Nineteen - Felix
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The instant Marcleft the dining room after luncheon, Isa leaned forward. “I need to tell you something I learned about Marc today.”
I cocked my head to the side. “You questioned him? I thought we planned to wait until I could force his answers.”
“I went down to the archives and asked him for a copy of a Contract of Inheritance. Then I followed up on something I had sensed during my last conversation with him, just an off-hand question to see how he responded. But I learned more than I expected.”
“You’re starting to worry me with how long it is taking you to get to the point.”
“He’s working with Lady Cecily.”
I stilled, almost wishing she had taken longer to work up to telling me. I had barely come to terms with the fact that Marc was untrustworthy—lazy at best and actively working against me at worst—accepting that he might be partially responsible for my curse was almost too much. Except I’d believe Isa over him—or my own instincts—any day.
“Explain please,” I said after only a heartbeat of hesitation.
Isa told me about her conversations with Marc, what he had said, what she had sensed. The damning conclusions she had drawn.
I took it all in. “He never actually told you when he had last been in contact with her, then?”
“No. I’d bet he saw her before going into the great hall and finding you transformed. But he has almost certainly been in contact with her since then, given his reaction to my question. Does he go to Leort often?”
“Every couple of weeks to buy supplies and pick up the contracts I need to witness.” I stood, my tail lashing. “Come on. I think I figured out how to tap into the node’s power instead of the Truths floating around this morning. I need to practice truth-telling now, so I can question Marc as soon as possible.”
I led the way to the great hall. We didn’t need to be there, I could reach the node’s power from anywhere in the castle and well beyond, but it felt right to practice my truth-telling with her sitting in the wingback chair that still stood next to the marble plinth and its bowl of fire.
Isa settled into one of the chairs, relaxing against the back rather than perching on the edge. She hummed, summoning a leather-bound journal to her hand. “I also have a few questions for you about the heir’s contract.”
A purr rumbled through me and I leapt onto the other seat. “Why am I not surprised that you have questions for me when we came here so I could question you?”
She grinned. “We’ll take turns. You try to truth-tell me, then I’ll ask you a question.”
“Fine. I go first. Just let me get a grip on the node power.” I focused, pulling on the strand of power I had discovered that was somehow both pure white and highlighted in bright blue. No matter where I stood, that strand always seemed to come out of my back, tying me directly to the node.
The strand of power thickened, and I switched from watching it to Isa. “What is your name?”
She pressed her lips together and said nothing.
I released the power. “Damn it.”
She tapped a finger against her lip, completely unaware of how distracting such a simple motion could be. “Next time, hold the power a little longer. If you still don’t force me to talk, I’ll answer anyway a moment later to see if you are at least constraining what I can say at all.”
I pulled my thoughts back into line. I needed to focus on the words, not the lips forming them. “How will we know? There is already a truth-telling enchantment on the castle.”
“What have I told you about the truth?”
I sighed. “It’s not black and white. I still don’t understand what you hope to prove, though.”
Isa leaned forward. “You can call me Sofia.”
I narrowed my eyes. “I admit that is a useful way to sidestep my question and give an answer that isn’t technically a lie, but if I’m not forcing you to answer, can’t you still do that?”
She shook her head. “Not if you put enough power behind the truth-telling. Sofia can’t force me to answer, but she has enough power to make it so that if I choose to answer, I must answer the question asked. So, if you manage that, then we know you are pushing beyond the enchantment on the castle, even if you aren’t forcing me to answer.”
“All right. I believe it is your turn for a question now.”
She looked down at the journal in her lap. “How far is the node’s sphere of influence? It must extend for miles, so why don’t the Truths work beyond this hill?”
“Technically, that is two questions.”
She scowled at me.
I felt myself purring, almost soundlessly, once more. I had been a cat for over two months and not purred once. Now I saw Isa, and it happened automatically. “First question: The node’s power extends nearly all the way to Leort and well into the Gaboor Mountains. As for why the Truths only cover the hillside, the first duke limited their scope, purposefully keeping them from working throughout the node’s sphere of influence. According to his son’s journal, Valois didn’t want to attract undue attention. After seeing what happened with a few of his first experiments, he made it so that no other Truths would work beyond castle grounds.”
When I had read about it, my first reaction had been to scoff that Valois thought limiting the Truths to the castle would prevent people from noticing what was happening at his home. Isa, naturally, noticed something entirely different.
“What Truths did he make that extend beyond the hill?”
