Six - Felix
???
I stepped outof the flames, draping the front half of my body over the rim of the copper bowl. “The same thing that always happens when I pass a contract through the node. The magic dissolved the original and created a scroll with the same text. It now sits somewhere on the shelves of the archives. This should only happen when I witness a contract. It is a function of the node limited to the primary tie-holder. However, Cecily”s curse also disappeared. Also, when I attempted to write out that I would take the form of a man, I saw the node change colors, but the paper didn’t dissolve.”
I waited to see what Isabel would conclude, surprised to find that I wanted to hear her thoughts. Even more shocking, I felt a stirring of hope now that she was at Rose Castle, working to reverse my curse. She wasn’t the mage I had hoped for, but something about her made me believe that my contractual mistake might not have been the disaster I had first feared.
At the very least, Isabel’s presence made my existence more exciting. Even now, when she was focused on getting answers rather than bickering with me, her intensity made me feel more alive.
She tapped a finger on the edge of the bowl. “What is the primary node-tie holder?”
“Me.” She gave me a look, and I decided not to make her ask again. “Anyone with Truthholder blood has a tie to the node, but only the current duke—or duchess—can witness contracts. There is a way to grant that authority to a different member of the family, but it is only temporary.”
She didn’t ask how Cecily had managed, much to my surprise. Cecily”s unexpected use of my locked node had been almost all I had thought about since waking up after the transformation. I cared about regaining my human form, of course, but hiding the fact that the blood-lock on the node might have broken took priority.
Being a cat was nothing to triggering wide-scale wars to gain control of node power. The world had gone through that once already, and I knew that if word got out that blood-locks could fail, we’d face such battles again.
Isabel’s thoughts went in an entirely different direction, which was both a relief and a worry. I was glad she hadn’t realized that the node might be unlocked, but it also meant she didn’t know the true scope of the problem I faced. The contract her father signed meant she couldn’t use the node against me nor tell anyone else, but it still felt risky to share the truth. Illogical perhaps, but I’d let those fears rule me a little longer. Of course, even if I didn’t tell her, she could still figure it out for herself.
She was too smart not to figure it out on her own when she was using the node herself.
“So, I can’t witness a contract in that sense,” Isabel summarized, “but I can read the truth of a signed statement. When I hold it to the flames, at least. I heard nothing when you entered the node. Did you still see the flames change color?”
“Yes.”
I watched Isabel’s annoyance and frustration with me disappear as the mysteries of the node engrossed her. “What color did you see?”
“Blue.”
“What about for this?” She wrote out another statement and signed her name. She held it toward me so I could read. The sky is green.
She couldn’t say the words on castle grounds, but the enchantment didn’t keep her from writing the lie. She held it to the flames.
“Orange,” I told her.
“What about this one?” She grabbed the first paper she had held to the node, the hopeful attempt at breaking my curse.
“Pale purple.” A shade far closer to blue than I expected for something so patently not true.
“So blue is your color for truth and orange for lies. What color did you see when Lady Cecily cursed you?”
I wished I couldn’t remember that moment so clearly. The flames licking at the paper. The pain that had followed. I shuddered. “Dark violet.”
“What does that color mean?”
I leapt away from the node, landing on the marble floor with a thump too loud for my small form. “How would I know? You just said blue is truth and orange is lies. What does that make purple?”
“It’s your mind’s interpretation of the magic. I can only compare the shades you described to the bells I heard during my experiments. You have to figure out the subtle variations for yourself. How much something is a fact versus an opinion, or if the speaker—or writer in this case—intended misdirection will all play a part. Here, watch this.”
She wrote another sentence and signed her name, then rose to reach into the node. She met my eyes and spoke the words she had written as the paper hit the flames. “My father is amazing.”
The node turned a murky dark orange. Not the same as the lie she had written before, but clearly close. “How were you able to say that? You can’t lie on castle grounds.”
