“That part is excellent. If it’s forgetting to eat, I can get Collins to make up some packages of food for you, easy to pull out. I know you said you get things from the woman next door, but...” She waved a hand at the half-eaten soup as Vitus went back to it, at a more moderate pace.
“I’ll let you know. How’s that?” Vitus offered. “The nerves, more than the time, really. I wasn’t sure what Florent would ask, and then finding out what it was.”
That at least let them get back to the topic. “What did you think, in both cases? Or feel? Nervous, excited, uncertain, all of the above?”
“Definitely all of the above.” He took a few more spoonfuls while he was thinking. “Flattered, that Florent had come to me initially. All nerves once we got to Arundel. And now, after seeing the readings, I desperately want to talk to the Hennings and the others.”
“You’re not under oath yet,” Thessaly pointed out.
Vitus blinked at her several times, then he twisted and kissed her. He tasted a bit like potatoes and leeks, and that was absolutely not a problem, but when he pulled back, she tilted her head. “What was that for in particular?”
“Because I was trying to figure out what to do. What do we do with that? I mean, if you want it to include you.” He looked down, suddenly shy, or at least she thought shy was a reasonable word.
This was far beyond anything Thessaly had sorted out before, but she took a breath. Aunt Metaia had dealt with big and complicated things that went far beyond her personal interests. Cousin Owain had and still did. Magistra Hereswith did. That also gave her something of an answer. “Do you thinkthis is something where the Council has a legitimate interest? That’s the first question. Whose, um. What’s the word I want?”
“Jurisdiction?” Vitus offered. “Papa talks about that. Because it depends on who has the right of law, or custom, or power to do something.”
“That.” Thessaly nodded. “What, um. You might not be able to answer this, but it’s a good place to start. What do those odd measurements mean? Distinct from the fact that they changed, and that they’re similar to the project the Hennings were working on.”
Vitus leaned back, frowning and deep in thought. He took a couple of minutes at it, and Thessaly got up to stare at bookshelves, more to give herself something to do than because it might help. Eventually, she heard his voice speaking slowly. “It’s changing something about the magic in a particular area. I don’t know if that’s land magic or not, the way the demesne estates mean. But it’s right next to a demesne estate.”
“And possibly affecting it too, but we can’t tell. It’s not like they’d let you do tests inside the wards. And if they’re guarding whatever it is, I probably couldn’t observe.” Thessaly pointed out.
“No, it’s more than that. One of the things I was trying to figure out is, the readings the Hennings are getting, they got some ordinary ones, the range they’d expect, and then they got others they didn’t. So sometimes it’s, what’s the word I want here. Not ordinary.” Vitus was gesturing with his hands now, his fingers moving in little shapes that Thessaly found unreasonably distracting, because she suspected he meant things by them, emphasis or interrelationships.
“Sometimes it’s as expected. And sometimes it wasn’t. You mentioned the variation, didn’t you?”
“The Hennings and all said every couple of weeks, maybe one or two tests in ten. Enough to be noticeable, but not most of them,” Vitus said.
“And how often they’re doing whatever they’re doing?” Thessaly said. “About the same?”
“I asked that.” Vitus swallowed. “Every fortnight, getting to more like every week. So that might fit, too, if the other readings were at the time or perhaps shortly after.”
“Is there a chance? No, probably not. If you could take readings tomorrow, when you knew it had been active today. Something like that. But probably not tomorrow.”
Vitus shook his head. “I think I’d need a better excuse, to be sworn to the project, and all that. Not right away.” He looked at her, now more serious. “You think I should talk to someone about it?”
Thessaly nodded. “Look.” She gestured at the pile of papers, metaphorically, since she was keeping them in Aunt Metaia’s safe now. That was in the study, built into the core of the house. “Aunt Metaia was worried the Fortiers were up to something. Whether this is what she found out about, or whether this is coincidence, or what, it certainly seems worth investigating. And Magistra Hereswith and Cousin Owain asked me to let them know if I found anything that suggested whatever it was. I think we should tell them, at least one of them, and see what they say. If we ought to tell the Guard or the Courts, they know who to talk to, or could help us find the right person.”
“Not Cyrus?” Vitus offered it lightly, or tried to, but it fell flat.
“Cyrus is still very new to what he’s doing, and— well, he doesn’t know about most of this part, just that Aunt Metaia might have found something.” Thessaly swallowed. “And I sort of want to talk to them about the dangers. They know more about handling that. Before you make the oaths.”
“Would they ask if I’d talked to anyone about it when they anchor the oaths, do you think?” Vitus said, suddenly.
“You have now talked to me. But you also don’t actually know that much, do you? Two sets of observational and measured data, but you don’t know what that means. You don’t know the unaltered norms of the space on an average Tuesday or whatever day you want to pick. You don’t know the seasonal variations. Both sets might be within the expected range. Maybe something about having Sigbert, as the Heir, doing whatever magic is being done? It might come out differently if it were someone else. I can think of all sorts of aspects that might have an effect.”
“Think of it like a talisman, then. All the facets coming together, but we don’t yet know what stone, how it’s best cut, what might ruin it.” Vitus let out a sigh.
“Or an illusion. A long-lasting illusion, you have to think about all of that. What spring light is like, or summer, or winter, or as the sun moves in the sky. Either that has to be accounted for, or left out, or, well, both. It’s often both.” She looked up to find Vitus blinking at her. “I might have been reading some of Aunt Metaia’s books on that, about making lasting ones?”
“Tell me about it sometime, perhaps?” Vitus looked almost sheepish. “Pardon, I didn’t even ask you about your day. Week. Tuesday.”
Thessaly smiled broadly. “The duelling was wonderful. We’re planning to do it again next Tuesday. And I feel…. I feel, I don’t know, more connected now. To people in general, not just a few specific people? Maybe that’s why I’m thinking it’s worth talking to Cousin Owain and Magistra Hereswith.” She thought through the practicalities. “Look, it’s not very late yet. Let me write a note to them - two notes - and get Emeline to take them to the Keep or perhaps Cousin Owain’s. With a note that it’s timely, you’ve an appointment when?”
“One. So tomorrow morning would do. I had plans to work in Trellech.”
“So we will see if they can get us a time tonight. Are you staying?” Thessaly leaned forward. “Say you’ll stay? As someone I especially want to be connected to.”
