“I know.” I ran my fingers through his fur one last time, then gently set him on the chaise as I stood up. I missed the warm weight of him immediately. “I’m going to use your office. You shouldn’t mess with any magic for the rest of the day, so do you want me to summon anything for you before I go?”
He stood up, his movements slow but steady. “I’m coming with you.”
“I thought you trusted me to write the contract myself? You should stay here and rest.”
“I do trust you. I’m not planning to look over your shoulder as you work. But I can rest just as easily in my office. Besides, that way, if I need anything, I can ask you instead of summoning it myself.”
He made that final argument with his nose in the air, the words an arrogant drawl that would have left me sputtering only a few days ago. I was learning to read the duke even without my power, though. He didn’t want to be alone but refused to admit it.
I picked him up without comment, knowing that the walk down three flights of stairs would be torture with the backlash headache plaguing him. He draped his front paws over my shoulder and purred.
???
“There are enoughheretofores, thereins, and parties of the first part in this contract that I don’t even know what it is saying.” Felix tapped a claw against my latest draft of the contract I wanted to offer Marc.
I had spent hours yesterday and today working on it. I started with a basic exchange—Marc’s freedom for the scrolls he had found that might help Felix break the curse—then I added meaningless embellishments and tweaked the language until I had something that might fool the secretary into believing he had the upper hand.
“Are you positive it doesn’t say that I will let Marc go if he only admits to hiding scrolls from me?” Felix continued.
I pointed to a critical section. “Read this bit again, remembering that the party of the second part is Lady Cecily, not you.”
I had fooled the duke, but would Marc make the same mistake?
Felix looked from the contract to me. “You are brilliant. Let’s bring Marc in and see what he thinks.”
“I’ll summon him,” I said quickly. Felix had mostly recovered from the magical backlash that had knocked him unconscious the day before, but I wanted him to avoid using magic a little longer. He insisted he could invoke the castle’s Truths, but I had seen him wince after calling in our midday meal.
He hadn’t realized that he wasn’t on his own anymore. I could help. I wanted to help.
I hummed, matching the sound to the correct strand of power, and pulled the secretary into the office. He must have been sitting in his room, because he toppled over, completely unbalanced, when he materialized.
Neither Felix nor I said anything, waiting for him to scramble to his feet.
Once standing, Marc smoothed down his jacket—even locked in his room for over a day, he was still dressed impeccably. He ignored me and addressed Felix where he sat on the corner of the desk. “I take it you have realized you need me far more than I need you? Out of fish already and need someone to go into Leort to buy supplies? Or did your truth-reader get lost in the archives for a few hours and you realized I am the only one who has a chance of finding anything?”
“I decided it was time to offer you a deal.” Felix radiated unconcern. “You have found scrolls that I want. I will let you leave my castle in exchange for those scrolls.”
“I’m not interested in your deal.”
“You haven’t even read the terms of the agreement.”
Marc saw the contract sitting in front of me and scoffed. “You think I’ll sign a contract?”
I turned the paper around and pushed it across the desk toward him. “Read it. The duke wants to know about the scrolls. He is willing to offer you not only freedom but also immunity from prosecution in return.”
My phrasing—and Marc’s ego—were enough to convince him to look at the paper. Hopefully, he’d fall for my ruse and only see whathe expected, the proof of my inadequacy. The contract was long enough that he picked it up, carrying it with him to the chair across from the desk.
He read slowly, and I had to concentrate on not fidgeting while I waited for him to finish. Felix’s tail began to twitch, and I rested my hand on his back. He stilled.
Finally, Marc returned the contract to the desk. “Change the order of the second and third sentences in the first clause, and I’ll sign it.”
I knew without looking that the change would negate everything I had tried to accomplish with the contract. My fingers tightened on Felix, and he shook his head. “No.”
“Then I won’t sign.”
“Why don’t we write a contract together?” I suggested. Felix needed Marc to sign a contract. I had to trick him into complacency. Perhaps giving him a say in how it was crafted would allow me a chance to slip something in without him scrutinizing it too closely. “We might be able to find terms that satisfy everyone.”
Marc leaned back in his chair and smiled. “I can hardly object to making the attempt. Give me a fresh sheet of paper. I’ll start with my terms.”