“I didn’t lie. My father amazes me with his foolishness regularly. So I spoke the truth, even though the implication is false. As I told you before, truth isn’t black and white.”
“Apparently it is blue and orange.”
She smiled, and the expression cut right through me. Here, for this one moment, she had forgotten she hated me. Even as I watched, she caught herself, a scowl replacing those upturned lips. The loss of that smile sliced through me even deeper.
She crouched down to gather the supplies she had brought out. She didn’t look at me. “If you figure out what the magic was telling you, it might help me find a way to reverse the curse.”
“Leave those. The power of the castle will clean it up.” The odds I could change her opinion of me were slim, but I could still try. “I’ll introduce you to Marc. He should be in the archives by now.”
???
I led theway downstairs to the bottom floor of the castle. Isabel followed, silent.
To the south, this level was subterranean, dug into the hillside. The hill sloped downward at the back of the castle, however, allowing for windows high in the wall that actually offered glimpses of the sky. Most of the basement was one large room. We referred to it as the archives, but technically, only one corner housed the magically binding contracts.
The rest of the open space was taken up by desks used by the secretaries and clerks who helped keep Rose Castle running. I had sent them all to Leort and Haiwella after the curse. They could negotiate and copy contracts from afar, then send them to me to sign and pass through the node without the need for visitors to come to the castle. Only Marc remained, serving as my hands and as the messenger between Rose Castle and Leort.
Marc had claimed a desk under a window in the back of the room, near the refectory set aside for workers. With only us in residence, I had invited the secretary to use the main dining room, though I didn’t always join him. In the corner opposite from the refectory were the actual archives.
Shelves filled the corner, rising to just above my height—my human height—and arranged in a manner that drove the clerks wild. The bookcases weren’t in neat rows. They formed a labyrinth, meeting at odd angles, leaving narrow passageways that dead-ended, and confusing even those who had worked in the castle for decades.
Luckily, we didn’t need to hunt in the archives for Isabel’s contract. Marc had written it out twice, once for me to pass through the node, the paper destined to dissolve and become a scroll hidden in the maze of shelves, and once for my records. If Edwin had wanted a copy, we would have made a third for him, but he hadn’t cared.
Isabel followed me to Marc’s desk. The scribe looked up at her and smiled, and I had the sudden urge to swipe at him with my claws. By any objective measure, he was a handsome man, with golden hair, blue eyes, and refined features. He knew the effect he had on women and relied on it. I had almost forgotten that about him while we had been isolated.
Now I remembered why Marc had never been my favorite secretary to work with. He was too calculating. I never would have chosen him to remain in the castle and help me if he hadn’t found me alongside my butler, Berklay, after the transformation. Asking Marc to remain had seemed better than risking letting another person in on the secret that my node had been tampered with. With Isabel here, I was doubting that decision. She had learned more about my node in a morning than he had in months.
Marc stood up. “Isabel. Welcome to the Rose Castle archives.”
“Isa,” she said, ignoring his outstretched hand. “Only my father calls me Isabel.”
Isa. Yes, that fit her better than Isabel. Short and to the point, with no extra flourishes.
Marc’s smile grew, as if her offering her nickname made up for her refusal to take his hand. I figured it had more to do with a dislike of being called Isabel.
“It is nice to have another person here to talk to, Isa.”
Was my secretary going to pretend I wasn’t standing right there? I knew I was small and easily overlooked, but he had seen me at Isa’s feet when we crossed the room to his desk.
Isa shrugged. “You’ll change your mind soon enough. Most people decide they don’t care for my conversation before too long.”
I held back a snort.
“What man doesn’t want to converse with a beautiful young woman?”
I didn’t manage to hold back my hiss, but neither Marc nor Isa were paying any attention to me.
Pulling out the chair facing Marc’s desk, Isa sat. “The ones who are dishonest, which in my experience is most of them.”
