Page 69 of Deceiving the Cursed Beast
“An addendum to your contract. I included instructions for Berklay to give it to Edwin. I figured that if you didn’t even know you had it, the node couldn’t object to you carrying it.” So much for that plan. “I should update my letter to Berklay, since you clearly can’t take it.”
“Don’t ask him to write out an addendum himself, please. I’d rather not experience that again.”
I grimaced. “Was it very bad? I apologize. I really thought it wouldn’t matter if you didn’t know what was in the bag.”
Isa looked at the satchel. “You’ve added much more to the bag than I expected. Should I be worried about any of the rest?”
She didn’t answer whether the node’s punishment had been terrible. She couldn’t reassure me without lying, I supposed. I hopped onto the chair, grabbing the letter to Berklay myself. The less Isa rooted around in the bag, the better. “My other surprise is meant to help you and doesn’t risk upsetting the node.”
Her eyes narrowed, and I remembered that Isa could truth-read me now. How much did she pick up from what I said? I hadn’t lied, but there was more than one surprise. If she found the second onewhile still at Rose Castle, however, she’d never agree to bring it to Leort.
Isa reached into the bag. Even before she pulled my next addition out, I could tell she knew exactly what I had added. The enchanted mirror looked right in her hand. It was ornate, but not ostentatious. Beautiful without fragility. Practical, yet elegant.
She waved it at me. “What is this?”
“A magic mirror,” I drawled.
“What is it doing in the bag I’m taking to Leort?”
“You are going as my spy. It might come in handy.”
“But what if you need it? You are going to be stuck in the castle by yourself.”
“When I use the mirror, I see people without hearing anything. It will not do me any good.”
She hesitated.
“Seriously, Isa. Take it for my sake. If it stays here, I’m going to drive myself wild. I’ll use it, then get frustrated because I can’t hear anything.”
More likely, I’d use it to get a glimpse of Isa. I had already behaved like an utter ass where she was concerned. It was better not to allow myself the temptation of spying on her as well.
Her lips pressed together. “I’ll take it on one condition.”
“What?”
“I want you to give me a report about how things are going here every evening. We can set a time when I’ll use the mirror, and you can assure me that everything is fine. Or you can talk about what experiments you have tried with the node and give me warning if you need my help. That way, it might save me the discomfort of the node tugging me back to Rose Castle unexpectedly.”
“Deal.”
I let Isa help me rewrite my letter to Berklay, which both saved time and distracted her from the satchel. As I had hoped, the mirror had been enough to keep her from looking any closer. When we finished, we made our way to the stables.
Once my mare was saddled and ready to go, Isa tried to mount. At first, I couldn’t tell if it was her lack of experience that was causing her to hesitate, but soon it became obvious there was more keeping her out of the saddle.
“The node?” I asked.
“The node,” she agreed.
“Give me a moment.” I concentrated on all the reasons it made sense for Isa to return to Leort. I willed the node to agree with me. “Try now.”
Isa tried. She couldn’t even put a foot in the stirrup.
We spent more than an hour at the stables, but Isa could not mount.
“We knew there was a chance this wouldn’t work,” she finally said.
“It will work,” I insisted. “But I can’t have any doubts. I have to know this is the best way for you to fulfill the terms of your contract. Give me the rest of the morning. If you still can’t mount after the midday meal, we’ll try again tomorrow.”
I spent the morning listing reasons Isa would do more good in Leort than Truthhold. But she still couldn’t leave.
