“Welcome to my tower, Noan.” He approached me with open arms.
“I came as fast as I could, my friend.”
I had just noticed that there was also someone else in the room.
“Her majesty, Duchess Victoria.” Motari said, taking a curt bow.
An attractive woman with peacock-blue eyes and rosy cheeks came to me. She had curly, amber locks and was wearing a golden crown decorated with precious stones on her head. She was dressed in a beige, train dress which narrowed at her waist, emphasising her cleavage. I could spot some sadness behind her gaze exuding confidence.
“Welcome to Mocklonia, Master Inquisitor,” she said as she reached out with her hands to me.
“Your majesty!” I kissed her tender hand.
“We have summoned you concerning a delicate issue, Master Noan. Motari contacted me a few days ago, asking whether I had noticed something strange on Duke Orlond. I mentioned to him that he had been quite absent minded lately and seemed to be forgetting things. The birthday of our son had slipped his mind, which had never happened before. He couldn’t recall some events that had been discussed before.”
“I have noticed the same, Noan,” Motari added, nodding in agreement. “Duchess, if you allow me, I would share a concrete case with him,” he said.
“Go ahead, Arch Mage.”
“Her Excellency and myself both know how much of an animal lover Duke Orlond is. He is fond of his beastly dog, Brutus, who would always lie beside him in the throne room as his faithful companion. However, one day he started behaving wildly in the presence of the Duke, he began barking furiously, this is something that had never happened before. Dogs can sense several things that we are incapable of.”
“As if he wasn’t himself, or his memories have gotten tangled. Motari has offered to call you, Master Noan, as a connoisseur of dark magic and possession, to examine what might have happened to my husband.”
“These are rather serious accusations, your majesty. Isn’t it possible that your husband is simply getting older and he tends to forget certain things?”
“He has not reached that age, Master. I am convinced that something had happened to him, this is not mere womanly hysterics. We must look into the matter thoroughly and with discretion.”
“Alright, I will investigate what happened to his Excellency.”
“As I am expecting you to do so. Should there be anything you need, let me know and I will arrange that you receive it.”
“We will keep that in mind, your majesty,” said Motari.
“When was the first time that these strange, faulty memories began to appear?” I asked both of them.
“I first noticed his unusual behavior following the ball,” Victoria responded.
“I can confirm this too, Noan. It was the following day that he had forgotten about the present he intended to give his son,” Motari stroked his beard.
“If I am right, it must have been at the ball that something happened to the Duke.”
“After all, it was a special occasion for many to approach him,” my mage friend replied, frowning.
“I trust you to shedding light on this. I must be leaving now, I have other obligations to fulfil. I expect you to notify me instantly if you have found something!”
“This is natural, Duchess.” We both took a bow with Motari.
She turned around and left the laboratory with slow, considerate steps. As she left, Motari pulled out a flask from under his cloak and offered me some.
“First of all, let us drink to our meeting again! Then we can start investigating what could have happened to the Duke,” Motari said, winking at me.
I like your friend, Noan. He offers you a drink constantly, I appreciate that.
Motari is like that, he had become an expert in distilling spirits – he spices them up with unique herbs he won’t tell me about. Most likely magic is also used in his fiendish concoctions.
What are you waiting for? Have a taste, I want to feel the burn!
I gulped down the drink. The homemade spirit was burning my throat like gunpowder, still, it felt good. He also had some, wiped his mouth and routinely hid it under his caftan.
“You know, Noan, I am quite familiar with magic, but I do not know much about possessions and curses. How should we start, do you have a plan?”
“I do. We must examine all the possibilities. Let’s say, we can start with the diseases, then curses, then we can look at whether his mind is under a foreign influence. We can then proceed by eliminating all the possibilities, one by one.”
“This sounds like a reasonable plan. Now, we only have to make sure you will not be discovered here.”
“In the course of the investigation, we will need to sneak some compounds into his dishes. I have been disguised many times during my work as an Inquisitor, it is not unfamiliar to me. I believe I should be working at the kitchen. We could prepare the necessary compounds in the laboratory and use them to test the Duke’s body.”
“I have a better plan, my friend. I will simply charm a servant in the kitchen who we could secretly send to the kitchen instead of you. She would be able to mix the necessary ingredients into the food and would remember nothing afterwards.”
“That sounds perfect.”
“It is decided then. And now, dear Noan, we are going to prepare a compound out of sorrow grass. If it gets into the body of someone with an early insanity, old-age oblivion, or a disease attacking the brain, he will produce symptoms such as spots or dizziness.”
“Let’s start the preparation,” I nodded in agreement.
“I will collect the ingredients instantly, everything is here, scattered around, not to make it easy for me to find them,” Motari grunted under his beard.
What effect would it have on you, Noan, if you drank it? You also have an insane mind, my other half mocked me.
Luckily, it is not me that has to be examined now, Gusir. I ask you to remain silent, for fuck’s sake. We have an important and serious task to carry out.