Time to remind everyone of my presence. I hopped onto the table. “A problem you won’t have with Marc at Rose Castle.”
She raised a brow at me. “We’ve been over this, Your Grace. Marc can’t tell an outright lie, but that doesn’t mean he has to be honest.”
“It would still take him considerable effort to craft a lie within the constraints of the truth-telling enchantment.”
She shook her head. “Few people—except small children—have the confidence to lie flat-out. Most rely on bending the truth. There also seems to be a general consensus that it is morally better to lie by omission or misdirection rather than complete fabrications. I’ve never understood that viewpoint, but it means that the magical constraints here aren’t much worse than what people impose on themselves.”
I cocked my head to the side. “So you assume all people are dishonest without exchanging more than a few words?”
“When they lie within those first few words, it seems safe to assume dishonesty is a character trait for them.” Clearly, Isa had no interest in minimizing the scope of her power, even if it made Marc more wary of her.
Though I still didn’t understand why she was wary of him. “All Marc did was call you beautiful. Hardly a lie.”
Her eyes went wide for a moment before she schooled her expression to blandness once more. “No, he asked what man wouldn’t want to talk to a beautiful woman. He implied I am beautiful, but did not actually say it. Based on my power, I’d have to conclude he does not consider me beautiful. Dishonesty in the first few words.”
My estimation of Marc sank even lower. Did he not consider Isa beautiful because she wasn’t stick thin? Or perhaps he preferred a woman whose cheekbones were razor sharp rather than her tongue. I’d bet he would consider Lady Cecily more beautiful than Isa. He’d be wrong.
Isa turned her attention back to Marc, who still stood behind his desk, his lips parted. “To return to our earlier discussion, sir, my insistence on calling people out on their lies often results in them not enjoying my conversation.”
Marc snapped his mouth closed and took his seat once more. I could see him struggling to choose his next words. “The fault doesn’t lie with you that people are uncomfortable with honesty.”
I didn’t want to watch him try to talk his way into Isa’s good graces, though I suspected it would be a futile effort that I might find enjoyable under other circumstances. I didn’t appreciate being ignored, as if I really was nothing more than a house cat. “But she is the one making them confront their dishonesty. So, in that sense, she is responsible for their discomfort.”
Isa rolled her eyes. “If you choose to place the blame on me for not ignoring deceit instead of on the speakers for telling the lies.”
“My choice hardly matters, as I’m sure those people do prefer to pass the blame to you.” Forget about changing her opinion of me, verbally sparring with Isa was intoxicating.
She smirked at me. “You consider yourself separate from the people I discomfit, then, Your Grace?”
I chuckled. “Most definitely. My immunity to your power gives me an advantage.”
She leaned forward. “You underestimate me. I don’t need magic to turn a conversation to uncomfortable topics.”
I met her gaze, pulled into the deep brown depths of her eyes and not wanting to pull away. “I think you’ll be surprised at how many subjects I’m comfortable with.”
Marc cleared his throat. “Perhaps we should instead choose a pleasant topic?”
I looked over at the secretary. “I thought the origin of this discussion was Isa’s deficiencies when it comes to pleasant conversation?”
Isa snorted. “At least I’m not the only tactless one here.”
Marc’s gaze darted between us, and he cleared his throat once more before addressing her. “How do you like Rose Castle?”
I waited, curious to hear her answer.
She shrugged. “There are too many clocks.”
Her evasion made me want to purr. If she hated it here, she wouldn’t have hesitated to say so. For her to resort to such a silly complaint, I knew that she must actually like Rose Castle overall. She simply wouldn’t give me the satisfaction of saying so aloud.
Marc clearly didn’t know what to do with her pronouncement.
“We aren’t here for small talk,” I said, standing once more. “Please show Isa the contract her father signed and my notes on the wording of Lady Cecily”s curse.”
I leapt off the desk. Isa didn’t need me to protect her from Marc, and I had no interest in protecting the secretary from her.