Another chapter of the tale of mystery.

FAMILY SECRETS

A HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE FANFIC

Chapter 42

Leave it to Howl to confuse the hell out of me. Then again this whole situation was confusing! So, maybe it wasn't his fault. I now had a new relative who may or may not be telling the truth. Who thought so little of me that he didn't bother to ask if I would help him. He just dragged me here. It was clear that Edvard wasn't my friend. However, whether he was my enemy or not remained to be seen. For now, we agreed to proceed with caution. For now, it was best to let things happen. I hoped that Edvard would at least lead me to the one responsible. It wasn't much, but it was all we had.

Howl hid himself then I into the hall. An old man stood nearby, waiting for me. He bowed as if I was a guest not a prisoner. Which was still odd to say the least. He led me straight back to Edvard. Who lit up when he saw me. I am sure that he hoped that I had finally seen the light. I hadn't, but he didn't need to know that. For now our plans coincided with each other. That was likely to change. For now I had to go along with whatever he was selling. My enemy would show themselves soon enough. I had to be patient.

"Surely, you must have many questions! Please, sit. Let's talk a while."

I took the seat next to his. I hoped that he wouldn't notice Howl this close. It was a risk that I had to take. I needed to seem open and curious.

"You're right, I do. The book answered a few, but I have so many. First, do you really think that this woman had the power to open the doors of time? As far as I know, I am only one who has that power. Even if she was my ancestor, how did she get this power? Why is it so close to mine?"

"So many questions at once!" He laughed. He seemed to be treating me like a younger sister. "Yes, you're right that this power is amazingly rare. Only members of our family have ever exhibited any form of this power. Most can only sense what is beyond this plane of existence. We can connect with the dead or sense disruptions in the flow of time. No one has exhibited the level of control that you have. Not since time at least. You truly are special, Sophie."

That filled in a lot of blanks. The story started to make more sense. I slowly began to accept this woman as my ancestor. Whoever she was. The similarities were just too many to be ignored. Plus, Howl had said that the book was real. There was no sign of any form of spell or illusion on it. If it was there then he would have found it. The book really was written a long time ago. It seemed strange that Howl wouldn't have heard of her before, but it was possible though. He wasn't born in this world after all. He could have missed something. This queen was provably real. That didn't explain a lot, but it was a start.

"Another thing that I don't get is the part about the Golden Age of magic. As far as I know, Strangia has always had a lack of wizards and witches. Was this not always so? If so, how did that change?"

He laughed. "That is another story entirely. I am afraid that another one of our ancestors was responsible for that. At least in part. This man has a name: Johan van Sedgewick, Lord of the Ninth House, master of the hounds, and a generally terrible person. As regent, he went on a campaign to eliminate all sources of magic. While Johan did not remain in power long, his impact was long lasting. A succession of Kings ravaged our land. All in the guise of protecting the people."

He sighed. "It pains me to think that our ancestor was the start of such a travesty. Alas, he was not the first nor was he the last. Your Grandfather was the most recent example of that disgusting behavior. I believe that he is the one responsible for the fall of our family." He lamented before shifting gears. "You, however, are the start of it's rise! Your power can save our people! It can restore our good name. All you need to do is open the door. Show us the way! Help us restore what has been lost! Surely, there must be something from the past to help us. I know that you can find it!"

I was overwhelmed by his words. Somehow I was supposed to restore the honor of a clan that I hated! How was I supposed to do that? Oh I know, by performing a miracle that not even Howl could do. Find some ancient power or trick to restore the magic lost. Then bring it into the future! I couldn't do that. I wouldn't even know where to look! Yet, this is exactly what Edvard expected me to do. It was the worst quick-fix scheme that I heard of. It was certainly doomed to failure. A problem like this took years of hard work to fix. Something that Edvard was not willing to do. In fact, he didn't willing to do anything at all! I was the one supposed to do all the work. While getting none of the credit of course. That would be for Edvard. After all, he is the one who came up with this scheme. It would make perfect sense for him to get all the credit. Surely, some foreigner witch wouldn't be interested in the laurels that she would receive. Her cousin would be the next logical choice for all the fame and power. I was beginning to see that Edvard was no different than my Grandfather. The only one that he cared about was himself. The only difference was that Edvard was considerably less powerful and well connected.

There was no way that I could trust this man.

Next Chapter coming up!