Ferdinand sat there. He waited for a punchline that never came. This girl sat in front of him claiming that she had solved the millennium old dilemma of healing magic. His initial reaction was that she was insane, or lying. But she didn’t seem insane based on their conversation to this point. It seemed like she was earnestly telling him the truth. But that couldn’t be the case.

“Let’s say that I believe you. That you, a vagrant who picked up a textbook a few weeks ago, managed to discover the secret to healing magic. An art that millions have attempted to discover for thousands of years, and you did it by using the most basic of magical techniques. Let’s just assume that you are telling the truth.” Ferdinand said.

He knew she had to be lying, but to what end? She had nothing to gain by lying at this moment. It boggled his mind that she would try this juvenile tactic.

“You don’t need to trust me. Ask Argo, Catherine, or Milo, they will tell you the same thing. I mended Milo’s leg, and it nearly killed me.” She said.

This tactic of hers was puzzling him even more. Claiming to have witnesses that is so easily verifiable. There were only two realistic options.

The first was impossible, she was telling the truth and had discovered some form of healing. Not only that, she was able to heal such a grievous injury as a novice. Novice Medea aren’t even capable of that.

The second was that she was either so confident in her deceit that she thought could trick a man who had seen nearly everything, or that she was indeed insane enough to believe her own illusions.

However, there was no harm in humoring the girl. Even if she was insane, it was nothing he couldn’t handle. Let alone those outside his door.

“I hope you can understand how hard this is to believe. I would need some kind of proof beyond testimony.” He said.

“I can try doing it again. Would that be enough?” She said.

What?

No, that was confirmation of her insanity. In any other situation, with any other person of sound mind. They would never suggest such a thing. If it was a lie then she would dodge around the request.

So she must be insane…

But…

If she isn’t…

“Before you try that. I’d like to ask for an oath.” Ferdinand said. She looked at him blankly.

Could it be that she doesn’t know what that is?

“You do know what an oath is, right?” he said.

“No, could you explain?” She said.

Definitely insane. No doubt in his mind. He needed to make this oath as quickly as possible so he could have this girl taken into custody, he was starting to worry about the welfare of Argo and his family if such a delusional person was in their midst.

“It is a special kind of agreement between mages. It binds us to an agreement we are unable to break without suffering consequences.” He said.

“If that’s what it takes to convince you, then fine.” She said.

His plan was this. Make a demand that was so outrageously restrictive that she wouldn’t risk it. His condition would be that she proves she can successfully heal. Seeing as she had no way of following through on this, it didn’t matter that she was crazy or not. He would win out in the end.

“How do we do it?” She said.

“Simple. First I start with this.” He said.

He waved his hand and created a green orb of light on the desk in front of them. To Andromeda, it looked like a simple ball of green light. It had a foggy surface that seemed to ripple and roll like water.

“Put your hand on this orb and repeat after me.” He said. She nodded and put her hand on the orb. Despite its looks, it had a perfectly smooth surface like a crystal ball. The moment their hands touched the orb an aura of light erupted in the room and surrounded.

“I consent to this arrangement, in all its terms, conditions, and stipulations, and I consent to the punishment, should it come.” Ferdinand said.

“I consent to this arrangement, in all its terms, conditions, and stipulations, and I consent to the punishment, should it come.” Andromeda repeated.

The orb glowed brightly, then faded into nothing. A runic circle appeared on both of their hands.

“Just so you understand the process, I’ll start first.” He said.

This was the important part, It didn’t matter what she asked for, so long as he got to go first. She could ask for the moon and he would still agree.

“My request is that you demonstrate your ability to heal.” He continued. This was the kicker, if there was even a shred of doubt in her mind, then she would try to worm out here. A flicker of the eye, tapping her fingers, stressed breathing.

“My stipulation is that you must perform it as soon as possible.” He continued. With this, she would have to perform it as soon as possible. If she only just learned about oaths, she would assume that overruling the other’s stipulation was against the rules. It was a classic trick, and one of the reasons why mages abhorred taking oaths.

“The punishment for failing this request is that you will be brought into custody until the source of your hood is found.” Ferdinand said. This was the final result he wanted. She would either try and back out or fail, at which point she would be compelled to turn herself to his will.

“That seems fair. My request is that you absolve the Lander family of paying the tithe, absolve me of having to serve in the military, promise my safety once I leave this place, and that you can’t tell anyone that I have the ability to heal in any way, shape or form. My stipulation is that all these tasks must be performed before I perform any kind of magic. The punishment for failing this request is that you must willingly do anything I say for a year.”

It was at this moment that Ferdinand realized he had made a terrible mistake.

She should have had no reason to think multiple things could have been demanded. He had only given her a single example, so she should have followed his lead. Yet she asked for a laundry list of heavy requests.

Even worse, the moment he agreed to this, regardless of whether or not she succeeded. He would have to release her. His stipulation only meant she had to perform it “as soon as possible”, but her stipulation meant she would do nothing before her demands were met. She would be contractually unable to perform any magic until he met her demands.

On top of all of that, he couldn’t even explain why he had done all of this. He would be unable to speak about it all. He would be unable to even talk to anyone about why.

