, giving her hand another squeeze. "We get to the truth of it."

"Well, you think I can pull this kind of feat on my own?"

"Well, I doubt we would have been surprised," Jake said, looking to each other person in the room and receiving confirmatory nods.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," Kait said, smiling at everyone in turn, "but I thought you'd want it as quickly as possible, so I got some of my old teachers at the Tower to help me along. Half of this –" She indicated the papers at her feet. "– was written by them."

"Well, what about the cipher," Elliot said, leaning forward in his seat eagerly, "how does it work?"

"Well, it's simple really," Kait said, "you take the first number, then multiply it by one, and that's the position of your first word. Then you take the second number, multiply it by two, and that's the position of the second word, then you take the first number once again and multiply it by three, and that's the position of the third word…and so on, and so forth. It's simple, but rather long-winded, and it's very easy to make a mistake."

Elliot nodded slowly. "It is an alternation cipher, so I would imagine it would be rather difficult to do it perfectly every time. And I take it we have not decoded the first message yet."

Kait smiled at the man. "Well chosen words, Elliot." He had said 'we' instead of 'you'. Very cunning. "Indeed I haven't, although I have the first and second words. It's the second word of the whole thing – one multiplied by two – of the novel; 'upon'. Then it's the twenty-fourth – two by twelve; 'the'."

"At least it makes sense," Jake said, "that's a good thing, right?"

Kaitlyn nodded. "Indeed. You're simply meant to continue doing so until it doesn't make sense anymore."

"Right then," Jake said, sighing, "let's get to multiplying." He glanced about. "Ma, where're the writing stones?"

"Over on the desk, dear," Dara said, still looking slightly stunned. "There's some paper there too, if you like."

Jake stood and meandered over, pulling out several long, thin writing stones and as many sheaves of yellow-stained parchment. "Where's the abacus?"

"Do we have one?"

"I don't know…"

"Jake don't worry about an abacus," Kait said, smiling slightly, "the numbers we'll be dealing with will eventually be too big to use one…I'll show you how to do it on paper. Shouldn't be too difficult for a smart boy like you."

"Back to school for me, then?"

"Indeed," she said, smiling at him still, "don't worry, I'm told I'm a fine teacher."

"Among other things," Jake said, kissing her on the cheek. "Well, let's get to it."

Jake took to the relatively simple mathematics – for Kaitlyn at least – fairly rapidly. He seemed to have a good mind for this sort of thing. He should have known this already, really, but she could hardly blame him – or his parents – for not sending him to the right schools. Still, having a proper education might have changed him fundamentally, and she wouldn't have had him any other way. Regardless, they eventually produced something coherent.

'Upon the wall of my old cabin, there is a diorama. Look at it closely; it's not going to be easy. You have to find what it represents. Then look into darkness. That's where the next clue is.'

It took them an hour – with about four backtracks when the sentence stopped making sense – to deduce that, and by the end of it Kait's hand was covered in grey smudges, as was Jake's. Jake also had massive smears on his cheeks and on the left side of his nose, making him look like he'd just trudged through a coal mine.

"Gods, I know that diorama," Jake said, setting down his writing stone and picking up the sheet that they had written the hidden message on. "It's…Gods, what was it? It's an image of Maharie…and she's…" He trailed off, then swore quietly. "Dammit, I've forgotten it…"

Kait snapped her fingers. "She was standing on a hill! Over a huge city…I remember it from when I was hurt during the storm."

"Not wanting to remember that any time soon," Jake said, frowning slightly.

"Yeah…" Kait sighed. "But I spent most of the time I was in that room studying that painting. The detail on it was truly staggering…if you looked closely enough; you could just make out the people running around on the streets!"

Jake grinned at her. "Gods, I love that brain of yours, Kait." He paused. "Do you have any idea what it means? It's clearly a symbol of some sort; but beyond that, I've got no clue."

"Probably…" Kait twisted her mouth thoughtfully. "I think we should wait until we can examine it up close. Whilst I remember the gist of what it was, I can't remember the fine details, and the clue demands that we 'look closely'."

Jake nodded in agreement, then looked at his hands. "Bloody Hells. I think I need another bath."

"What?" Kait said, feigning shock. "Two baths in as many days? How extravagant of you!"

"Yeah, well," Jake grinned, "I like to keep clean."

"Oh you liar!"

- - - - -

Jake sighed as he stared up at the ceiling of his bedroom. His hair was still a little damp, as was the rest of him, and he had Kaitlyn's slightly damp form nestled up next to him. The bath together had been fun, but he hadn't had the courage to do anything more than simply cleaning her feet or tickling the back of her calves. Still, the sight of her without her clothes had been wonderful, and he was fairly certain she had enjoyed the return gesture.

He just needed a little more time. Well…that wasn't the whole truth. He needed the Raider back, and that required time. It was horribly selfish, he knew, but…he just…Gods, but he didn't know what he wanted any more. Did he want to stop the Empire from coming back? Or did he just want to settle down and make a family with Kaitlyn? Hopefully the Gods did know…otherwise that didn't bode well for him, seeing as no-one knew what he wanted. Jake snorted to himself, then snuffled as some of Kaitlyn's errant hair found its way up his nose.

Kait simply giggled, then rolled on top of him, her arms folded on his chest and her chin rested on her wrists. Then she flicked her hair over her shoulder rather elegantly before smiling down at him. He could feel her breathing, feel her legs brushing against his. Feel her eyes piercing into his own. And he almost felt…home.

"What're you thinking about?"

"Nothing in particular," he sighed, then grinned at her, "apart from how heavy you are!"

She laughed, then flicked the tip of his nose. "That wasn't particularly pleasant!"

"You know I'm only playing," Jake said, pushing some hair from her face and tucking it behind her ear. "Besides, you'd be wonderful no matter what you weighed."

She raised an eyebrow. "Thanks…I think."

"Yeah, that came out wrong," Jake said, frowning himself. He thought about it for a moment. "You're…wonderful!"

"That's more like it," Kait said, giggling, "I like that. 'Wonderful'."

Jake grinned. "Well you are."

"I know," she grinned, "I just like to hear you say it every so often."

"Glad to be of service."

Kait laughed, then rolled off the bed and onto her feet, her towel dropping to her feet as she searched around for her smallclothes. "So what should we do for the last three nights we have to ourselves?"

"Not sure," Jake sighed, watching as she pulled on a silk shift with matching briefs, "We could…" He paused, thinking about it for a moment. "…go dancing? I think I'm over starting fights…the Anuin Hall might even let me back in."

Kait glanced at him over her shoulder as she pulled on a pair of dark tan trousers. "Too late. Not dressed for it. Besides, from the tone in your voice, I don't think you really want to go dancing."

"I had a tone?"

"Apparently I can read you better than you can yourself."

Jake rolled his eyes. She was right, he wasn't too enthused about going dancing just yet. "It seems so." He swung his legs over the side of the bed, and began searching for clothes of his own. "So what did you have in mind?"

"I don't know," Kait sighed, "I liked to walk around the city at night; especially during winter. Do you want to take a walk with me?"

Jake grinned. "Of course I do." He handed her a thick winter coat. "Of course I do."