“You are exactly right,” Ashlin cut her off kindly. “It is blue. I’m so glad you see it, too.”
Meena felt her face relax into a smile again. She loved that even when Ashlin was discussing difficult matters, she did it in a way that did not cause an uncomfortable pit to form in Meena’s stomach.
“See,” Ashlin continued. “This next panel appears to be significant. If these panels were destroyed with intention—which we still believe is the case—this panel might be the exception. It’s only a single word.”
Meena looked back down at the partially restored image. Unlike the other more colorful panels, this one was a simple background of a warm, woven cream with tall, flowing letters embroidered to fill the entire space. It appeared that Ashlin had finished outlining the letters, but was still stitching in the fill color, so the word itself was visible, although the way she was facing made the letters upside down.
Meena tilted her head to the side as she read the fanciful, old-fashioned script.
“It’s written out in two different colors of thread,” Ashlin said. “See, these black letters have small areas which are done in a dark blue, like this letter here. The shape making up the simple symbol is in black, but if you look closely, it’s rounded out into a different symbol with the dark blue. At first I thought the needle was guiding me incorrectly when it wanted me to switch the color. The difference is barely perceptible.”
“Perhaps the original weavers left a message in the panel!” Meena rushed around the table to look at the word from the right direction.
“That would be quite an adventure.”
Meena barely registered Ashlin’s positive, if doubt-filled, words. “Imagine actually finding a secret message. We could learn what really happened one thousand seasons ago. Aizel’s story makes so much sense.” As she was speaking, Meena reached out, touching each of the areas she could identify which had been stitched in the dark blue instead of black. “I do not see a pattern yet, though. Maybe we should try to redraw it on some parchment with a greater contrast in the colors. Then we could see the difference between the blue and black more clearly. I’ll go get some.” Meena looked up.
Ashlin was staring blankly ahead, her raised hand held the needle, poised in the air as though she were frozen in time. Her eyes blinked, moving from the needle to the tapestry.
“Or not ... if you think it’s a bad idea,” Meena said, confused at Ashlin’s reaction.
“Oh, no.” Ashlin quickly smiled. Her tense pose relaxed as her eyes moved back to Meena. “You’ll go get some parchment,” Ashlin repeated, “to see the contrast in the colors.” She nodded slowly, as though she were hearing Meena’s words for the first time. “That is a wonderful idea.”
“Are you feeling unwell?” Meena asked.
Ashlin shook her head, blinking a few times. “I’m only tired. Don’t worry about me.”
“You should sleep here tonight. It is already late.”
“Did Onric tell you to tell me that?”
Meena smiled and shrugged. “I will be back immediately with some parchment.”
Ashlin shook her head, returning her gaze to the iron needle in her hand.
Meena practically flew down the spiral stairs. She felt so much better now that she had something to offer. Her thoughts tumbled with ideas as she ran. She should find multiple colors of ink to make the writing more visible than the stitching. Or perhaps chalk, like she used when she was a child. That would be faster to write with and less of a mess to work with up in the tower. When she was a child, she had loved to use the ink on her mother’s desk to draw out treasure maps for her adventures. Most of the time, she ended up staining something she shouldn’t have.
The thought of the old treasure maps made her smile. She found a few pieces of parchment and chalk in separate colors. Celesta would probably love following a treasure map.
“Meena!” Onric called her name as she ran back toward the courtyard.
“Thank you for using my proper name!” she called, not stopping her sprint as she dashed by him.
“Did she agree to stay?” Onric asked, picking up his pace to match her slapping sandals.
“Ask her yourself,” Meena responded. “I thought you said your favorite pastime in the whole kingdom was just talking to her?”
“I did. It is.”
The back courtyard was lit only by the torchlight, as night had completely fallen. Meena threw open the door of the old ruins.
“That is beside the point!” Onric continued yelling after her.
Meena stepped into the old castle. The ancient hall was completely covered in darkness. Meena turned around at the door, searching for a lantern to carry through the darkness. “Can you go find Aizel?” she called to Onric. “We think we may have found a clue in the tapestry.”
Onric handed her an oil lantern. “Why didn’t you lead with that?” His head shot up and his voice was deeper.
“I was answering your question.” Meena held the open end of the lantern up to one of the lit torches on the courtyard wall.
