The archives.
I followed the tug from the node into the basement. The hum of power led me directly to the corner of the room made up of bookcases.
I stepped between the two cases that created a doorway, wondering where the magic would ultimately take me. Did the node itself have a solution for the duke’s curse? Could it lead me to the answer, when neither Felix nor I knew what that answer was?
No, it would have led me here immediately if that were the case.
I moved slowly through the archives, taking in everything. Each case had been divided into scores of pigeonholes, with scrolls poking out of nearly every slot. It was darker inside this labyrinth. The lamps hanging from the ceiling could not counteract the dimness as effectively as they should because of the narrow passages that never lined up at the expected angles.
After two intersections, I paused, wondering if I’d get lost if I went any farther. I concentrated on the power wrapped around me and knew I had to go deeper into the archives. Maybe I could get pen and paper from a desk in the main room and make a map for myself. I turned, taking a step away, and the magic constricted around me.
“I’m just trying to make sure I don’t get lost. I’ll come back,” I hissed. To my shock, the lasso of power eased.
“Isa? What are you doing down here?” The duke’s voice carried through the archives. A clatter that sounded rather like a collection of scrolls hitting the stone floor followed.
I consulted the hum of node power once more. It came from the exact direction as Felix’s voice.
I spun toward him, though rows of shelves must still separate us. “Did you summon me?”
“What?”
“Did you summon me? The node power pulled me down here, directly toward you. I thought maybe it was going to lead me to a solution, but I guess we’re not that lucky.” Now that I was talking to the duke, the power had tightened once more, too. Luck was certainly not on my side.
“Wait, I don’t want to keep shouting to finish this conversation.”
“Then hurry. This is getting uncomfortable.” Only after I said the words did I realize that the magic around me had relaxed the instant the duke told me to wait. Odd that the truth-telling enchantment on the castle hadn’t stopped the words before they came out. It was more lenient than I expected.
I couldn’t hear the duke move, his paws silent even on granite. After a minute, I wondered what was taking so long. The node power was no longer tight around my torso, but there was still a slight pull toward the duke. He had moved, but was still deep in the archives, from what I could sense.
I crossed my arms. “Are you moving farther away?”
“In case you haven’t noticed, it is a maze back here. The path to the entrance isn’t straightforward. You are still near the entrance, correct?”
“Yes. Because I noticed it was a maze and didn’t want to go any deeper without the ability to make a map for myself.” I consulted that invisible sense of the duke’s location once more. Even in a maze, he ought to be getting closer to me by now. “You are lost, aren’t you?”
“The shelves shifted on me.”
“They move randomly?” I was aghast. No wonder no one bothered to catalog the archives. “How does Marc get in and out safely?”
There was a long pause. “Not randomly. They move when a contract is added that doesn’t fit.”
“Since no one has added any contracts to the archives since you entered, how did they shift on you?” My voice was dry. I should know better by now than to assume anything the duke said was thetruth. I’d do better to treat everything that came out of his mouth as a misdirection.
“They shifted since I last memorized my way around.”
“And when was that?”
If he answered, his mumbled reply was too indistinct for me to make out.
I sighed. “I’ll go get a pen and paper. I can tell what direction you are from me. It won’t help that much in a maze, but I’m sure I can find my way eventually. Then we’ll both have a map out. And at least you can make sure we don’t starve in the interim.”
Eleven
Felix
???
I should havepaid better attention to my path as I wandered the archives. The last time I had memorized the maze, I had been sixteen. I knew better than to assume that meant I could still navigate my way through. Even if only a single new shelf had been added in all the years since, the entire layout could have shifted. As, indeed, it had.
