Another chapter of the tale of mystery.
FAMILY SECRETS
A HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE FANFIC
Chapter 47
I woke up sometime later in a completely new place. It was a small, but respectable house. The kind that you would expect a well-to-do merchant owning. Not the mastermind of whatever this was! Where would his men live? There simply wasn't enough room for them. Why would this place be their base of operations? It didn't make any sense! It was not practical in any way. Then again wizards rarely cared about what was practical. This place must serve a purpose. Or else why would he bring me here?
I also found that I was unbound. Which was certainly a odd thing. Surely, they should have taken the time to secure me! I hadn't exactly agreed to help. The only agreed to come along because he had my son! Otherwise I wouldn't have left Howl's side. I could hardly be called an ally of theirs. So, why hadn't they bothered to secure me?
'Seus' entered and offered some food. At first I rejected his offer, but I eventually I gave in. I was hungry and I needed to keep my strength up. Besides, if they wanted to kill me they would have done that already. I was more valuable alive. I had to remember that. They needed my power. They couldn't risk harming me. It was my only advantage that I had left. I had to hold on it. I couldn't risk getting weak now.
During the meal 'Seus' explained where we were. It was a hideout that his master had created in High Norland. In the port town of Kalmar. We were far away from where we were before. This place was was well shielded from the outside with plenty of wards and misdirection spells. Which would give my husband more than a little challenge. Howl would not easily find us. Although, 'Seus' admitted that they fully expected Howl to eventually catch up. By then they expected me to have opened the door. It was almost as if I was on his side! Which fairly odd since I was definitely not interested in helping. I could care less about whether or not that door opened in time. Why didn't he see that? It was fairly obvious to me!
Since I was dedicated to wasting time I decided to go ask him as many questions as I could. I asked him about his boss. He wouldn't tell me much. However, he admitted that the man came from the same world as Howl. That his master was a distant relative of mine or something like that. How that was possible I did not know. So, I asked him. Since it would waste more time. It may also give me an advantage to use later.
"I don't know a lot of details. My master hasn't been terribly forthcoming. From what I have been told he is a descendant of that woman in the book. Although he is not a Sedgewick. It's more like your family and his are offshoots of another more ancient family. His family crossed into your husband's world quite some time ago. Nowadays there are not many of them left. Fewer still practice old ways. William is one of the last to practice the art of magic. It is truly tragic."
"William?" I asked. I finally had a name! I was making some progress!
'Seus' realized his error and shut down the conversation. We ate in silence for a little longer before I tried to start up again. He didn't want to talk, so I decided to use my power on him. Hopefully, he wouldn't notice my attempt. I said, "You didn't do anything wrong. Please tell me more about yourself."
After a minute he finally responded. "Thank you, Sophie. That was very kind, but you don't need to use your magic on me. I just don't know if I can tell you anymore. My master is very strict. I may be punished. I cannot say anymore."
"Then maybe he is not a very good master." I said off handedly. Which surprised both of us. That was not what I intended to say, but it was true. I decided just to go with it. "Howl has a student too. His name is Michael. He messes up all the time, but Howl rarely ever punishes him. Instead, he helps him work through what he did wrong. So that the next time Michael can get it right. Does your master do that?"
'Seus' thought for a bit. "No, he does not."
"Then he is not a very good master."
He stopped the conversation there. "I don't think this is a good idea. I think that I should be going." He rushed out of the room right after. Leaving me to ponder my situation. It was quite grim. However, I had an idea of how to get out of this. I needed an ally. I was hoping that ally would be 'Seus.'
There was a thing that had bothered me for a while about him. He did not seem to be a particularly bad person. Even though his actions said otherwise. Sure, he lied, he cheated, and he backstabbed us. That wasn't that different from what Howl does all the time. Expect for the beginning, he never really seemed to want to harm me. It just didn't add up. Why was 'Seus' William's student? I could not picture the man to be good at teaching. So, why did he teach him? Why is 'Seus' so loyal to him? It was a complete mystery. One that I needed to solve if I wanted to get out of this. I hoped that I could turn 'Seus' on his master if I worked at it. I didn't really think that he was cruel by nature. He seemed to really want to help people. I thought that he was doing this out of obligation and a sense of duty. If so, then maybe I have way in. I might be able to convince him to help me. I wasn't sure but but it was better than doing nothing. Maybe I would get a clue on how to get out of this.
I just needed 'Seus' to relax enough to tell me. He had to forget all about his master's punishment. He had to see me as a friend. That would take time. Time that I hoped that I had. For magic wasn't going to loosen his tongue. That was obvious. I needed to work at him like how I worked on Howl. I could always get the man to tell me the truth in the end. I just had to work on it. Hopefully, 'Seus' would fall for it. Only time would tell for sure.
Next Chapter coming up!