Page 73 of Deceiving the Cursed Beast
A moment of confusion was followed swiftly by understanding and anger. “Father? I should have known he had something to do with it. You’d never disappear without a good reason, but he claimed not to know where you had gone. He couldn’t even tell me exactly when you left.”
She wouldn’t have used her power on him, I knew. If Father had lied to her, then she had probably felt guilty this whole time that she hadn’t been home when I went missing. I squeezed her tighter, then stepped back. “I’ll tell you all that I can, but let’s get home first.”
She glanced back the way she had been walking, her teeth sinking into her lip.
“Right,” I said with a chuckle. “You weren’t going home.”
“I am now.” She glanced back again. “But I’d like to tell Leo first.”
“Of course. I’m not going to make you disappear on anyone without warning. I’ll meet you back home?”
Sofia hooked her arm through mine. “Oh no, you don’t. I’m not letting you out of my sight until I have explanations. You can come with me, then we’ll walk home together. Leo will want to see you are safe with his own eyes, anyway. He’s been worried too.”
It was a measure of my sister’s faith in her lover that her words registered to my magical senses as being true with only the slightesthint that they were opinions rather than fact. Not that I truly thought Leo wouldn’t have a care at all about me, but his focus would have been on how my disappearance affected Sofia.
???
Though our fatherwasn’t home, Sofia and I retreated to my bedroom wordlessly when we reached the townhouse. We settled across from each other on the bed, as we had so many times before. I held the satchel that still contained the enchanted mirror in my lap. Not much longer before I could listen to Felix.
Sofia shifted, tucking one leg under herself. “Well? Where have you been? The most ridiculous rumors have been circulating this week.”
“Rumors that I was imprisoned by Duke Felix?”
Sofia nodded. “I’m not sure why so many people thought the story plausible, but your disappearance didn’t make much sense. Frederic, in particular, has been worried.”
“The story isn’t as implausible as you believe.” I had been planning my story for days. The non-disclosure clause of the contract would prevent me from sharing many details about the curse, but it didn’t tie my tongue completely. “Father tried to steal from Rose Castle and was caught.”
Sofia winced, then her expression hardened. “What does that have to do with you? I know you wouldn’t have bailed him out.”
“Not voluntarily. As it happened, Duke Felix needed a truth-mage. He bargained with Father, offering him freedom from prosecution in exchange for my services. Then he manipulated a loophole in the law that allowed Father to sign a contract in my name. The node magic forced me to go to Rose Castle.”
I had considered softening the story, an impulse that had surprised me, but as my sister had already pointed out, I would have let our father deal with the consequences of his actions on his ownif left to my own devices. She wouldn’t believe that I had opted to go to the castle in his place.
For perhaps the first time ever, I saw my sister truly mad. I recognized the look, but had previously only seen it in a mirror, not my twin. I reached out and put a hand on her knee. “It wasn’t bad, I promise.”
Sofia shook her head. “No. I know you, Isa. And I know you’d lie to me if you thought it necessary. You will not convince me it wasn’t bad.”
I pulled back, surprised at her vehemence. “Truth-tell me then. There are some questions I can’t answer because of the contract, but you’ll know that I am not lying to you.”
The air around me buzzed, my sister’s magic close enough to my own that I could sense it, but not powerful enough to be more than the faintest of sounds. I waited.
“Why did you leave Leort?” My sister asked, reaching out to squeeze my hand.
“Father signed a contract requiring me to go to Rose Castle.”
“What did the duke want with you?”
“He is dealing with a magical problem and hoped a truth-mage could help him.”
“What did he make you do?”
Sofia’s magic battled with the node’s. There was no doubt which spell was stronger, but it left me searching for words that answered my sister’s question without breaking the terms of the contract. I could have refused to answer, but the entire point of this exercise was to reassure my twin. To do that, I needed to say more, not less. “I had to help him with his problem. I researched magical theory and helped him experiment with the enchantments cast on the castle. I hunted through the archives for clues and helped him understand his power.”
“Did he make you do anything against your will?”
“Apart from making me go to Rose Castle, he never—” the words cut off, Sofia’s power preventing me from uttering the unintentionallie. I tried again. “Apart from getting me to the castle, he never purposefully made me do anything against my will.”
The buzz of Sofia’s magic disappeared. “Oh, Isa.”
