57 – Rainy Day

As Margret shuffled into the room, I inspected her.

Like Anders, she looked haggard. Significantly more so than the guard, actually. Dark rings under her eyes, slightly drooping eyelids, inattentiveness. Her mind was overwhelmed by a mixture of worry and exhaustion, feeding into each other in a self-reinforcing spiral.

“Sit,” I commanded. The maid all but collapsed into her chair.

“I take it you didn’t sleep very well lately?” That much was obvious even without my bonded ability to read her mind.

“I– No, Lord Steelheart… I haven’t slept at all last night.” Her voice was scratchy and quiet.

“Any particular reason?” I knew at least one, but wanted to see what her opinion was. The best way to get specific information from someone – even through mind reading – was to ask. If they told you, then that was it. Otherwise, just the mere act of thinking about the question would reveal things to me.

“I… I’m worried. So much I couldn’t fall asleep. Did I– Are you…?”

I nearly laughed at the thought. Instead, I settled for a friendly smile. For some reason, that stressed her even more.

“I’m not a demon. You didn’t sign away your soul or anything like that. Though I do know all your deepest secrets. And you will never be able to lie to me.”

Several things flashed through her mind at that, most of which I already knew. She also definitely didn’t believe me about the demon claim. Nor the status of her soul. Not super important right now.

“You know why I’ve called you here, right?”

She did. “The spying.”

“Correct. I seem to recall that you will be in trouble if you don’t deliver a report soon? So you better get to it.”

“I…” Margret looked quite lost.

“If you’re found out, that makes you useless to me, doesn’t it? Of course, I will be supervising you and checking what you write, so don’t get any clever ideas.”

Margret nodded, still unsure. Maybe some encouragement would help here. The carrot, instead of just the stick.

“Your plan was to retire in a few more years with all the extra money you earned from your side occupation, right? Well, if you do a good job for me, that can still be in the cards. I’ll even let you keep most of the money they’re paying you.”

By the time this became relevant, my power base was hopefully firm enough to stand up to any scheming relatives. It wasn’t like I really begrudged anyone for spying on Kalin, as long as their intent wasn’t explicitly to harm me. And assuming they switched to working for me of course.

Having a supposed spy on my side was more useful than just getting rid of them. If I just exposed Margret and had her executed – or made her disappear on my own – whoever was behind her would just send new spies or try to convert people already in position.

But if everything appeared fine with her, any such efforts would be a lower priority. Not that I really believed no one would try something anyway, with my perceived status on the rise after my exile was revoked. That plus the demon situation would definitely make someone want to get their fingers into this pie.

It was all but guaranteed that relatives without an existing spy presence would try something. Plus any outsiders that took an interest in me now.

Getting ahead of such efforts was important. Thus my interest in Margret.

I still hadn’t found the spy Mel uncovered in town, but it was only a matter of time. I just had to go out a few more times. And if all else failed, Mel himself was set to return in about three weeks. I could just ask him then. Though that was another headache waiting to happen, honestly.

For now, I watched Margret draft a letter to her ‘secret lover’. Since I could read her mind, it was easy to read what she actually wrote, not the fluff used as a cover. Beyond that, the woman was also doing her best to explain everything to me, so it didn’t appear as though she was sneaking in anything I didn’t allow.

As for the contents of the real message, I had her tell an abbreviated version of what happened last week. The basics, including a demonic attempt on my life, arrival of demon hunters and Anaster, followed by me being cleared of suspicion. I had her highlight the steward’s conspiracy and use that and the demonic traitors as reasons for increased scrutiny on manor staff.

Which in turn explained the late nature of her report, since ‘Kalin’ was being more paranoid than before. The message also contained some descriptions of my improvements in personality, though Margret opined they were purely performative to regain loyalty as a result of the previously mentioned paranoia.

Lastly, I had her mention that ‘Kalin’ was actively hunting for spies and had a lead on one, though Margret managed to avoid suspicion for now.

When the letter was done, I had Margret go over it in full again, just in case I somehow missed a hidden aspect. Not finding anything of the sort, I approved the report to be sent. She would go to town at the next opportunity and hand it over to someone to deliver as usual.

I doubted there would be any issues with this report. It was mostly true, after all. The only major thing left out was Margret’s cover being blown and her joining my side. Also, any appearance of me being potentially corrupted were carefully scrubbed.

I didn’t want to give people back home any more ammunition than they already had to use against me.

Looking the exhausted maid-turned-spy in the eyes, I smiled. “Now that that’s done, I have a small reward for you.” She returned my gaze with a hint of confusion and worry.

“You’re dead tired right now, correct? Don’t answer, I can see it on your face clear as day.” I stopped myself from adding anything unpleasant to the saying to convey my dislike for daytime. “So, I’m going to give you the rest of the day off to recover and use some magic to help you sleep. How about that?”

The worry definitely intensified, but sleep sounded amazing to her right now. Margret nodded slowly.

“Great. Next you know, you’ll be waking up in bed.” I activated my influence. Her mind calmed.

First things first, I claimed the cup of blood I forgot about last time. Can’t go around wasting resources like that.

My influence was noticeably strong on Margret. The combination of a blood bond, her exhaustion and relative willingness made her malleable as soft clay. Maintaining eye contact, I gave her some instructions.

“Mia will escort you back to your bed. You will lie down and go to sleep there, since you’re very tired. Understand?” She nodded, wordlessly. Her eyes drooped even more now than before. “After you wake up, you won’t even consider changing what you wrote in your letter, nor add anything new. You will forget all about these instructions, but still follow them.”

This was by far the most complex set of instructions I’d ever given someone using influence. The first part alone would take several minutes to execute, since she had to first head over to the servant quarters. For now, the second part was mainly a test. With such a perfect test subject before me, I wanted to see how well delayed instructions like these would work.

If they failed for some reason, I still had a small group of spying rats keeping eyes and ears on her, plus my mind reading. So it wouldn’t be a big deal. But if this worked, it would have massive potential for the future.

Watching Mia direct the almost sleepwalking Margret out of the room, I leaned back in my seat. That’s one situation mostly handled for now.

I followed the pair’s progress with my heart sense all the way to the servant quarters, where Margret indeed laid down. Based on her heart-rate, she also almost immediately went to sleep. More effective than I expected, to be honest. I wasn’t sure whether telling someone to go to sleep would work.

Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

Though maybe this case doesn’t count, since the target was already dead tired in the first place? The relaxed state of mind from influence might have done most of the work. More testing required.

A short while later, Mia rejoined me in the study. She was drying off with a small towel, even the short trip to the servant quarters and back enough for the rain to drench her.

“What now? Anything else you need me for?” She looked a bit uncomfortable, with her hair dripping.

“There is actually something I want to test. It’s not dangerous for anyone but potentially myself.” Our eyes met, concern clear on her face.

“Will you tell me what it is or do I have to guess?”

“It’s pretty simple – I’m going to go outside. I want to see whether clouds and rain will block the sun.”