Chapter 21: Forbidden Knowledge

Manfred

I had been informed that Infinity Bone and her mother had arrived. I hadn't seen her at all, but my father told me that he had let her know that Salem was in his room sleeping. I wondered how angry she was. We had planned to make Infinity hate him somehow to keep her out of the way, but he was doing a good job of that himself. For once, everything was going the way it was supposed to.

I watched as Mrs. Bone danced with Mr. Noble and felt a small victory. Lyell Bone was going to be gone forever and there was nothing that little twerp or his sister could do about it. "Excuse me, Manfred?" A small voice caught my attention. I looked down to see a beautiful woman clad in red with golden blonde hair piled on her head. When she looked back up at me, my voice almost caught in my throat. I hadn't recognized Infinity at all. She almost looked like someone worthy of being a Bloor.

"What? What do you want? Where's Salem?" I faked the annoyance in my voice so she couldn't pick up on the fact that I had been caught off guard.

"He ran off back to his room. I have a huge problem that I need you to help me with." The urgency in her voice worried me. I wondered if it had anything to do with Salem feeling sick. I offered her my arm because I was not allowed to break etiquette at any point in the night (father's rules). She looked confused but she took it anyway. I led her out of the ballroom and into the hallway.

"What is going on?"

"I need you to hypnotize me, right now." She was desperate. This was the first time that anyone had ever asked to be hypnotized by me. I didn't know what to do. I wasn't ready for people to know that I couldn't hypnotize anymore although some were starting to figure it out. I had wanted to wait until my new endowment had become just as intimidating and powerful as my old one.

"Hypnotize you? Why?"

"I know who my father is, Manfred." Her voice was solemn. "I don't want to know who he is."

I laughed at her. I couldn't help it. "That's not possible. I didn't want to be the one to tell you this, but-"

"Yeah, yeah. Salem erased my memory. I know. I apparently found a loophole. Mr. Pilgrim happened to remember who he was for the few seconds I talked to him today and it made me realize who he was."

I froze. Even if she didn't have her memories of him back, she was right. "So… you don't want to know who your father is? You don't want to tell anyone?" I was confused. Why had she come to me?

"Oh, I want him to come back." She looked up at me with determined eyes. "But there is nothing I can do about it right now. There is no way to completely wake him up. Congratulations, Manfred. I've come to stroke your ego. You hypnotized him so well that I have no idea how to bring him back. I would rather not know if there is nothing that any of us can do."

She made a good point and restored a bit of my confidence. I had messed Lyell up so much that even now, Infinity had no way to help him even with her own endowment. I didn't want to admit to her that I could not hypnotize her, although I had no other choice. "I can't do it." I said after thinking.

"What? That's what Salem said too. Why?"

"I don't know about Salem, but I literally could not hypnotize you even if I wanted to. Look at my eyes." I was willing to lie a little bit for Salem. If he hadn't told her that he couldn't read minds anymore, he had a reason. He had given me the courtesy of not telling her that I couldn't hypnotize her. "When I destroyed Charlie's wand a few months ago, it messed me up. I started to lose my endowment." She stared into my face. This was one of the few times I had been able to look into her eyes without her fighting to get away. She was beautiful and I felt a little bit better being able to just take that in on my own.

"What? How does that happen? Does that happen to people? Oh no… Could that happen to me?" Now she made direct eye contact with me as she spoke.

"I have no idea. There's usually some kind of reasoning behind it. I tried to destroy a very powerful magical item. But don't you dare say anything to anyone." I warned. "Because what replaced my hypnotism is far worse. If you say anything to anyone, I will burn all of the skin off of your body."

"Gee, Manfred. That's great." She rolled her eyes at me and began to look panicked again. "If you or Salem can't and won't, respectively, help me, then who can?"

"Don't be an idiot." I scoffed at her. "The Hundred Heads and their children are here. I'm pretty sure it won't take much to find another hypnotist." What I had in mind was better than a hypnotist, but I knew Infinity wouldn't agree to it. "Go to my father's study. It should be unlocked. Wait for me there, please." I advised her. She nodded and walked away from me and I turned my attention to the ballroom, scanning for the person that I needed. He wasn't hard to find, for he was the most powerful person in the room. He had left the side of his lovely date, whom he had left in the care of Grizelda. He was conversing with my father and great grandfather about something, but I did not know what. I would be berated for interrupting, but this was important.

I walked across the room and approached him cautiously. "Excuse me, Mr. Noble. I have a bit of a problem that requires your attention immediately." I murmured. Usually I was a confident person, but I was intimidated by the enchanter. He was the only person in history to almost match the power of the Red King himself.

"Not now, Manfred." Great Grandfather shrieked at me. "Haven't you learned not to interrupt, you insolent boy?"

My brow twitched with annoyance and anger, but I didn't falter or back down. Mr. Noble turned to look me in the eye. I could see that he was curious. "I see that you just left the company of the younger Miss Bone. What has happened?"