“I already answered two questions. You don’t get a third yet.” Not that I could answer that question. It hadn’t even occurred to me to wonder. I had gotten too used to accepting the miracles performed by the node and not caring if it could do anything more.
“Fine. Your turn.”
I pulled on the magic tethering me to the node again. “What is your name?”
Isa said nothing. I continued to hold the magic, and after a moment, she nodded. Her mouth opened, but no words came out. She fought to form her reply, her lips twisting as her will and the power warred to make her say different things. Finally, she snapped her jaw closed.
I released my hold on the node. “So, I am doing something.”
Isa nodded. “That was more powerful than Sofia. Once I tried to answer, it was very difficult to keep from saying anything. The words wanted to come out.”
“But you weren’t compelled to answer.”
“No.”
“That is still progress, I suppose. Your turn.”
She didn’t return to her questions about the Truths Valois had written. With another glance at her journal, she jumped onto a new topic entirely. “Who passed your Contract of Inheritance through the node?”
“I was the witness, so I passed it through the node myself. That’s one of the requirements in the contract.”
“I know, but I don’t understand how—” she cut herself off with a sigh and propped her chin on her hand. The firelight glinted against her brown hair, tinting the strands auburn. “Your turn.”
“Finish your thought.” I curled up on the seat of my chair, wrapping my tail around my body. “I don’t actually care about taking turns asking questions.”
“You’re certain? I know you want to question Marc sooner rather than later.”
“Yes, but I don’t know what more to do than what I’ve already tried, so I’m not holding out hope my next question will achieve anything new. What don’t you understand?”
“If you were only the heir when you signed the contract, then your father was still the primary node-tie holder. Wouldn’t he have to witness the contract?”
“Not if he designated me as his proxy first. Valois wanted his heirs to follow strict rules when they inherited the duchy. To make sure no one could weasel out, he came up with the Contract of Inheritance, then made it so that the heir had to witness it himself so that there could be absolutely no way to invalidate it once the previous duke died. I’m not sure if he was afraid that contracts witnessed by one duke would only be enforced during that lifetime, or if it was a case of saying, ‘See, there was no coercion, he signed it of his own free will.’”
“Wouldn’t having only one signature make it easier to amend later? If you are the only signatory, you could write an addendum once you inherit to nullify the original contract.” She frowned. “No wait, that’s what the in perpetuity clause is about, isn’t it?”
I nodded. “I cannot believe the magistrates in Leort are claiming you need to study law in Haiwella before you’ll be qualified. You have a better grasp of legal contracts than me, and I’ve grown up literally surrounded by them.”
Red colored her cheeks, and it wasn’t a reflection of the flames. “But how many of them did you actually read before you were cursed?”
“How many did you read before coming to Rose Castle?” I countered.
She leaned forward. “I’m not going to answer unless you make me.”
The challenge was silly, but I refused to let her win. This time, I yanked the node’s magic to myself, then threw it out in front of me until I could see it shimmer in the air all around her. “How many contracts did you read before this week?” I demanded.
She fought to hold back her answer, but within two heartbeats, her lips parted. “Eight.”
I dropped the power, feeling it snap back into the node. “Only eight? Really? What contracts were you reading?”
“Every contract available to the public in the Leort Town Archives. They were much drier than the ones I’ve read since coming here.”
“To be fair, most of the contracts in my archives are probably just as dry. You’ve seen some of the most interesting ones.”
Isa waved this away, grinning at me. “You did it, Felix. You forced me to tell the truth.”
“I did. Let’s make sure I can repeat that feat.” I grabbed the node power again, pulling with as much metaphysical force as I had the last time. The magic flowed into me, but when I tried to blanket Isa in it, nothing happened.
Isa watched me, her grin fading as I continued to wrestle with the power instead of questioning her. “Is something wrong?”
“I can’t get it to do the same thing as last time.” I still had far more power answering my call than on the first attempts. Maybe that would be enough. “What is your name?”
Isa didn’t answer.
I tried again and again, until pain pulsed behind my eyes, but I couldn’t make her answer.
She told me to take a break when I could no longer hide my headache, reaching out to set her hand against my back when words alone didn’t stop me. “You’ve pushed yourself too much. At this point, the odds of success will only get worse. You need to rest. We can try again tomorrow when you aren’t drained.”
I wanted to arch into her touch. Instead, I released the magic. “How am I drained? I’m using node power, and there is plenty of that.”
“But how you control that power comes from your own reserves. Trust me, Felix, you need to stop before you do more than give yourself a headache.”
“Fine.” My answer was begrudging, but there was no other answer I could give, because I did trust Isa.