He would be dealing with so many disappointments, the least I could do was make him comfortable.
I called in the journal with my notes from interviewing Marc and read over his answers. I recalled how he had shaded the truth with each word. My left hand absently stroked soft fur. Felix would not be happy when he heard my report. Marc’s deceptions had begun well before Lady Cecily cursed the duke.
I still had more theories than straight answers, but I felt confident I had pieced together something close to the truth. Marc knew how Cecily had gained her node-tie. And though he hadn’t expected to find Felix cursed into the form of a cat, he must have known when Cecily planned to act. He had likely told her how to create a Truth. The answer to how she had used the node would be in one of the scrolls Marc had never shown Felix, I was sure of it.
We needed to see those scrolls.
Felix stirred in my lap, his claws unsheathing and pricking me through my skirts.
“Ow,” I told him mildly, lifting my hand from his back.
His head slowly came up and his claws retracted. “Isa?”
“Who else?”
“Given that I’m not one-hundred percent sure I’m not dreaming, you could be anybody.”
“Backlash headaches are the stuff of nightmares.” I set my journal on the table next to me. “How are you feeling? I’d call you in a mug of willow bark tea, but I’m not sure if it is safe for cats.”
He started to stand, then winced and collapsed back against my lap. “Marc is still locked up.”
“Did you just use magic to check on him? If you keep using power, it will take you longer to recover.”
“It was more of an instinctive response than a conscious decision to check on him. How long have I been out?”
I glanced at the clock. “Less than an hour.”
While he had been unconscious, I had mulled over my thoughts in peace, but now that he was awake, the power binding me to the contract constricted. “We need the scrolls Marc found.”
“I know. The more Truths we study, the higher our chances of reversing the curse.”
“I think one of the scrolls he is hiding from you explains how Lady Cecily accessed the node power. I think Marc is behind her actions.”
“He hasn’t just been hiding things from me, but he instigated the curse itself? To what end?”
“I don’t know, though I do think you ending up as a cat was not a part of the original plan. Either Cecily went off script or they didn’t understand what they were doing with the curse.” I stroked my hand through his fur, wishing the physical comfort could lessen the betrayal. I couldn’t even give Felix the courtesy of letting him come to terms with my pronouncement, not with the node power buzzing against my skin, demanding I act.
I sighed. “You need to make Marc sign a new contract.”
“I can’t coerce a signature. What’s to make him sign anything with terms in my favor? You heard him before; he isn’t concerned about being locked up.”
“No, but he is overconfident. If you offer him his freedom in exchange for a contract that isn’t obviously in your favor, he might take the bait.”
“Can you write a contract that gets me what I need that Marc would still sign?”
My hand stilled. “Me?”
Felix twisted enough to look up at me. “You’ve seen the contract I signed with Marc. Spotting loopholes is not my strength. You’ll do a much better job than I.”
He spoke so matter-of-factly that I couldn’t doubt his sincerity. The duke trusted me to craft a critical contract without reservation. It was so different from what I dealt with in Leort I didn’t even know how to respond. Every day spent with Felix was a new experience, triggering unfamiliar emotions.
I grounded myself with the mundane, picking up my journal and wishing I hadn’t left my spelled pen in Felix’s office. “This will be tricky. Without knowing what Marc is hiding, it is harder to judge what will make him balk. It’s going to take time to get the contract right.”
Felix narrowed his eyes at the journal. “That’s fine. I don’t mind making Marc wait a day or two. You don’t need to rush.”
“I am contractually obligated to do what I can to break the curse during the day. Much as I’d like to relax, I need to get started, even if I am not rushing.”
“I really am sorry about that.”
