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“Looking for Len, Miss Brood?”
A man came striding over from one of the vegetable stands. He knew her name, but Nevelyn had no idea what kind of familiarity existed between them. She decided to go the safest route: a touch of entitlement. She lifted her chin.
“I wish I could say I wasn’t.”
The man nodded. “Of course. It’s just bad luck on the timing. I saw him step away for a quick lunch. Not too long ago. He’s never derelict when it comes to his duties.”
“Except right now. Will you please find him for me?”
There was a touch of surprise on the man’s face. Nevelyn thought maybe she’d overstepped. After all, the other man was no servant of House Brood. She saw no indications or markings that would give him any reason to obey her command. Except for the fact that people in Kathor always obeyed their rulers.
“Of course. Wait right here.”
Waiting was not ideal. There was something about stillness that threatened to draw Nevelyn’s mind back to the room. Back to the other dress and the body inside it. A small piece of her mind was still there. She felt it was like standing in a room, drinking in all the décor, and then catching sight of another world through one of the mirrors. Briefly, she saw Garth. Crouched right where she’d left him. A look of horror had bloomed on his face. The great black cords trembled with movement. The truth was clear. Tessa was currently occupying Nevelyn’s body. After all, the spell was an exchange. It appeared that Tessa was screaming at Garth.
Nevelyn’s mind lurched, lured in by that other reality, and she shook herself free of the image. She paced in the market square, trying to stay focused on these surroundings.
You are here. Not there. You are here. Not there.
Mercifully, the man appeared.
“He’s coming, Miss Brood. Just a moment.”
Len shoved through the doors, wiping at the corners of his mouth. He was an older gentleman with a bald head and quiet, blue eyes. Nevelyn hated the way he bent and groveled and begged her forgiveness. But Tessa Brood would expect such treatment. Len opened the door for her, and she did not bother to thank him as she climbed inside.
In a few moments, the poor man had the carriage moving. Lifting from the ground, rising over the tops of the nearest buildings. Nevelyn kept her face smooth and unbothered, but she hated heights. Her stomach churned uncomfortably. She suspected it would be breaking character to vomit in the back of a carriage that a person supposedly took with regularity.
The city shrank beneath them. It was a sweeping and breathless view of the place that she should have known so well. Street names and neighborhoods and favorite restaurants. It all would have been familiar to her if the Broods had not taken everything from them.
Len tried to make small talk, but Nevelyn kept her answers short and crisp. Nothing that would betray that she was very much not Tessa Brood. As soon as the estate loomed into view, Nevelyn made the one request that she knew was a risk. A very necessary risk.
“Could you please take me to the northern gates? I’d prefer to enter there.”
Len reacted as expected. Clear hesitation. This was a departure from their normal practices. It was likely that Tessa Brood had never once approached the estate from that direction. Nevelyn looked out the window, though, pretending to study the trees below. Acting as if her strange request should be treated as law, simply because it had come from her lips.
After a moment’s hesitation, Len directed their carriage that way. He brought the floating vehicle lower and lower. Nevelyn could not resist looking north. Her eyes combed the great forest there for any signs of movement. There wasn’t a single flicker of sunlight on metal. She could not decide if she was thrilled by her brother’s caution or frightened by the possibility that they were not there, that something had gone terribly wrong with the plan.
“Hold on to something, my lady.”
The carriage shook, so much that she was nearly thrown into the seat across from her. She caught herself just in time. Len’s eyes flicked back to her as the vehicle skidded to a halt.
“Apologies, Miss Brood. It’s been some time since I landed here. The ground isn’t quite as well maintained on this side of the estate.…”
She waved a hand, dismissing the subject without a word.
“You can leave now, Len. Thank you for your services.”
He stared at her for a long, uncomfortable moment.
“Is there something else you need?”
He fumbled awkwardly. “It’s just… we usually wait? For you to come back to the gate after you’re done with your family matters. And I… I’m sorry, my lady, but you’ve never called me Len before.”
A clear slip of the tongue. Nevelyn knew it would take a great deal more for him to believe the reality of the situation. Who would guess that their normal heiress was being mind-controlled by someone using a set of magical, matching dresses? That was quite a leap to make, but Nevelyn knew there were plenty of stories about manipulation magic. Wizards who specialized in the art of steering the actions of others with quiet bursts of powerful magic. It was not a far cry that the Broods’ hired employees would fear such a thing. Either way, she could not afford for him to do exactly what he was doing right now: study her more closely.
She did her best to channel the Tessa Brood she’d witnessed earlier that morning. “That was clearly a mistake, because it seems that using that name has granted you some imagined permission to question my commands.” She tilted her chin, ever so slightly. “I will repeat myself for the last time: you are to leave. If I have need of your services—and you should hope with all your heart that we do indeed require your services in the future—you will be summoned back to the estate. Is that clear, or shall I recite it a third time?”
Len actually averted his eyes. His response was mumbled.
