Byakuya's ire had been raised to a new level. First, the thief had dared to leave her riddle on the shrine for his deceased wife, and then, finding the second and final riddle had led to nothing but annoyances. He placed the final riddle on the wood platform, turned, and whispered on precise word.
"Bakurai."
The lightning didn't arc in rebellion of his control this time, zapping like an arrow shot from a bow. A single branch from a tree fell from the nearest tree.
Earlier that day ...
Byakuya inspected the small shrine dedicated to Hisana carefully, making sure every item was still in its place. After he was satisfied that they were all genuinely the true thing, not imitations, the noble turned his eyes to the scrap of paper in his hands.
It wasn't the high-quality pulp parchment he used for his calligraphy, but it wasn't the lower grade of paper Soi Fon used for her spies either. He disliked the grainy feeling.
"No one belongs to us,
We do not glitter on a lady's ring.
We do not beat
Like a steady drum.
We do not dig holes in the ground.
There is no throne
There is no crown
There is no beanstalk,
But if you listen hard
You may hear
The sound of laughter."
Byakuya's eyes narrowed. The riddle was elegantly scripted, yet the lines, 'there is no beanstalk' bothered him. Why did the riddler use a jarring word like that? That particular line and word stood out like a yellowed leaf on a bonzai tree. It was wrong, but was it wrong for a purpose?
He turned to the rest of the words in the poem, taking pieces and combining them for possible answers. Something glittering that didn't belong to anyone with a secretive laugh led him to the stars, yet two lines didn't fit. The heavens moved in rhythm and that word, beanstalk, had no place in there. Seashells did not glitter and had nothing to do with royalty...
The noble folded the paper again, putting it in his sleeve to continue his routine. Time would yield the answer.
...
Beanstalk.
Beanstalk?
Beanstalk!
That word stayed in the back of his mind, even when he attempted to clear his mind from everything but his exercises. He highly disliked it.
.....
Yet when he looked deeper at the poem, the description within each line, the addition of beanstalk made the answer painstakingly clear. It would seem the riddler was a master of the art of words after all.
'There is no beanstalk' The beanstalk played a key role in one tale of literature only. Without a beanstalk, the character would never leave on his quest, and no one would think more of the name, Jack.
'No one belongs to us' and 'We do not glitter on a lady's ring.' Taken separately and turned around to read, 'We belong to each other' and 'we Do glitter on a lady's ring'
led to 'hearts' and 'diamonds'.
'We dig holes in the ground.'
Spades
'You don't have to listen hard to hear the sound of laughter.'
A jester or joker.
The answer for the riddle was playing cards.
....
