Delphinium, or A Necromancer's Home (TCoLaD Book 2)

Jourdain

~ Dvoday, 16th of Juvenis, 11831 ~

Every new moon there was a deposit from an unknown source to the hospital in Piques. The only marking of it was a sketched leaf in the corner. It could mean one of several things, bringing plausible deniability to whoever was asked, but it was a start.

The first thing that came to mind was the fae. Nature was often used as symbols for them. But it was already established that the fae were marked with an F. Unless, of course, this was payment to keep harming the fae? There was also Feuilles. The name meant "leaves" and was a reference to the suit in a deck of cards that corresponded to spades. Could the comte be involved in this himself? Spadille was, after all, in his county.

For over a week now, Elwin had asked and inquired about it, but no one would tell him. It seems most truly did not know, but those that averted their eyes and then avoided him also refused to give their full name when prompted. It was known he was fay, and they did not trust him not to force their tongue.

Elwin sat in the records room now and rifled through papers and notebooks, looking for anything that could tie one thing to another and avenge those that had been harmed in this place.

"Monsieur! I must ask that you put those down and leave at once. You are trespassing and I will call the guards!"

Ah, so someone had finally noticed he was there. He put down the sheet of paper he was reading over—another document about payments that had been given to the hospital with no indication of where they had come from.

"There is no need for that," Elwin said, standing. The man's eyes widened in recognition. "Ah, so you are aware of who I am. Good. May I ask your name?"

"I am Stephan, my lord. The record-keeper for this hospital."

"What do you know of these payments, Stephan?" Elwin asked, cursing that he was again not told a full name.

"I know nothing," Stephan replied, too quickly, and having gone pale.

"Odd. I would think that the record-keeper would, most of all, know what payments this hospital receives. Is it charity, or a patron? It does not bear the roi's mark."

"That is privileged information. I must ask you to leave, or I will call the guards!"

Stephan began to move towards the open door, but Elwin whistled, and it slammed shut from the outside as Magec closed it with his front paws. His familiar would sit guard and alert them if someone else came by.

This was the closest he had gotten to a lead, and he would not let something like a stubborn tongue or misguided loyalty keep the information from him.

"I did not wish to do this," Elwin said, and he unsheathed the long dagger at his belt as he stood. "But you know something."

He cut into his hand, hearing Stephan gasp in shock, and grabbed the other man, pressing the wound onto his lips. It was not elegant, but he was running out of patience. The man tried to scream and only ended up gagging on blood, sputtering and trying to shove Elwin back.

The fay snapped his fingers. Spirits of flesh and memory answered him, and the magia responded in a way to his nature that it would not to human.

He felt the man's soul, and he maneuvered it gently around, searching. If one died and returned, as a ghost perhaps, then their self and memories would be just the same as they had in life. The psyche was tied to the spirit, not the flesh. He followed a gleam, a small light, until he was touching the man's thoughts.

Tell me, Elwin said to the spirits.

They did.

This magia was harsh, as the fée themselves were. It was impossible to gather information from a man's mind by force without ruining it, and after the spirits had told all of his secrets, Stephan sat on the floor, staring vacantly at a wall. He began to drool.