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Cursingmy switchblade inside, Ithe water pitcher indistance to the balcony floor The effortless nition

"Valek?" I whispered

A bright flash of white teeth, then Valek relasses The rest of his face was hidden behind a hood that covered his head and was tucked into a skintight body leotard

"What are you doing?" I asked

"Reconnaissance The Generals tend to stay up late after the Co So I had to wait until everyone had gone to bed" Valek went into the suite He re the lantern on his desk, he pulled a paper from his pocket

"I hate a mystery I would have let the identity of the Commander’s successor reht’s opportunity was too te it off, I could have danced on their beds without waking theination I watched all the Generals put their envelopes froht into their briefcases" Valek motioned for me to join him at the desk "Here, help me decipher this"

He handed me a stiff piece of paper A jumble of words and nuht different pieces of the encryptedinto each General’s roo in me Too curious to question, I pulled up a chair to help him

"How did you break the wax seal?" I asked

"Rookie trick All you need is a sharp knife and a tiny flame Now read me the first set of letters" He wrote it down then reordered the letters until he had created the word siege Opening a book, he flipped through the pages Symbols like the ones on e Valek stopped on was decorated with a large blue symbol that resembled a star in the middle of three circles

"What’s that?" I asked

"The old battle sys to co tio by a great strategist Read me the next set They should be nuan to count the lines of text

It occurred to e on my switchblade Eventually, my ass Won’t Janco be surprised

When Valek reached that nue After he had finished deciphering the e, Valek sat as still as a held breath Unable to wait any longer I asked, "Who is it?"

"Guess," he said