Transmogrification Games by Rachel Ford

Author:Rachel Ford [Ford, Rachel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-07-07T16:00:00+00:00

Liss

Chapter Seventeen

I told Aage my theory, and Idun’s objection to it. I told him how I had no good answer to that, and that maybe I was completely off. “But I think there’s more at play here, Mage, than we’re seeing. We’re focused on the ripples, not the stone drop.”

“Perhaps. But I didn’t know Folke or Agatha. How can I possibly know who might have wanted to kill them? That seems more your province: find their enemies. Look at who stood to benefit from their deaths.”

“It doesn’t explain the other transmogrifications,” Njál pointed out.

“Maybe it does. Maybe the goal was to make it seem like someone was randomly enchanting people.”

“Why bother, though? If the goal was to kill Agatha, why go beyond that?”

He looked at me for a long moment. “Maybe the idea was to kill Agatha but exonerate Folke.”

Njál grunted and nodded. “Have we looked at the mother-in-law at all?”

“She’s barely off bedrest,” I pointed out.

“Which gives her a good alibi.”

“Yes, but for the wrong reasons – because it is a good alibi. If she can’t get around, she can’t be running around poisoning people.”

“Maybe she hired someone.”

“Maybe. But why would she want her son to kill his wife?”

“To inherit the farm, maybe. Maybe she hated her daughter-in-law.”

“Maybe she had nothing to do with it, and this is all wild speculation.”

“But we won’t know until we pursue it, will we?”

It was now that Lucius spoke. “Maybe it has nothing to do with Agatha and Folke at all. Maybe the ripples are the point of the stone drop.”

We stared at him. “The point?” Aage said, his tones impatient. “Why would they be the point?”

“You would know the answer to that better than I,” the elf answered. “But I can hazard a guess. Your university is not well loved in these parts. Better loved than some houses of magic in some parts of the world. But not much loved. If someone meant to make sure you were less well loved, murders resulting from magic would do the job, I think.”

Njál nodded and gestured to Storm’s body. “It already has.”

“Exactly.”

I nodded too. “It might have nothing to do with the college, either. At least, not directly. It might be Knut they’re after.”

“Your jarl?” Lucius seemed surprised. “Why?”

“He has not long been jarl,” Aage answered. His eyebrows had knit together so close that they almost touched. “The old jarl was a wretch, but he had friends, some of them powerful. If they mean to depose Jarl Knut, or to cause so much unrest that the king steps in, well, this may be the way to do it.”

“Exactly,” I said. “And Knut’s ale stores were poisoned too. They might have hoped that he would come to the same end as Agatha. Or at least not cared if it happened.”

My mind was running away with the possibilities. This made more sense even than Folke and Agatha being targets. This would require little in the way of coordination. Like dropping the pebble into still waters, it

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