Castle Planner's Journal: 1000 Years

     More than anything, Wolcott was consumed by a question of why. Why would Gaius be so adamant to prevent him from doing this? He was finishing all of his tasks, and had been receiving praise for good work. It was not like he was slipping or falling behind. There must be something else at play.

     He didn't want to be devious, but he knew he would need to keep an eye out. He decided to wrap up his pity party, and sauntered out of his hiding spot, and rejoin the other pets scurrying about the castle. He figured now would be a good time for him to do rounds, as he was expected to do.

     He slowly walked down the halls of the residential apartments in the castle, checking the walls for any signs of damage, and being visible and available for anyone who needed help. It didn't take long for a Royal Kau to catch his attention. He was brought in to investigate a small repair request.

     “My horns accidentally broke this off of our mantelpiece. Quick, fix it before my wife sees it. I’ll never hear the end of the teasing if she knew how clumsy I was.” He presented Wolcott with a small carved marble leaf. He looked at the mantelpiece, and saw that it had actually been repaired quite a number of times.

     “Oh, okay. That’s a simple fix. Let me go get some glue.” Wolcott excused himself with the stone leaf in hand. He knew that Gaius carried some adhesive and quick repair plaster on him in his tool belt, but Wolcott didn't carry a belt. Maybe Gaius was on to something with that fashion choice, Wolcott thought to himself.

     As he thought about how to go about stocking a utility belt, he was searching the halls of the castle for Gaius. He quickly returned to the library. Gaius was in the process of quickly scooping up papers, getting ready to leave.

     “You are back?” Gaius questioned. “Hope you are okay.” Gaius was worried, and stuffing pages into a portfolio.

     “Oh... yeah, sure. I’ll be fine.” Wolcott said glumly, but was glad to know that Gaius wasn’t mad at him. “You look busy, but before you go, can I borrow some glue? It’s for the Kau in room 25” He held up the broken leaf.

     Gaius shuffled things in his hands until he had a free hand to examine it, and gave it a quick look over. “Looks good. Clean break. I think chamber 25 is Mr Luton, he’s notoriously clumsy.” Gaius commented, handing it back.

     “Yes. I noticed the other breaks that had been repaired.” Wolcott confirmed.

     “Okay! Should patch up nicely with this stuff.” Gaius used his free hand to pull out a small bottle of orange goop. “It will dry clear, so don't worry about the colour.”

     Wolcott took the bottle. “Put the bottle back on my desk when you are done. I have a meeting with Skarl and Lazlo the chamberlain in 3 minutes that I almost forgot about.” He said dashing out the door.

     Wolcott put the bottle in his pocket and returned to Mr Luton in his room. It was a quick and simple fix. As the glue was exposed to the air, Gaius’s words were true, and it dried clear.

     “Oh, thank you. Just in time.” He said ushering Wolcott unceremoniously towards the exit as he greeted his wife as she returned.

     Wolcott could barely greet and introduce himself before the door was closed on him instead, as the Kau tried to explain what he meant by ‘just in time’ to his wife.

     Wolcott hurried back to the library to return the adhesive on Gaius’s desk. He knew he would be tempted to look at Lisha’s notes one last time, especially since he knew that Gaius would be in a meeting. He kept a sharp eye out to make sure he wouldn't be caught. After taking the long way to peek into the Chamberlain’s Office, in order to confirm Gaius was indeed actually in a meeting, He was satisfied that he would have at least 2 or 3 minutes to make a copy of Lisha’s notes, just for his own keepsake.

     He placed the bottle on Gaius’s desk, and rushed over to Lisha’s desk, but something was off. The notes were moved. He remembered earlier in the day, when Gaius had spotted him, he had nervously tried putting everything back in a perfect stack. Now they were a little dishevelled. Wolcott wasn’t sure what to make of this discovery. Instead of touching it and disturbing it further, he decided to leave it well alone, and head out. Lisha should be back soon anyway. He left the library with a mystery knocking around his mind as he returned to his rounds. Could someone else besides Gaius or himself have gone through the notes?

     “Greetings Illusen!” Roberta announced the arrival of herself and Lisha to the Earth Faerie’s glade.

     “One moment!” A sing-song voice responded from behind a lumpy thicket. Illusen was finishing up tending to some petpets that had been huddled up under a large hosta leaf. Once she had finished giving them some fresh water, Illusen revealed herself to the two travellers.

     “Oh! Roberta. Nice to see you. I thought you were someone seeking a quest!” Illusen smiled warmly, and beckoned them to follow her to a circle of stumps that had been fashioned into furniture for them to sit and talk on.

     “Oh not today only here to return this.” Roberta held up a green acorn charm that clearly emanated magic. ”Thank you for letting me borrow it!” Roberta handed it gingerly to Illusen, who graciously took it back. “However, Lisha here is wrapping up a quest of her own.”

     “Little Lisha?” Illusen teased.

     “I’m not so little anymore! I'm like, 16 years old now!” Lisha puffed up.

     “I am thousands of years older than that my young friend, so you will always be little to me” Illusen gave the short Aisha a gentle pat on the head. “How goes your quest?”

     “It’s going well! I just grabbed the next solution to this thousand year old riddle!” Lisha said, pulling out her notebook to show the progress.

     Illusen was intrigued by the idea of a puzzle being a thousand years old. She read through Lisha’s progress. It didn't take her long to let a few giggles escape after reading the last entry.

     “What’s so funny?” Lisha asked.

     “I think that the last answer you have there is wrong.” Illusen handed the notebook back.