I will leave you alone but only because I don’t want you to blame me for having messed up something.
I took the appropriate portions of each ingredient and I boiled the water. Motari placed them in a vial, taking care of the order, and carefully mixed them together. While the potion was being prepared, Motari rushed out to soon return in the company of a young girl. She was a thin, fragile creature with light brown hair.
“Noan, this is Meridan, she is a servant from the kitchen.”
“Greetings, Master.” She took a bow to me.
“Greetings, Meridan.”
“Please, remain still for a moment,” Motari sand then winked at the girl. He stood in front of her and touched her forehead while muttering some words.
“From now on, you will follow my commands. Your task is to sneak two or three drops of potion from this vial to the dish of the Duke, and only of the Duke.” He showed her the muddy-looking potion that we had just prepared. “No more and no less. After this, you will have to carefully observe his reactions. Will he develop some spots? Will he feel dizzy? Observe every little tiny detail. Be extremely careful, no one can know what we have charged you with. Do you understand what you have to do?”
“Yes, Arch Mage. I have understood everything and I will act as you wish.”
“Then go! When you are done, come back here and tell us how the Duke reacted to the potion.”
“Will she follow all that you have said?”
“She will act exactly as I have told her, Noan.”
“It depends on this girl to find out what had happened to Duke Orlond.”
“Let’s hope for the best, we will know much more by this time tomorrow.”
I trusted the charm of my friend, what else could I have done. Time was pressing us, so we could do nothing else but wait to see how events would unfold.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
On the Trail of Justice
We spent the last two days sending Meridan back to the kitch
en on several occasions to repeat the same task, because she reported no side effects on the Duke.
“Are you sure that nothing happened?” Motari asked the girl, nervously tapping his fingers on the table.
“I am absolutely sure, sir. I added the potion in his food at least three times and the mentioned side effects never appeared.”
“So, it isn’t a disease that the Duke is suffering from, at least we can eliminate that possibility for sure,” Motari looked at me with disappointment.
“We must investigate more, we cannot stop. Maybe he had been cursed?”
“How would we find that out, Noan?” Motari took a sip of liquor from his flask.
“It is rather simple. I have brought a medallion prepared with priestly magic that signals if its holder is in the presence of someone who had been cursed. I will take it right away, it is in my bag.”
“Don’t you want some refreshments? It always helps me if I am in a tight situation.”
“I don’t want any spirit, Motari. You are drinking it as if it was water but it fogs my head very quickly. Ah, here it is!” I pulled out the medallion from the plethora of things. I went to the girl and handed it to her.
“Hang it on your neck and conceal it under your clothes.”
She looked at Motari in doubt.
“From now on, do as Noan tells you,” my old friend said, waving with his hand.
“As you wish, sir.” She took the medallion, put it around her neck, and hid it under her garments.
“I have forgotten that she only listens to you.”
“Now she is following your orders, as well. Although I have great power over magic, I was always amazed at the magical force of priests and paladins. They are capable of creating things that we, mages are often not, even after lengthy research and experimentation.”
“Well, my friend, this is the gift from our gods for us, plain servants,” I proudly raised my gaze to the sky.
“Returning to our problem, we must find out today what Orlond is suffering from. The Duchess is going to come to the tower in the evening to listen to our report.”
“Great, there is nothing we do know. Meridan, try to approach the Duke during the dinner tonight when you are serving him.”
“I will do as the Master requires,” the charmed girl said and took a bow.
“We can test more things on him, since out time is very limited. I will pour holy water into his beverage, if he is possessed by a demon, he won’t be able to drink from it. If we are facing a ghost or an entity, we will need pure iron, since touching it would cause him physical pain.”
“I can help you with the latter. I can cast an illusion charm on cutlery made of iron to make it seem like silver and if we can sneak it to the Duke, we can exchange it with the real one.”
“Great! So we can test three things tonight, curses and possession,” I said as I hit on the table out of enthusiasm.
“Let’s get to the end of this, my friend, for once and forever. Now, I will collect the necessary tools,” Motari smiled under his nose.
He closed his eyes and focused hard, then pointed ahead while he was muttering some words. Suddenly, an iron knife and spoon appeared on the table, then he snapped his fingers and they were glittering like freshly forged silver cutleries.
“Take them and return to the kitchen, Meridan. When you are laying the table, exchange these with the cutlery of the Duke. At the end of the dinner, come back here and tell us what you have observed before the Duchess would arrive.”
She grabbed the cutlery and slid them in her pocket. I gave her a flask of water.
“Listen to me well, girl! This contains holy water, spill a few drops into the Duke’s wine and observe his reactions. Don’t forget that you will feel strange warmth if the medallion were to emit signals,” I explained.
“Now leave, my daughter, and be careful,” Motari said.
“I will do as you command,” she stood up from the table and left the room, we could hear her steps as she walked away.
“Aren’t we a little ungodly to make this poor girl go through this, Motari?”
