I knew the answer. No one could undo a blood-lock. The discovery of the technique used to keep other mages from accessing a node’s power had ended the Node Wars. If one had come unlocked since then, a new wave of battles to control the pools of raw magic would have soon followed.
“Not even a whisper,” Marc confirmed. “No one has even managed to touch the Persipilo Node, and that bloodline died out over two centuries ago.”
The duke’s paranoia—sending everyone away, his shady methods of securing help from a mage while ensuring she could say nothing about what she learned—made sense now. If anyone discovered that a blood-lock had weakened, let alone the lock on this node, that boded far worse than people discovering that a duke had been cursed.
Perhaps his motives weren’t as selfish as I had thought. Though that didn’t make his conduct admirable.
I rearranged my thoughts, slotting in this new theory. The duke’s actions implied he didn’t believe Lady Cecily had accessed the node through such a benign fluke as having a distant connection to theTruthholder bloodline. I might have my doubts about his intelligence, but I didn’t think he’d have missed such an obvious explanation.
Then again, assuming he had the same thought process as me was dangerous. I tapped my finger against the leather-bound journal. “Is there a chance Lady Cecily is a relation of the Truthholder family? Any sign she could access the node when she first arrived at Rose Castle?”
“You’ll have to ask His Grace those questions. Unless we are a member of the team working on a contract, secretaries rarely interact with the guests at Truthhold.”
My magic chimed with the rapid melody of an evasion. Marc’s attempt to mislead me only put new thoughts in my head. I wouldn’t have assumed he had ever spoken with Cecily before he made it a point to tell me how unlikely such an occurrence would be. He really didn’t understand the nuances of my power—few people did.
I waved my hand through the air, dismissing the secretary’s suggestion that I ask His Grace—though I would. “From what I understand, Lady Cecily was trying to convince His Grace to marry her. I’m certain there was plenty of gossip flying around while she was visiting.” I paused, carefully picking how to phrase my question. “From everything you knew of her, was there any chance she could access the node when she first came to Truthhold?”
“No.” Marc stood. “Now, if you don’t mind, I have work to do.”
I rose, my mind spinning. That “no” rang with the clarity of a fact, not opinion. Marc knew beyond a doubt that Lady Cecily hadn’t always been able to access the node. I needed to consider what that meant before I questioned him further. I needed a better understanding of how nodes worked before I’d even know what questions to ask.
“Does the castle have a library?” I asked, picking up the copy of my father’s contract.
Marc was already walking away, his answer curt. “Southeast tower.”
???
I made myway to the southeast tower in a daze. The magic tying me to the terms of the contract rubbed against my skin, irritating but not constricting. The node must be as unsure as I about what my next steps should be.
Would the duke believe me if I told him the secretary who had been helping him for the past two months was working against him? I didn’t even know if it was true. Certainly Marc was hiding things, but it didn’t necessarily follow that he was undermining the duke’s attempts to break the curse. Were his choices limited by a contract like mine? If so, even if he was working against His Grace, he couldn’t do much damage.
But not much wasn’t nothing. Underhanded tactics that I might otherwise applaud as the duke’s just deserts could slow down my efforts. I either needed to find a loophole to free myself or get to the bottom of Marc’s speciousness.
I reached the room that led to the southeast tower on the main floor and was momentarily distracted from my questions. Everything was blue. The settee was upholstered in navy velvet. The side tables were coated in cerulean varnish. The rug muffling my footsteps was swirls of sapphire and azure and more shades I couldn’t name. My jaw sagged as I took it all in.
I sank onto the settee. I looked around, unsurprised to spot a porcelain clock—white with cobalt designs—in the center of the mantlepiece. It was barely mid-morning. If I could leave now, I’d be home by sunset. I could explain away a two-day disappearance, but how many more days would it be until I was free of Rose Castle?
Would Chief Nassan even listen to any excuse I made? I snorted; I knew the answer to that question. The chief constable would love a pretext to continue ignoring my skills. It was getting harder for him to justify putting “probationary” in front of my rank. Most constables never even went through a probationary period, but I had been saddled with that title for nearly five years. It was a convenientmethod for the constabulary to circumvent the laws granting women the same rights as men.
An extended, unplanned absence would give the chief all the reason he needed to continue dismissing my skills. Or possibly to dismiss me from his employ altogether.
I might not know where to begin to break a curse, but that wasn’t my only option to get home.
Unfolding the contract in my hand, I began to read. I barely made it past the introductory clauses before the node power wrapped around me shifted from irritating to painful. I tried to ignore it, but the longer I tried to read, the more the magic constricted until my focus splintered. Such a distraction might prevent me from identifying a loophole in the terms imprisoning me at Truthhold.
I refolded the contract and stuffed it into my pocket. If all else failed, I’d ask the duke to review it with me; the node didn’t seem to tug at me when I was with him.
Until then, however, I needed to turn my attention back to breaking the curse. Lady Cecily hadn’t been able to access the node when she first visited Rose Castle. Though she had left Truthhold for weeks before cursing the duke, she had most likely gained her tie to the node during that first visit. Could she be pregnant? Would a child with a blood-tie grant the mother access to the node?
I had too many questions and no answers.
I glanced at the doors to the library. Pale wood, with no paint, varnish, or any hints of blue, they cut across the corner where the two outer walls should have met and stretched straight to the ceiling. Blooming vines almost leapt from their surface, carved in perfect detail. Copper handles bulged from each in the form of giant leaves that curved back toward the door where they tapered.
I wanted to see what lay beyond, and certainly a library had a chance of containing the answers I needed. Books would be safer to seek out than the duke; their words would be straightforward. I stood up and walked toward the doors. The node power didn’t tighten around me.
I tugged on one copper handle. The door swung open without a sound.
Except for where the doors stood, the perimeter of the library formed a perfect circle. The shelves lining the walls curved to match. I stepped inside, the scent of leather and old paper enveloping me as the door swung closed.