     “No it isn’t! It's quite obviously Speed!” Lisha was stubborn and defiant. “I will prove it right now. Give me a moment to finish my math. I think that I missed a number while trying to do math and walk at the same time.” Lisha’s previous attempts to decode had led her into some gibberish.

     “No, I'm quite sure you have it wrong. That sign is not 1000 years old. It’s been replaced over time.” Illusen spoke with a confidence that drew from her age and familiarity with the forest.

     “Replaced?” Lisha looked over the text that she had recorded from the sign once more. “Wait...” Lisha let the text sink in. She then looked back at the riddle to confirm her thought process. “Oh no.” She said as she flipped back and forth on her notes. She was wrong. “It wasn’t called Brightvale then! And the riddle calls it Coghamlet. Uuugh.” Lisha felt embarrassed for looking foolish in front of not only Illusen, but also Roberta, who was doing her best to watch this moment with the best of manners, and not make Lisha feel even more self conscious.

     “Try Hark.” Illusen suggested. “That’s what I remember the first sign saying on it. It didn't have that extra well wishing on it.”

     “But Hark doesn't start with S.” Lisha complained in her defeat.

     “Just try it!” Illusen urged.

     Lisha sat in silence for a moment scribbling a few numbers and letters into her notebook trying to make sense of the code. Her gloom quickly dissipated as sensible words started falling out from her mathematics.

     “IN THE TALLEST TOWER, THE HEART AND HEARTH OF THE CASTLE HIDES THE TREASURE. TEN UP FROM THE CUTTER'S MARK”

     “You were right! Thanks Illusen!” Lisha couldn't stop herself from giving the faerie a big hug. She was full of energy again, and was bouncing with energy, ready to head back to Meridell.

     “Well Lisha, I think this is where I leave you. I have to go back to Brightvale. See you again soon!. And goodbye Illusen. Thanks again!”

     The three soon parted ways as Lisha jogged back to Meridell as fast as her little legs could take her.

     The Yellow Aisha slogged her way the final mile back to Meridell Castle just in time for the bell to signal dinner. She stopped by her room to quickly freshen up before joining everyone else. When she sat down to eat, She found her brother, Jeran, but not Gaius. It was unusual for him not to eat dinner with Gaius. Lisha also scanned the room for Wolcott, but saw no signs of him in the Great Hall.

     “Looking for Wolcott?” Jeran asked.

     “Yeah! I got the last riddle!” Lisha was beaming, despite still cooling down from the arduous run.

     “He’s not here. I think he went home to eat with his mother today. I believe Gaius told him off for focusing too much on your riddle.” Jeran said matter-of-factly between mashes of potato. “He’s explicitly been told not to work on it anymore.”

     “What!?” Lisha nearly shouted. She couldn’t believe what Jeran just said. “You mean he’s not allowed to help? He can’t hang out with me in the library?”

     “Oh no no, nothing like that. You can still hang out with him. I know he’s a good friend. Gaius just mentioned that he’s got his apprenticeship to think about first before doing all these puzzles.”

     Lisha sulked in her chair. “Right at the end?” She was still processing. Still, she knew she didn't need him to finish the solution. It just would have been nice to share.

     “Aw, don’t look so glum! It’s probably for the best in the end.” Jeran tried to comfort her, but being relatively removed from the situation, he could really only speak in platitudes.

     Lisha pouted some more, and turned away, having lost her appetite. She grabbed a handful of walnuts, and put them in her pocket, and excused herself.

     “Hmm... I don’t remember being that moody as a teenager. Maybe I accidentally struck a nerve....” Jeran wondered. He really wished Gaius were here to talk about this.

     Lisha ambulated around the castle lazily. She was exhausted, and also was thinking in her mind about what to do next. She knew that this next puzzle would benefit greatly from someone like Wolcott. This puzzle was clearly about the castle, and she knew she could rely on Wolcott for those matters. Normally she would ask Gaius, but it was much more fun getting to do it with the Ogrin instead.

     She continued to slowly make her way to the library. She was hoping to see Wolcott on her way there. After a bit of wandering though, She did manage to spot Gaius scurrying about the hallways near the Royal Chambers.

     “Hey Gaius!” She called out to him.

     Gaius quickly stopped in his tracks, and looked around for who had called him, before seeing Lisha, which took him aback. “Oh, good evening Lisha.” He greeted her.

     “What are you up to? You and Wolcott were not at dinner! And since you don’t want Wolcott helping with this puzzle, I'm going to need your help for this next step!”

     “I’m a little busy at the moment helping Skarl in his office...” Gaius apologised. “Perhaps another time...”

     “Oh it’s just real quick. I have the last clue! ‘In the tallest tower, the heart and hearth of the castle hides the treasure. Ten up from the cutter's mark.’ What’s the tallest tower in Meridell Castle?” Lisha tried to keep it quick for the busy Bori.

     “Hmm... Well that would be the observation turrets on the North Wing. But they fell after a horrific storm a couple of hundred years ago.” He said after finally calming down and thinking for a moment. “Gotta go!” He excused himself to run off to continue helping Skarl.

     “Wait!” Lisha tried to call out before he escaped, but he couldn't stop. “Ah well shucks. If they fell, then that's going to make it impossible to solve this... ” Lisha continued to mope on her way to the library. Maybe there was something else to this riddle. She entered the quiet library and started to record her notes into her notebook. She was exhausted from the long day of walking and running. No matter how much she wanted to work on the puzzle tonight, she knew she would need to sleep for now. It would have to wait until morning.

     The End.