“The gods can also see that we have no other choice, Noan. This is the only way to remain in concealment. A girl who had been working in the kitchen for long doesn’t attract anyone’s attention. It is better than if you or me had gone to complete the dirty tasks.”
“There is some truth in that, my old friend. Then we can do nothing else but wait for that poor girl to return and tell us what she had seen.”
The hours passed by extremely slow, nervously awaiting the young blonde girl to return. Finally, her fragile figure appeared at the door.
“Tell us, darling, what did you manage to find out?” I asked impatiently.
“The medallion, sir, emitted no signals. I didn’t feel any warmth.”
“So, no one was cursed from those who were in the hall. That is good news. Please, continue.”
“Nobody noticed that I exchanged the cutlery. His Excellency was enjoying the fresh meals and drank abundantly from the wine containing the holy water that I snuck in following the Master’s order.”
“This means that he is not possessed by a demon, or anything else. What the hell is he suffering from then?” I began to get nervous.
Look at that, Noan, is this case exceeding your competences? – Gusir said.
I really hope that it doesn’t. What have I missed? There must be something else!
Of course there is, dear other half! Haven’t you thought of the possibility of the Duke being one of those faceless that Bishop Burron yammered on about? You only have to poison him to find out!
That is impossible, he is escorted everywhere by his guards, it is unimaginable that a Faceless might have taken his place!
There is only one way to find out. You have to poison him, Noan! If he survives, he is a shapeshifter, if not, you better be running, the voice laughed out loud.
Of course, if it were that easy, Gusir.
There is nothing to contemplate, be a man and do it! You are the servant of the god of fight and courage. This is an excellent opportunity to prove yourself to your lord that you do indeed have courage!
That is impossible, it would be high treason! I’d go straight to the noose.
Only if the Duke is the real Duke and not an impostor.
“Alright, Meridan, you have done a great job, now you can leave and return to your duties until I call you again,” Motari told the girl.
“As you wish, sir,” she replied and left.
Motari frowned.
“How is this possible, Noan?” the old mage asked anxiously.
“Unfortunately, I don’t know. It seems that his Excellency is not suffering from anything. He is as healthy as a new born babe.”
“What will we say to the Duchess? That we didn’t manage to find out anything over the last two days?”
“Just a second, I have a rather bold presumption. I hope you won’t take me for a crazy person,” I sighed.
“What are you thinking of, Noan?” The old mage looked at me with surprise.
“Do you remember at the One Armed Giant inn in the city of Tizland? The orc inn owner told us about the peculiar case when the dwarf merchant was murdered.”
“When someone took the shape of the assassin who had already died by that time?” he stroked his beard, pondering.
“Yes, this is what I am referring to. What if, my friend, the place of his Excellency had been taken by an impostor?”
“I can immediately sense the illusions and if someone merely masks themselves, it won’t make them talk and act like the real Duke.”
“This is not what I speak of, Motari. I speak of a shapeshifter! One that can take others’ shape, behavior, and voice, a real monster.”
“What? Don’t be absurd,” he shook his head.
“Think about it, we have tried fucking everything! Either he is completely healthy or he is not the person we think he is. I have heard of another case that has happened rec
ently, Bishop Burron told me about it back in Tizland. Countess Cerylen was murdered, but after she had died, she turned into some dreadful beast, a bloody shapeshifter!” I hit the table with my fist.
“To the blood of demons, what the hell is going on here?”
“I don’t know it yet, my friend, but we have bumped into this whole thing and we must act now!”
“How can we prove this absurd presumption of yours?”
“All I know about these creatures is what I had heard from Bishop Burron. By the way, he only called these creatures Faceless. They are completely resistant to poison, it has no effect on them. I can prepare a poison from wolftooth mushrooms that produces acute symptoms, apart from triggering nausea, it has no other risks.”
“I am aware of its effects. So you are saying that we should poison Duke Orlond?” My old mate looked at me grimly.
“Exactly.”
“This is insanity! If discovered, it brings our death sentence, I will take no part in this madness.”
“What don’t you want to participate in, Arch Mage?” the Duchess asked as she entered the laboratory.
“Greetings, Duchess Victoria!” We stood up and bowed in unison.
We looked at each other rather shocked, the situation was quite embarrassing for us.
“Come on, tell me, don’t hide anything.”
“Noan, this is your dim-witted plan. Please explain to the lovely lady what you have in mind,” he said and poked me with his staff as a way of encouragement.
“Well, your Excellency... I have to say that we have tried just about everything. We have tested the Duke for curses, diseases, possession by ghosts and demons, but we have observed nothing unusual on his behavior. We have run out of ideas, except for one, which might sound rather audacious at first.”
“Please, tell me, I am listening, Master Noan. I am willing to go through anything to get my husband back.”
“Alright, your Excellency. The last possibility that arises is that Duke Orlond is not a human anymore but was instead taken by an impostor, a shapeshifter.”
Faceless: The Takeover (The Shapeshifters Book 1) Page 24
