Princess Charmina Devaoile was a few years my junior, with silvery blond hair, hazel eyes, and features that straddled the line between fragile and sharp. She was standing, so I easily could tell that she was taller than me, though most people were.
I dropped into a hasty curtsey. “Your Highness.”
She nodded her head. “Miss Cardh. Please sit with me a moment.”
We took seats on opposite sides of the long table filling the room. It occurred to me only as I settled into place that the princess was alone, which surprised me. Shouldn’t she have guards hovering at her sides?
I bit my tongue and didn’t ask.
Princess Charmina smiled, and the expression wasn’t calculated. It was good-natured and friendly. “No questions?”
I cleared my throat. “I was under the impression you had questions for me, Your Highness. Did you wish for me to question you instead?”
“Well, it looked like you were wondering something.”
This was not how I had expected my interview with the princess to go, but there was no deceit in her prompts. She wasn’t setting me up, planning to ensnare me and use my words against me later. With a mental shrug, I decided to ask. I wasn’t one to overlook a chance to question anyone, even a princess. “I was wondering where your guards are.”
“Outside. While I do have a contingent of the royal guard traveling with me, they are not fastened to my side like bodyguards. There is no need for such paranoia in the heart of Nemya. Unless you know something I don’t?”
“It seems likely there are things I know that you don’t, but no threats to you. I still expected guards, though.”
“It took a few years to convince them to allow me this much freedom. But I cannot get to know the people of the kingdom if guards always stand between me and them.”
I remembered the reason Princess Charmina was here, the contract she would sign promising to uphold the cycle of consorts law. She must marry a commoner within a few years. For that reason, she had spent much more of her time around the regular citizens of Nemya than a princess normally would. If her aim had been to make her future subjects—and possible future spouse—comfortable around her, a bodyguard would have made things difficult.
I suspected she would have persevered, even with such an obstacle though. There was something artless about Her Highness. It wasn’t just her age, and she wasn’t naïve. Rather, she was earnest. I met her eyes. “You want to know about Duke Felix.”
She nodded. “I knew Rose Castle had closed to visitors, but I was surprised to learn that His Grace had not made an exception for me. My business here does not require a negotiation or a lengthy stay. Indeed, the contract is already written out. I signed it back in Haiwella with my parents as witnesses. I need only visit the castle long enough to watch His Grace witness the contract and bind it with the power of the Truthhold node.”
I could tell that no excuse would be enough to make the princess stray from her set course, but I tried anyway. Perhaps I could at least delay her a few more days. Felix had said his experiments the day before hadn’t been a waste. Maybe he had discovered enough that he was transforming himself back into a human even now.
“As I’m sure Berklay informed you, His Grace is indisposed. He is capable of witnessing contracts and passing them through the node, and will gladly fulfill his duties in that regard for you, but he insists that visitors not come to the castle at present.”
“And yet, you have recently been his guest, have you not?” There was speculation in the princess’s remark, but not outright suspicion. Either she hadn’t heard the worst of the rumors, or she knew enough about gossip to withhold judgment.
I spoke slowly, testing my words against the limitations of the contract binding me to secrecy. “I’m afraid His Grace’s indisposition is the result of magic. The castle swarms with power at present. I ama truth-reader myself and have been helping the duke with experiments meant to solve the issue. For someone without truth-magic of their own, it would be uncomfortable at best currently. It would certainly be inadvisable for the heir to the throne to expose herself to such a situation.”
I tried to stick as close to the truth as possible as I explained the situation. Not because I felt that bending the truth was any better than outright lying to Her Highness, but because lies were harder to track. They led to questions the liar had never considered and required a careful memory of everything said.
“Was there not a secretary at the castle, too? I do not believe he was a mage?”
I bit back a grimace. “He was not a mage, but he also had to leave shortly after I arrived.”
The princess’s eyes narrowed. “I see. Well, I did arrive ahead of schedule and wouldn’t object to spending a few days exploring the town. Hopefully, His Grace can solve the magical issue quickly. While I trust him to do his duty, I cannot in good conscience fail to witness my contract being bound by the node. I will wait until the end of the week to ride out to Rose Castle.”
Not letting out a sigh of relief taxed my control, but I managed. We still had a few days. There was still a chance Felix wouldn’t have to let the world know what had happened to him.
As it turned out, my sigh would have been premature. Felix might have been granted a few days’ grace, but I wasn’t.
“Will you do me the honor of guiding me around town today, Miss Cardh?”
Thirty-Seven
Felix
???
Isa had beenbusy during the days after we decided she should go back to Leort before I convinced the node to allow her departure. She had written out theories for why I couldn’t reverse Cecily’s Truth. She had left me with dozens of spells to try. All I needed to do was sign my name at the bottom and pass them through the node.
