They kept unrolling, but the damaged section was about as long as both the panels before it. Ashlin could not tell if it was two damaged panels or one long one. Her chest fell at the loss of such beauty. “But how did rodents access this inner panel?” she asked. “Wouldn’t they have nibbled away at the end that was available?”
“I don’t know. That’s a good question. I don’t suppose you could restore this much damage?”
She quickly looked up to see if he was serious. He was smirking at her. She smiled in return. “Oh yes, I could easily repair this. It’s not as though I need to know what the original image is supposed to be, do I?”
“I was thinking you could just do a scene about us.” He shrugged, looking back down at the ruined tapestry at their feet.
She followed his gaze, unable to quickly think of a witty reply.
“Maybe if we look further ahead, we can piece together what this part of the story might have been.” He was serious this time.
“That’s actually a good idea.”
“I can have good ideas, too, you know.” He sounded mockingly hurt.
“Let’s see.” She continued to gently move the still-giant fabric scroll. The next section was much less damaged, but they had run out of physical room to unroll the tapestry any further. “How much longer do you think this is?” she asked.
“At least twice the current length,” he replied, sizing up the amount of fabric left. “This could probably wrap around two walls of the ball room.”
“Do you think it would be a good addition to the ball, then? It’s not too old or ruined?”
“Well, I would have to leave that in the hands of the steward, but if you truly can repair some of the damage, it would be quite the eye-catching piece. I’m sure my mother would be pleased. Do you think we can fill in some of the missing gaps in this story?”
“Let’s find out.”
They went back to the beginning of the scroll and rolled up the first two panels they had already seen, carefully adjusting the length of it down the floor so they could unroll the rest of the new panel. The new image was still intact, but it was so magnificent that it took Ashlin a few moments to understand what was happening.
A single woman in a brilliant blue dress stood at the center of the image. Hers was the lightest area of the panel, and the threads got darker and darker as they traveled away from her to the edge. A crown was on her head, and bright-gold lightning flashed from her outspread fingertips. The lightning spread throughout the panel, shattering buildings and landscapes wherever it touched down.
“It’s the Fall of the Majis,” Ashlin breathed. “This must be Queen Delphine at the height of her oppression.”
They unrolled the next panel, and sure enough, it depicted the queen kneeling with her head bowed, a broken crown on the ground beside her. On the layer above her, the three heroes of the quotidian raised their swords in victory, grotesque smiles on their faces.
“They don’t look quite like I pictured them.” Ashlin ran her fingers over the stitching on the heroes’ faces. A knotted black cord had been used to create the defined lines of their facial features.
“I’m afraid I have to ask you to stop searching these crates.” Onric spoke over her head, but she could hear a joking tone in his words. “You keep finding the most unflattering portraits of my ancestors. No wonder they were hidden away up here.”
He was a descendant of these heroes. She had not thought of that. “Is this what you were looking for, my Lord?” She looked up at him, remembering that she was conversing with a member of the royal family. Something she was still under orders not to do.
He knelt across from her, his eyes taking in the image. “I think so. This seems to have been made right after the Fall of the Majis. Hopefully the rest of the panels give us more information on the Majis themselves, and not just the victory celebrations.”
He seemed disappointed. Ashlin stood and continued to unroll the tapestry. “Maybe there is more here than we realize,” she offered.
Over the next few hours, they carefully rolled and unrolled the giant scroll to access all of its content. There were other areas that had suffered severe damage, but the rest of the images did not seem unique. They continued to be breathtakingly beautiful, but most depicted normal images of life in the kingdom and the castle.
“I’m afraid this won’t help you much in your search,” Ashlin finally admitted when they had reached the last piece.
“Do you think...” Onric paused. “Do you think it’s possible that the damaged panels were intentionally destroyed?”
She waited again, letting him finish his thought.
“It looks like rodent damage, but it also seems so targeted. The damage only took place within some panels.”
“I guess it’s possible,” she replied. “But why?”
“I don’t know. Maybe because it is exactly the information I’m looking for. What if the Majis knew they were about to be conquered, so they purposely damaged the parts of the tapestry that could reveal their own weakness?”
Ashlin was skeptical, but she had to admit it was possible. “Let’s take a closer look at one of the missing panels.”
