I had to let her go, however. She was right; no matter the technicalities of the law, what I had done to get her here was wrong.
“You want contracts with a single signature, right?” She looked over at the archives, then closed her eyes.
I nodded, but she didn’t see. “Yes. That’s what I have Marc searching for.”
She hummed under her breath. “There is so much magic in the archives. I wonder if the sorting system has something to do with the timbre of the magic on the scrolls.” Her eyes opened. “I can hunt through the archives when I need a break from Demeret. First, though, I want a map. Do you think you can sketch one out for me if I put you back on the shelves?”
???
I shouldn’t havespent the afternoon mapping the archives with Isa. If she stayed, it would be helpful, but she wouldn’t be staying. I should have told her about the contract I had asked Marc to deliver to her father. But until the secretary returned with it, signed by her father, it wasn’t worth getting her hopes up. She was still bound by the old contract until I passed the new one through the node.
I enjoyed mapping the archives, however. Isa and I had argued over distances and angles with every line drawn on the paper, but there hadn’t been any true heat in our words. When we finished and returned upstairs for supper, Isa’s mood was cheery enough that Iactually harbored a hope that she might forgive me once I showed her the new contract I had sent Edwin.
We sat at the table in the dining room, and I reached out to pluck the strands of node power that would call in our supper.
“Wait.” Isa placed her hand on my paw, halting its movement. “How do you call in food? Your notes mentioned a trigger phrase for the enchantment, but I’ve never heard you say anything.”
“Because the phrases Duke Valois chose are a mouthful. Also, it is often preferable not to have everyone within listening distance learn the trigger phrases.” I wrinkled my nose. Marc knew how to summon his own food. It had made sense to teach him the trigger once we were alone. I should have explained this to Isa the first night. “Let there be on this table nourishment in the form of roast chicken.”
A platter with a delicious looking roast chicken materialized on the table.
Isa pursed her lips for a moment. “Let there be on this table nourishment in the form of plums.”
Nothing happened.
I laughed at the way Isa’s eyebrows drew together. She looked insulted that the magic hadn’t obeyed her.
“That phrase only works for foods prepared according to the recipes in a certain cookbook.” I plucked a strand of node power and the book in question appeared at Isa’s elbow. “To get something like a plum, you would use the general summoning phrase.”
I hadn’t taught this one to Marc. He could walk into the kitchen and get his own fruit. He didn’t need to know how to summon any item in the castle to his hand. Since it didn’t work on the scrolls in the archives anyway, it was hardly a spell he needed access to.
Isa wouldn’t be in the castle much longer. She didn’t need to know either. She would soon leave and be unable to use the enchantment. I flexed my claws, debating telling her the incantation.
Her expression morphed, becoming thoughtful. She held out a hand, palm up. “Let there be in my hand the item of a single plum.”
The plump purple fruit appeared in her palm. She looked over at me and grinned. “That will be useful.”
It shouldn’t have surprised me that she figured it out so easily. But if she worked it out on the first try, then what were the odds Marc hadn’t figured the invocation out over the course of months? Allowing him that power made me nervous, especially if he had made an effort not to let on that he could use that Truth.
I would have to make some hard decisions regarding Marc soon. But not yet. Tonight, I wanted to forget about curses and contracts. I wanted to focus on keeping that grin on Isa’s face.
I tried to picture the storerooms of the castle, full to bursting with forgotten items. What would Isa appreciate, but never think to call in herself? I flicked another strand of power. “The enchantment is very handy.”
Isa studied the yellow silk now draped over the edge of the chair next to her. The gown was old-fashioned, but still a work of art, the type of dress that a woman dreamed of, picturing herself dancing with a prince at a ball.
But I had forgotten that Isa wasn’t like most of the women I knew. She didn’t sigh in pleasure and reach out to touch the gown. She frowned. “The castle can sew as well as cook?”
She cared about the practical. Isa had no use for a ballgown, but she would probably appreciate a larger wardrobe of everyday items while she was in the castle. I sighed. “There are mending and cleaning enchantments for clothes, but as far as I know there is not a Truth to create brand new garments. That dress was stored upstairs.”
Isa glanced down at herself. “I noticed that my skirt was clean when I pulled it out this morning, despite all the dust it had picked up on my walk to Truthhold. Good to know that I’ll never have to wash it.”
“If there is anything you need that the castle doesn’t provide automatically, please let me know so I can address the issue.”
Isa gestured at the cookbook. “I have food, a bed, and clean clothes. I think my basic needs have been met. However, I still haveplenty of questions about how the node works. You never actually explained how you summon food without speaking the invocation.”
I wanted her to ask for something beyond her basic needs. Providing something extravagant might allow me to atone for forcing her to come to Truthhold. Then again, since it wouldn’t cost me anything, it probably wouldn’t be atonement.
I settled for answering her question as clearly as I could. “Lots of practice. After I use a Truth a few times that way, I get a feel for which threads of node power correspond to the spell. If I concentrate, I see the wisps of enchantment all over Rose Castle. I simply pluck the right strand, concentrating on what I want and where, and it appears.”