She wasn’t insane, he was outplayed. She was not some random novice mage, even if she was then she would still be dangerous if left to her own devices. If he tried to back out, she would still have the ability to ask for whatever she wanted. It was the perfect trap.

This person was dangerous. He needed to be careful. At the same time however, he might still be able to bring this to his advantage, however small.

“Just so you understand, once we make this agreement official, there is no going back.” Ferdinand said.

“That’s fine by me.” She said.

Damn, she isn’t going to crack.

“Then I guess that leaves us with the last step.” Ferdinand said. Ferdinand reached his hand out.

“What’s this?” Andromeda asked.

“We shake on it. That’s how we seal the deal.” Ferdinand said.

“Fair enough.” She said.

She reached and shook his hand. When they did, the runes on their hands turned red, then faded into their skin. Ferdinand stood up from his seat behind the desk and walked to a cabinet nearby. He pulled out a stack of papers and brought them back to the desk.

“As per our agreement I’ll release you from required service, and the Lander’s from the tithe.” He said. Then he signed a smaller piece of paper and handed it to her.

“Here, take this.” He said.

“What’s this?” She asked.

“It’s a signed identification card. For the foreseeable future you are immune to prosecution for any action you might take. This is only up to and including where I have jurisdiction to act. So it’s void outside of King’s Grove. Unfortunately that’s the limit of my ability to give.” He said.

“Lastly, As per the agreement, I am no longer allowed to talk about the subject that we have agreed on. Nor am I able to share any details on it with anyone. So if you would be so kind, could you do as you agreed?” He said.

She could tell that he was struggling to find the words to communicate what he meant without breaking the agreement. So she was going to make it easy for him.

“Sure, I just need something to heal.” She said, then she saw that Ferdinand had a letter opener sitting beside him.

“Give me your hand.” She said.

Not sure what she meant, he did as he was asked. She grabbed it with her one hand and picked up the letter opener sitting on his desk with the other.

“Hold on, we didn’t agree that I would be the subject.” He said. Andromeda looked at him with an annoyed glare.

“You said, “as soon as possible”. We can do it right now, or were you planning on breaking that rule?” She asked. It was an innocent question, but he took it as another step to her masterful juke.

He grit his teeth, waiting for whatever she might do. She placed the edge of the letter opened against the fat of his palm and quickly slid it across. Just enough to make a shallow cut.

“Now sit still.” She said.

Andromeda closed her eyes. She sat there for a moment with her hands hovering just near his bleeding hand. Then she started to sweat in her seat. She winced in pain as she seemed to be doing something incredibly painful. If she was acting, she was doing it very well.

Then he felt something happening to him.

There was a strange, nameless feeling that permeated him. It was unlike any mana flow he had ever experienced, it was a burning cold, a moving stillness. Words failed him.

He looked down at his palm and as she worked.

There was no light, no sound, no smell, nothing at all. He just watched the blood evaporate and the incision pulled itself back together. From the moment she started the pain vanished completely. It didn’t even seem like she was using magic, she just seemed to will the wound back together.

All too soon, it stopped. She dropped her hands and gripped the table. She was clearly in pain, but he was in too much shock from having witnessed her succeed to help. He watched as she barely kept a grip on consciousness and pushed through it. A few minutes passed and she leaned back in her seat, winded and tired. Though she was in a much better position than she was before.

He waited, if the agreement was broken then the runes on their hand would shatter and shock them both. But the shock didn’t some. She had actually done it.

Ferdinand had been in this position for most of his life. He survived three kings, witnessed the birth of a dragon, and survived a plague. But in front of him, this girl in a faded white robe, bleached white fingers, and faintly white glowing eyes. What she did might be the most important thing he had ever seen.

“Good enough?” She said.

-----

Andromeda wanted to cry.

Her body was aching all over again. Every muscle felt like it just got torn and every bone felt battered. it still wasn’t nearly as bad as it was with Milo, but it was comparable. The first time she tried this was an extreme example and that was on top of being in a stressful situation. This time wasn’t as dramatic and the injury wasn’t as bad.

She had a theory about how this worked, and she would need a third test to prove it.

It seemed like the severity of the injury was related to how difficult it would be to mend. This one was a fairly simple fix, so she only felt some old body pain flare and a headache, Milo’s injury was bad enough that it laid her up. She looked at her hands and inspected the white bleaching. It didn’t seem to have spread at all, but she wasn’t sure if it was just because this was a small case. It might spread more if she tried mending a severe injury again.

“By our agreement, you are free to go. However, I would like to extend an offer if you are interested.” Ferdinand said.

She already had free reign on what she did, and with the bonus of having Argo’s home to fall back to if she felt like it, she didn’t really have anything to lose. She wanted to hear him out and see what he might have to say. It’s not like he could do anything to her anyway with their agreement, and if it was a good deal, then she would only stand to benefit.

“I’m listening.” She said.

“I originally wanted to meet you to offer you a job, magical talent isn’t common in this region and I wanted to make the connection. But seeing as I know what I know now, I think a desk job wouldn’t suit your talents.” He said.

“Then what do you think would?” She asked.

“You said that you wanted to explore for Young Reine’s sake. Let's just say that I have an option that would help you with that.” Ferdinand said.