“Oh, it worked. The Regent fell in love, but not with her.” Her shoulders trembled. “He fell in love with me. Me, whom he had never so much as conversed with in all his life. Me.” She pointed at her face.
Catherine was by no means an unattractive woman, but she was no great beauty and many years past her prime. Which is not to say an affair couldn’t have taken place if the Regent had been charmed by her personality; but if it was as she said and they had never spoken, that seemed unlikely. “What a disaster,” I murmured. “How did it happen? Did you make a mistake in the spell?”
“I’d never made an error before, and I’ve never made one since,” she said, eyes flashing. “Certainly not in this. I’d made dozens of similar potions before and countless after.”
I wanted to point out that everyone was fallible, but keeping my mouth shut seemed the more prudent course. Besides, I didn’t think she had made a mistake – I thought she’d been framed. “So what do you think happened?”
“I don’t know.” She pressed long fingers to her forehead as though the memory pained her. “It was horrible. When I realized what had happened, I tried to flee, but he sent soldiers to bring me back. Professed his love for me in front of countless courtiers, with seemingly no regard for the repercussions. Not only had he fallen for the wrong person, the potion was far more potent than I’d ever intended, and it impacted everything he thought, every action he took.
“Marie, as you would expect, was in a frenzy over it. He cared not for how he was hurting her, and the depression that ensued made her physically ill.” Catherine shook her head. “I cast the spell days before the summer solstice, but the spell held the power of one cast at the very moment of the season’s transition. I thought it would never end. The effects of these potions normally fade over a matter of days, but it lasted for weeks. Everyone suspected what had been done, but of course, it couldn’t be proven. Not that that really mattered – women have been burned for less.”
“Did Marie out you as a witch?”
“No,” she whispered. “Not even then. I told her everything, but how could she possibly forgive me? The spell may have gone awry, but the fact remained that I’d intentionally created a potion for her husband to make him love another woman.”
“What happened next?”
“The Regent’s son, Aiden, was particularly incensed. There was no doubt in his mind that I was a witch and was the cause of his father’s irrational behavior. He hated me for the hurt caused to his mother, and demanded time and time again that I be put to death. And once the potion’s effects finally began to fade, the Regent was of the same mind. But Marie pleaded with him to have mercy on me, and he satisfied himself with taking everything I had and evicting me from his household. Marie spoke with me once after my sentencing, and made me swear to stay far away from anyone she was close to. My life would be forfeit if I ever came back.”
“Did you ever see the masked woman again?” I asked. Anushka had obviously wanted Catherine dead, but Marie had interfered. Had she known it was Anushka who’d requested the love potion? And why would Anushka do such a thing to her ally? There were so many unknowns.
“Not since the night I delivered it to her.”
“And you have no idea who she was? No clues that might narrow down her identity?”
Catherine lifted one shoulder, then let it slump. “Not really. She was of average height and build, and she moved easily, so I do not think she was past her middle years. Her clothes were of fine cut and material, and she always met with me in the castle, but never anywhere that would suggest her identity.”
“Nothing at all?” I pressed. “No mannerisms or tics you recognized from any of the women at court?”
“None. She was very careful to keep her identity a secret.”
I hesitated. “Was there ever any suggestion that she might be a witch herself?”
Catherine grew still. “Why?”
I stared silently at her until she sighed.
“She gave no such indication.”
“But you would have known, yes?” I pressed. “You knew I was.”
“Only because you drew on the earth’s power right in front of me,” Catherine replied. “Which is something she never did. What cause have you to believe she might have the talent? Do you know who she is?” She leaned forward, eyes searching mine.
“If she were a witch, she could have substituted her own potion for yours,” I said, choosing not to answer her question in its entirety. “What better and more sure way to get rid of you, with no one ever suspecting her. Not even you.”
Catherine said nothing, but her cheeks rose to a high color. She had long since ceased petting Souris, but I could see her hands balling into fists where they lay on her lap. Her anger gave me the answer to my question. I could not even imagine how I would feel, having thought for all those long years that I had ruined my own life with a simple mistake, only to discover that it had been orchestrated by another.
“We could find her,” I said softly. “You and I, together.”