desk.
Al pointed to the back cover. “Did you notice this before?”
Alferug bent down close to the book. “I don’t see anything,” he said.
Al gently pushed Alferug back and raised the book to the light. “Look again.”
Alferug’s mouth fell open and he nearly jumped with excitement as he turned to the box. “Tell me, is it red or black ink?”
Al paused as he brought the book closer. “It appears to be red.”
“Very well, set the book down. Move all the others. We don’t want to have any accidents.”
Al did as he was told and stepped aside.
Alferug brought out a thick cloth and set it on the last page of the book. “Don’t want to damage any of the intact pages,” he explained as he stretched the edges around the rest of the book. “Give me a moment.” Alferug went to the box and pulled a large stone bowl from the bottom. Next he pulled a cube of soap and three bottles. Each of the liquids in the bottles were clear, but the bottles were different shapes and were each stoppered with a large cork. “Water, ammonia, and muriate of tin,” Alferug announced as he indicated the bottles. Without waiting for a response, Alferug went to work shaving off an amount of soap from the cube and then grinding it into a powder inside the stone bowl. Next, he poured precise amounts of each liquid into the bowl and mixed thoroughly.
Al covered his nose and took a step back. He never did care for the smell of ammonia. Mixed with the other items, it was even worse.
Alferug then took a brush and held his breath as he dipped it into the mixture and then lightly applied it to the back cover. “Watch carefully. We may need to transcribe the writing to a new paper. This mixture is highly acidic, and may eat through the writing after a while.”
Al grunted as he fished for a piece of parchment from the drawer in the desk. He then set it next to the green book and marveled as the runes became clear, changing from an almost imperceptible, faded red to a greenish color that contrasted well against the aged book.
“The Wealth of Kings shall be found again when the bloodgrass springs up from the mountain,” Al read aloud as he quickly scrawled an identical set of runes on his paper. He then turned back to the cover.
“Find the book written by mine own hand, and you will understand the Wealth of Kings,” Alferug said as he read the last line of runes aloud.
Al transcribed the entire message and then shook his head as he looked to the signature at the bottom of the secret message. “This was written by Sylus,” Al said.
“But why would he hide the Wealth of Kings?” Alferug mused. He then took his brush and applied a thin layer of the mixture to other areas of the cover. In doing so, he revealed a smaller line of writing near the bottom. “Beware that you do not squander…,” Alferug said.
“Squander what?” Al asked.
Alferug shrugged. “The rest of the writing is too deteriorated to bring back. I can’t recreate the entire message.”
Al set his pen down and pointed to the book. “The Wealth of Kings,” he said. “Maybe he was afraid the mines would run dry one day, and he was cautioning us not to squander our wealth.”
Alferug sighed and set his brush down across the rim of the stone bowl. “What we need to do is find this other book that Sylus wrote.”
“Did my father ever tell you of it?” Al asked. Alferug shook his head. “He never told you anything about it?” Al asked again incredulously.
Alferug again shook his head. “As I said before, he never mentioned it to me. I never knew of the library’s existence until we found it together.”
“But surely you knew of the back door in the mountain, yes?”
Alferug frowned. “Your father told you about it, but he did not tell me.”
Al snapped his fingers. “We don’t need to find the book,” he said excitedly. “We just need to go back through the rear door. We have been wasting our time when all we had to do was retrace our
Al pointed to the back cover. “Did you notice this before?”
Alferug bent down close to the book. “I don’t see anything,” he said.
Al gently pushed Alferug back and raised the book to the light. “Look again.”
Alferug’s mouth fell open and he nearly jumped with excitement as he turned to the box. “Tell me, is it red or black ink?”
Al paused as he brought the book closer. “It appears to be red.”
“Very well, set the book down. Move all the others. We don’t want to have any accidents.”
Al did as he was told and stepped aside.
Alferug brought out a thick cloth and set it on the last page of the book. “Don’t want to damage any of the intact pages,” he explained as he stretched the edges around the rest of the book. “Give me a moment.” Alferug went to the box and pulled a large stone bowl from the bottom. Next he pulled a cube of soap and three bottles. Each of the liquids in the bottles were clear, but the bottles were different shapes and were each stoppered with a large cork. “Water, ammonia, and muriate of tin,” Alferug announced as he indicated the bottles. Without waiting for a response, Alferug went to work shaving off an amount of soap from the cube and then grinding it into a powder inside the stone bowl. Next, he poured precise amounts of each liquid into the bowl and mixed thoroughly.
Al covered his nose and took a step back. He never did care for the smell of ammonia. Mixed with the other items, it was even worse.
Alferug then took a brush and held his breath as he dipped it into the mixture and then lightly applied it to the back cover. “Watch carefully. We may need to transcribe the writing to a new paper. This mixture is highly acidic, and may eat through the writing after a while.”
Al grunted as he fished for a piece of parchment from the drawer in the desk. He then set it next to the green book and marveled as the runes became clear, changing from an almost imperceptible, faded red to a greenish color that contrasted well against the aged book.
“The Wealth of Kings shall be found again when the bloodgrass springs up from the mountain,” Al read aloud as he quickly scrawled an identical set of runes on his paper. He then turned back to the cover.
“Find the book written by mine own hand, and you will understand the Wealth of Kings,” Alferug said as he read the last line of runes aloud.
Al transcribed the entire message and then shook his head as he looked to the signature at the bottom of the secret message. “This was written by Sylus,” Al said.
“But why would he hide the Wealth of Kings?” Alferug mused. He then took his brush and applied a thin layer of the mixture to other areas of the cover. In doing so, he revealed a smaller line of writing near the bottom. “Beware that you do not squander…,” Alferug said.
“Squander what?” Al asked.
Alferug shrugged. “The rest of the writing is too deteriorated to bring back. I can’t recreate the entire message.”
Al set his pen down and pointed to the book. “The Wealth of Kings,” he said. “Maybe he was afraid the mines would run dry one day, and he was cautioning us not to squander our wealth.”
Alferug sighed and set his brush down across the rim of the stone bowl. “What we need to do is find this other book that Sylus wrote.”
“Did my father ever tell you of it?” Al asked. Alferug shook his head. “He never told you anything about it?” Al asked again incredulously.
Alferug again shook his head. “As I said before, he never mentioned it to me. I never knew of the library’s existence until we found it together.”
“But surely you knew of the back door in the mountain, yes?”
Alferug frowned. “Your father told you about it, but he did not tell me.”
Al snapped his fingers. “We don’t need to find the book,” he said excitedly. “We just need to go back through the rear door. We have been wasting our time when all we had to do was retrace our
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