"I need you to tend to her, immediately. I sent her to my father's study to wait for you." I didn't want to let everyone know, at least right here, that Infinity figured out who Lyell was. The fact that when the bell tower rang Lyell remembered himself briefly was a problem, but that was something that had always happened and he had never been able to recover or improve. Before I lost my endowment, I had even tried Tolly Twelve Bells on him and he still only recovered until the final bell stopped ringing.

An animalistic gleam shown in his eyes and he smiled. "Is she waiting?"

"You're not to do a thing to her." My father said suddenly. "I know that look in your eye." It was unlike my father to stand up to someone whom he knew had great power. Despite her being a giant pain in the ass, my father had a soft spot for Infinity. In another life, he would be ecstatic that she and Salem were together. "Why did you leave a Bone to my office to snoop?"

"You're the one who doesn't lock the door." I noted. "But that doesn't matter. We need to get to her now before she changes her mind." I wasn't making sense to them.

"Grandfather, I need you to stay behind and mingle with the guests." Father said painfully. Great Grandfather was awful with people. He was more sadistic and cruel than I. But he was nervous of the fact that Infinity was in his office and I'm sure he was curious as to what I needed the Count's assistance with.

When I opened the door, Infinity was sitting in a chair, staring blankly at the fireplace. When she turned to look at us and saw who I brought with me, she immediately jumped up and backed up. "No, no, no, no. I don't trust him."

"Oh? I take it you know who I am? Who I really am?" Mr. Noble smirked. "Who told you, dear girl? Can your other son not be trusted, Harold?"

"Salem can be trusted just fine." I said quickly. "And Infinity can be too."

She pushed herself closer to the wall, trying to keep at least one piece of furniture between them, as if she could be protected. I couldn't help but scoff at her effort. "Lyell Bone's daughter can be trusted?" Mr. Noble continued, approaching her slowly.

"I know who Mr. Pilgrim is." She said finally, trying to step behind father's desk. Father froze and Mr. Noble raised his eyebrows. "I'm here so I don't have to remember."

"I thought your other son erased her memory? What I'm doing with Amy is a lost cause if she remembers him. Lyell will survive if he is still loved and remembered." Mr. Noble stepped towards her again and she planted herself behind me, firmly holding my arms as if I could save her.

"Salem did nothing wrong." Infinity snapped. "You'll never kill of our father completely. Charlie may not remember his face but Charlie alone with his spirit can keep him alive."

"Do you have complete confidence in that?" I snorted. These idiots always went on about how love and faith could conquer anything. I found it hard to believe that these words were coming out of the mouth of such a logical and intelligent girl.

"Obviously I do if I'm here to let you make me forget him." She loosened her grip on my arm just enough that I was able to reach behind myself and pull her in front of me.

"Then can you stop fighting me for just one second so we can get this over with?" I begged her, wrapping my arms around her midsection and keeping her arms pinned down at the sides.

"No! He's going to do something weird to me. Just look at him. I don't trust him." She brought her hands up to grab my arms, but she wasn't scratching at me.

"That's too bad, my dear." In one fluid motion, he crossed the room and took her face into his hands. "Such a beautiful girl. I'll give you a gift, Harold. For your hospitality and compliance." He stared into her face and she was immediately enraptured. He was able to sway her so much faster than he did Amy. He was getting more and more powerful. Her eyes sparkled and her hair seemed lighter. Her skin became fairer and she looked as if she would float away. "She'll make a worthy wife to your son. Someone trusted to carry your name." He said finally. "All of the valor has been sucked out of her. She'll be a compliant ragdoll now. Right, my dear?"

Infinity was a ghost of her former self. She stood unsteadily on her own two feet. "Yes, sir." She looked back at me and smiled an empty smile. While her eyes sparkled, were still blank and empty. I couldn't efficiently describe it. He had turned her into what my mother had become before she snapped and left. And more importantly, she had been turned against her brother. She leaned back into me and I was scared that if I let go of her, she would fall.

I knew Salem would be angry and wouldn't like this, and I voiced that opinion. To that, the enchanter laughed. "She's not for Salem. She's for you, my boy. She's a Yewbeam, and you're a Bloor. Any child that comes from your blood will be powerful. Not as powerful as me, of course, but more powerful than either of you. Besides, I see the way that you look at her."

"What? I can't do that to my brother. That would break his heart and probably kill him. He's in love with her." Although I was considered dark and completely evil, Salem was my twin brother. I was unable to not feel empathy when regarding him. I even felt bad for what had transpired last year. I didn't feel bad for the Bone family or anything regarding Lyell, but I felt guilty for hurting my brother. I even began to feel guilty for hurting her.

"He's weak anyway. He was powerful at one time, but that time has gone. You're more powerful than him. You deserve all of the finer things."

"You took the things that made her fine." I noted. "Her grace, her intelligence. Her fire."

"Oh, those will come back in due time, and with your influence she'll be even better than before." The Count waved his hand. "Now, if you don't mind, I have a lady waiting for me." He dismissed himself and left father and I with an enchanted Infinity.

"This is what's best for now…" Father frowned. "Once Lyell dies, we can always ask him to break his hold. Salem will hate us for a while but it will be a win-win for us. We won't have the constant risk of losing the academy, and Salem can have what he wants."

I accepted this, not that I had a choice otherwise.