- See also: The Messenger (set)
Codex text
A good messenger of swift foot and sound mind is rare. Maker knows, I couldn't rely on mine to convey a simple "dinner is served" to my daughter, and her quarters are but two doors down.
But here you have Gilbert de Marais, whose capable hands delivered not only notes to family, but also secret documents to the emperor. He rendered unto you fifteen years of faithful service, no? And not once did he fail. They say you treasured him far above rubies. An exaggeration, surely, for if that were so, you would have entrusted him with baubles meant for mistresses, not crucial messages in the lands of a sworn enemy.
Gilbert insisted he knew nothing of your plans to divest me of my fortune and have me removed from court. I believed him, and so he is on his way back to you with one last message.
Oh, another thing: thank you kindly for the handsome suit Gilbert was wearing when I found him. Alas, he has no further use for it.
—Letter, written on vellum and sewn onto the skin of messenger Gilbert de Marais, who was found naked and nailed to a tree on the border of his master's lands