to that,” Grizel cut in, “how about we finish the conversation we were having, before we were interrupted?” She side-eyed Sandor with the last word.
“If you’d told me that you were coming here, I could’ve coordinated our arrival,” Sandor reminded her.
“That argument applies just as easily to you, Captain Cuddles,” Grizel countered, bopping his flat nose with her finger.
“Captain Cuddles?” Flori asked, giggling as Sandor’s gray skin took on a pinkish hue. “Can we all use that title?”
“No,” Sandor told her, at the same time Grizel said, “Absolutely!”
Sandor let out a squeaky growl. “Can we focus?”
“I suppose we can try.” Grizel turned back to Lord Cassius. “In case you’ve forgotten, you were about to tell us about your wife’s abilities.”
“No, I was about to reiterate that—as far as I know—she only has one. And yes, I’m sure it is possible that she’s been hiding a second ability, since, as you know, Gisela has no problem erasing memories—or lying. But, I do remember asking her once if she was bothered by the fact that most Polyglots have an additional talent, and the disappointment and frustration I felt from her would be hard to fake.”
“Unless she was disappointed and frustrated that she couldn’t tell you about her other ability,” Fitz suggested.
“I suppose that’s possible,” Lord Cassius admitted. “But the real question is: Why does it matter? I assure you, if my wife could’ve affected people with her voice the way you say my son now can, there’s no way she would’ve been able to resist using the ability for all this time.”
He had a point.
And Sophie tried to find that comforting, since Lady Gisela would be almost unstoppable if she could do what Keefe did.
But it also meant that Lady Gisela must have an elaborate plan for how to make Keefe use his new ability the way she wanted.
And her plans usually succeeded.
“It matters,” Fitz told Lord Cassius, “because Councillor Oralie thinks the numbing command that Keefe used might not be a sign of a new ability. She thought it sounded more like the elements made his empathy merge with his new Polyglot senses, and that’s why he’s able to affect emotions with his voice. So I figured it’d be smart to make sure there aren’t any other abilities that Keefe might’ve inherited.”
“Merged abilities,” Lord Cassius said quietly.
“Did that word trigger any memories?” Sophie asked when he turned to pace the foyer.
“I wish.” He reached up to rub his temples, crossing the length of the room twice more before he added, “But it does feel…”
“Feel?” Fitz prompted.
When Lord Cassius stayed silent, he added, “Would it help if we did another probe? Or I could try to do it myself, if…”
His eyes darted to Sophie, like he wasn’t sure if he should suggest working together.
But Sophie was more interested in the way Lord Cassius had frozen midstep—foot dangling in the air—the second Fitz had mentioned searching his mind.
“Is there a problem?” she asked him.
“Of course not.” But his voice was as tense as his features. “I just… need time to process.”
“You realize how suspicious you sound, right?” Grizel asked as Lord Cassius reached under his cape, fumbling with his sleeve. “Especially with how pale you’ve gotten?”
“Suspect whatever you want. I’m sure you’re all very used to being wrong about me.” He pulled out a pathfinder and spun the crystal back and forth. “And I need to go.”
“Go where?” Sophie asked.
“It doesn’t concern you.”
“We’ll decide that,” Sandor told him.
But Lord Cassius locked the crystal into place and leaped away without another word.
Fitz glanced at Sophie. “So… that was super weird, right?”
Sophie nodded, wishing she’d thought to shove her way into Lord Cassius’s mind before he’d left. They deserved answers way more than he deserved privacy.
“You don’t think he’d try to protect Lady Gisela, do you?” Fitz asked.
“I was just wondering the same thing,” she admitted. “But… I feel like the only person he cares about is himself.”
“True. Though, what if protecting her also protects some embarrassing secret he doesn’t want anyone to know?” Fitz suggested—which definitely sounded like something Lord Cassius would do.
Sophie sighed. “We need to figure out where he went. I don’t suppose you saw which facet he used on his pathfinder?”
“You can’t really tell by looking at them. It’s about counting the turns of the crystal and feeling the cuts and angles.” Fitz dragged a hand through his hair. “I guess Grizel and I can go wait at the Shores of Solace and confront him as soon as he gets back.”
“That’s