And no idea how to do it.
For a while, the node allowed me to explore the library. I tried to decode the magical system of organization, but even if I knew where to find certain books, what good would they do me? The answer Felix needed wouldn’t be in a book, but a scroll. I didn’t need to master magical theory or understand how the node had been locked. I needed to understand how Duke Valois had used the node to create Truths. There was no other node like the one at Truthhold, the power stretching beyond the accepted limits of magic. I’d find answers in the archives, not the library.
With the magic itching against my sternum, I sought out Felix. “I need you to get Marc out of the archives for an hour.”
The duke looked up from the journal he was reading, his ears swiveling in my direction. “Why?”
“Because I want to explore the archives without him watching my every step and questioning my reasons for being down there. Can you keep him busy for an hour?”
“I’ll ask him to transcribe my notes from this latest journal.” Felix paused, his paw holding the journal open. “Better yet, you can go downstairs and tell him I require his services as a secretary.”
“Perfect. I’ll do that now.”
I was more than halfway to the door when Felix spoke again. “You’re welcome.”
I glanced over my shoulder at him. “I believe that’s my line. I’m the one working to reverse the curse, after all.”
“I don’t get any credit for the help I’m providing?” He sounded amused rather than irked.
“I’ll say thank you when you do something that is neither an apology for the wrongs you have already committed nor an action that ultimately benefits you.” I turned back toward the door. Let him think I was still mad; it would be good for him.
He didn’t stop me this time as I left the office where he read.
I went downstairs, schooling my expression into one of annoyance, which was no longer my default after talking with the duke. Given Felix’s desire not to let Marc know that we were aware he was working against the duke, it would be best not to look too eager about getting him out of the archives. In fact, I’d follow him upstairs when he went. I’d make my way to the library, then double back downstairs after the secretary was in Felix’s office.
Marc sat at his desk, the light from the window streaming in and casting a warm golden glow over his hair. He had a single scroll unrolled on the desk, but though his eyes were trained on the parchment, they didn’t move back and forth like he was reading. The scroll granted the impression he was working, while allowing him to do nothing.
His head came up slowly when he heard the click of my shoes against the floor. “Isa. Did you find anything useful in the scroll I gave you yesterday?”
“It was an interesting read.” Let Marc wonder if I was hiding anything. “That’s not why I’m here this morning, though.”
“Oh?”
“His Grace sent me. He wants to write out some notes from his recent reading. He’s waiting for you in his office.”
Marc slowly re-rolled the scroll in front of him, then placed it in a drawer of his desk. “He made you play messenger, did he? You’d think, with so few of us here, he might forget to insist on the privileges of rank on occasion.”
Despite my magic, I wasn’t sure what Marc intended with that comment. There was genuine frustration behind his words, and a refusal to see that Felix hardly insisted on the deference a duke might expect from his employees. I couldn’t tell if it was because Felix tended to be more informal when he and I were alone and so Marc’s impression of him did not match mine, or if he wanted to remind me of the gap in our ranks.
In my mind, having a title was an accident of birth and nothing more. Even if my introduction to the duke had happened under different circumstances, I still would have offered him only basic courtesy, not subservience.
“A duke is a duke,” I told Marc, not wanting to delve deeper into the topic. “Even when he’s a cat.”
“I suppose so.” The secretary walked around his desk and to my side. “How is your own work for the duke coming along?”
We began the walk to the stairs, our footsteps echoing through the room. “It is hard to say. I can’t access the node. Even if I could, I am only a truth-reader. I have ideas, but I can’t implement them myself.”
The misdirections falling from my lips surprised me. I had always preferred blunt honesty, not seeing the need to skirt around an issue. Nor did I think a misdirection was any better morally than a lie. If I truly felt the need to deceive, I didn’t usually bother with such careful phrasings. Nevertheless, I had enough experience listening to silver tongues mangling the truth that words came easily.
And despite his experience twisting the truth to his own ends, Marc did not expect the same of me. He took my answers at face value and let the conversation slide into silence.
I bid him farewell at the blue salon door. After waiting long enough for him to turn the next corner, I slipped back into the hall and returned downstairs.
Working with the constables, I had learned to never ignore a potential clue. It wasn’t wise to focus only on finding the answers you already sought, when there might be a question you hadn’t even known to ask. So, instead of going directly to the archives, I made my way to Marc’s desk. I opened the left drawer and pulled out the scroll. I unrolled it, scanning over the lines until I was convinced it was a prop he used to make it look like he was working and nothing more. Only then did I return it to the drawer and make my way to the archives.
I pulled the map Felix and I had made from my pocket. I had drawn out a path to take me back to the area where Marc had pulled the heir’s contract from the shelves earlier. My memory of all the twists and turns was by no means perfect, but I thought this route would get me in the general area. It seemed as good a place as any to start my search.
Even consulting the map, I felt lost as I turned right and left, skipping that path, and following another shelf around in a way that I would have sworn I was making a circle if I didn’t know better. Once I thought I was close, I closed my eyes and listened.
