Thornwall Keep

   When Modri suggests putting her on a boat, the Lieutenant quirks an eyebrow at his obvious vagueness—he’s trying to hide something—but she surmises that asking will be a waste of time.

   Getting back to the village was a simple matter of backtracking north—the way Ser Michelle and her Dragon Army Soldiers had come from—a hundred yards or so, where the road rose up and leveled off with the bluffs and then walking back south along the Road to High Hill, through the River Gate, and over to Thornwall Keep.

   “That paranoid mind of yours must have hallucinated something for you not to give me back my keepsake,” she casually says to Mery the half-elf mounts Handsome, just before she rides off ahead of them. “Don’t think I didn’t notice you just tearing it apart. For seven years I’ve kept it spotless and without tears! Well, I suppose I’ll need something to occupy my time in that keep—fixing the stitches should fill much of it. Hopefully some silk thread can be found and supplied.”

   Ser Becklin greets Mery at the gate. “Is it finished? Are we safe to move the Ironclad Regiment in place?” she asks. “I know Cudgel and Mayor Raven are eager to get them down here and in between us and that Dragon Army as soon as possible! Where are the rest of your companions? Were you injured? No one was killed, I hope! Come! Let us go tell Cudgel and Jeyev so they can get moving, quickly!”

Thornwall Keep

   When Modri suggests putting her on a boat, the Lieutenant quirks an eyebrow at his obvious vagueness—he’s trying to hide something—but she surmises that asking will be a waste of time.

   Getting back to the village was a simple matter of backtracking north—the way Ser Michelle and her Dragon Army Soldiers had come from—a hundred yards or so, where the road rose up and leveled off with the bluffs and then walking back south along the Road to High Hill, through the River Gate, and over to Thornwall Keep.

   “That paranoid mind of yours must have hallucinated something for you not to give me back my keepsake,” she casually says to Mery the half-elf mounts Handsome, just before she rides off ahead of them. “Don’t think I didn’t notice you just tearing it apart. For seven years I’ve kept it spotless and without tears! Well, I suppose I’ll need something to occupy my time in that keep—fixing the stitches should fill much of it. Hopefully some silk thread can be found and supplied.”

   Ser Becklin greets Mery at the gate. “Is it finished? Are we safe to move the Ironclad Regiment in place?” she asks. “I know Cudgel and Mayor Raven are eager to get them down here and in between us and that Dragon Army as soon as possible! Where are the rest of your companions? Were you injured? No one was killed, I hope! Come! Let us go tell Cudgel and Jeyev so they can get moving, quickly!”

Thornwall Keep

   When Modri suggests putting her on a boat, the Lieutenant quirks an eyebrow at his obvious vagueness—he’s trying to hide something—but she surmises that asking will be a waste of time.

   Getting back to the village was a simple matter of backtracking north—the way Ser Michelle and her Dragon Army Soldiers had come from—a hundred yards or so, where the road rose up and leveled off with the bluffs and then walking back south along the Road to High Hill, through the River Gate, and over to Thornwall Keep.

   “That paranoid mind of yours must have hallucinated something for you not to give me back my keepsake,” she casually says to Mery the half-elf mounts Handsome, just before she rides off ahead of them. “Don’t think I didn’t notice you just tearing it apart. For seven years I’ve kept it spotless and without tears! Well, I suppose I’ll need something to occupy my time in that keep—fixing the stitches should fill much of it. Hopefully some silk thread can be found and supplied.”

   Ser Becklin greets Mery at the gate. “Is it finished? Are we safe to move the Ironclad Regiment in place?” she asks. “I know Cudgel and Mayor Raven are eager to get them down here and in between us and that Dragon Army as soon as possible! Where are the rest of your companions? Were you injured? No one was killed, I hope! Come! Let us go tell Cudgel and Jeyev so they can get moving, quickly!”

Thornwall Keep

   When Modri suggests putting her on a boat, the Lieutenant quirks an eyebrow at his obvious vagueness—he’s trying to hide something—but she surmises that asking will be a waste of time.

   Getting back to the village was a simple matter of backtracking north—the way Ser Michelle and her Dragon Army Soldiers had come from—a hundred yards or so, where the road rose up and leveled off with the bluffs and then walking back south along the Road to High Hill, through the River Gate, and over to Thornwall Keep.

   “That paranoid mind of yours must have hallucinated something for you not to give me back my keepsake,” she casually says to Mery the half-elf mounts Handsome, just before she rides off ahead of them. “Don’t think I didn’t notice you just tearing it apart. For seven years I’ve kept it spotless and without tears! Well, I suppose I’ll need something to occupy my time in that keep—fixing the stitches should fill much of it. Hopefully some silk thread can be found and supplied.”

   Ser Becklin greets Mery at the gate. “Is it finished? Are we safe to move the Ironclad Regiment in place?” she asks. “I know Cudgel and Mayor Raven are eager to get them down here and in between us and that Dragon Army as soon as possible! Where are the rest of your companions? Were you injured? No one was killed, I hope! Come! Let us go tell Cudgel and Jeyev so they can get moving, quickly!”

Thornwall Keep

   When Mery inspects the handkerchief, she notices that the stitching shows no sign of tampering—at least not in the way she suspected, but then she realizes that there is a third layer inside it. It’s not paper, and not backing, like she initially thought. Ever so slightly rough patches she suddenly realizes are embroidered letters in the inner, third layer.

   Carefully removing the stitching, she removes the silk inner lining held only by a couple of stitches on each side. Sewn with purple silk thread into the white silk of the lining, is the following message.

   Meanwhile, the Lieutenant doffs her armor, in compliance with her captors’ demand without complaint. “Well, lead the way,” she says.